Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the current regulatory framework for news publishers in (a) raising press standards and (b) addressing (i) discrimination and (ii) other abuses.

As a government we are closely following trends in media consumption and are carefully considering the best route forward to safeguard public trust in our news media.

In the UK, there is a self-regulatory system for the press, which is independent from government. An independent press is important for press freedom and to ensure the public has access to accurate and trustworthy information from a range of different sources. However, with this freedom comes responsibility. We expect all publishers, both local and national, to operate within the bounds of the law and adhere to high ethical and professional standards, as well as ensure appropriate routes to redress if these standards are not met.

The majority of traditional publishers are members of IPSO. Some publishers have joined Impress, while others, including the Financial Times and the Guardian, have chosen to stay outside either regulator with their own detailed self-regulatory arrangements. These regulators enforce codes of conduct, for both print and online news publications, which provide guidelines on a range of areas including discrimination. If they find that a newspaper has broken the code of conduct, they can order corrections.