For immediate release
5 August 2016
PRP board to consider IMPRESS application for recognition
The Press Recognition Panel (PRP) has confirmed that the IMPRESS application for recognition will be considered by its Board at a meeting in London on 23 August 2016.
Jonathan Heawood, IMPRESS CEO said: “It is business as usual at IMPRESS, the UK’s first independent press regulator. We are continuing to gain new members, taking our existing members through our compliance procedures and the first publishers to hold our Trust in Journalism mark are coming on stream.”
IMPRESS is currently consulting on a new Standards Code.
Any further questions about the recognition process should be directed to the PRP.
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Media enquiries:
Fiona Davis-Coleman
07957 855916
Notes to editors
IMPRESS is the UK’s first independent, Leveson-compliant press regulator. It is the only press regulator to have applied for recognition to the Press Recognition Panel (PRP).
IMPRESS members
IMPRESS has signed up a total of 33independent news publications from all over the UK with a combined reach of more than 2 million monthly readers in print and online. Once members have completed the compliance processwe will award them theTrust in Journalism mark. This trustmark defines publishers who are committed to the principles of trusted journalism and helps readers to know that their concerns will be addressed properly.
We will give these publishers the freedom to report hard-hitting stories and the responsibility to behave fairly if complaints are made against them. We will have the power to decide on complaints which publishers cannot resolve.
The first publications to join IMPRESS are currently going through the compliance process. The list of publications which have signed up for membership include:
Caerphilly Observer
Shropshire Live
The Lincolnite
Lincolnshire Business Magazine
Lincolnshire Reporter
The Ferret
Waltham Forest Echo
New Internationalist
The Edinburgh Reporter
CommonSpace
Brixton Blog
Brixton Bugle
Bristol Cable
A Little Bit of Stone
As Perceived
Boundless Magazine
Gedling Eye
North East Weekly
Byline
VIEWdigital
VIEW Magazine
Formby Reporter
Your Harlow
Your Thurrock
The Week In
My Turriff
OnTheWight
Port Talbot Magnet
Positive News
South Molton News
Southport Reporter
Mersey Reporter
Liverpool Reporter
Arbitration scheme
IMPRESS has followed Lord Justice Leveson’s model by using arbitration as a central plank of its regulatory scheme. The scheme is designed to work for publishers and claimants. It is in place and ready for members and their readers to use.
The IMPRESS scheme offers its publishers and members of the public cost certainty and protections against exorbitant legal costs when faced with a time-consuming and expensive legal fight. It is designed to be an alternative to litigation and is offered in addition to the IMPRESS complaints service that will handle routine breaches of the standards code.
Standards Code
IMPRESS has been working with research consultancy Britain Thinks to conduct the public phase of its consultation into a new standards code. The aim is to develop a clear statement of the standards that the public expect of editors and journalists. The consultation phase with stakeholders and experts has just been completed. The IMPRESS Code Committee will publish its draft code for formal consultation within the next few weeks.