New report casts critical eye on Leveson Inquiry & suggests it is a clampdown on press freedom

April 26, 2012 - PRLog -- WORLDbytes, the online citizen TV station, has today launched a programme which attacks the Leveson Inquiry. The programme suggests that far from being an independent inquiry into media practices, this is a clampdown on press freedom and a tabloid witch-hunt we must resist.
The programme is set up as an on-the-sofa discussion. Spiked writer Patrick Hayes presents the chilling implications of the Leveson Inquiry to a group of volunteers who respond with their concerns. As English poet John Milton said, “Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties”, Hayes argues that a free press is the cornerstone of a functioning democracy and should be defended against all forms of regulation.  Hayes attacks the Leveson Inquiry for its elitist snobbery and contempt for the public and whilst some on the sofa do not agree with him, the charity and its Citizen TV station do.  
In the wake of hackgate, the Leveson Inquiry was set up to investigate the events which led up to the hacking of missing school girl, Milly Dowler’s phone by News Of The World journalists. Yet what prevails, Hayes explains, is a full-blown inquiry into the ethics and culture of the British press.  As witness testimonies continue to pour forth from celebrities and politicians with an axe to grind, the inquiry is now probing into not just the methods journalists use to get information, but the stories that papers print.  No longer an Inquiry into phone hacking he tells us, Lord Justice Leveson’s investigation should leave us wondering about the future of press freedom itself.
On the making of this programme, WORLDbytes director, Ceri Dingle, said today:
“This illuminating filmed discussion should provide a bottom line for our charity, volunteers, and the wider public. Media based organisations and charities should also support the case against the inquiry. Freedom of speech and the press, as Patrick Hayes rightly points out, is pivotal to a democracy and is one of the few checks we have on the whims and excesses of the state so we should not give it up.  This inquiry is a state-endorsed crackdown, particularly on the tabloid press. What reasons are there to regulate the tabloids?  Simply that we don’t like the stories they print or who they talk to or envy the bank balance of their proprietors?  Surely the answer to an unsatisfactory press is to set up our own media outfits, as we have tried to do here at WORLDbytes, to help create a more diverse media. We would much rather have a ‘warts and all’ press than a censored one and neither the government nor any judge should have the power to decide what we can read, see, hear or think.”
The report “Don’t shout at the telly: The Leveson Inquiry” is available to watch on WORLDbytes at:
http://www.worldbytes.org/dont-shout-at-the-telly-the-lev...
WORLDbytes welcomes reproduction, embedding and sharing of this report.
For more information and interviews contact:
Ceri Dingle or Viv Regan at: info@worldbytes.org Tel: +44 (0)20 8985 5435

Notes to editors:
WORLDbytes is a unique online Citizen TV station featuring programmes created by young volunteer-learners. Its programmes aim to get behind the headlines and promote a people-first perspective on a wide-range of issues. WORLDbytes is run by the education charity WORLDwrite, registered charity number 1060869. The charity champions quality citizen reporting and provides free film training to make this possible. WORLDwrite has an open door policy and encourages all-comers to get involved and recognise there are no limits to what's possible. For more general information, please visit: www.worldwrite.org.uk & www.worldbytes.org