The Watchdog and the Feral Beast - Episode 1

Sir Christopher Meyer, press watchdog until this year as chairman of the Press Complaints Commission and former press secretary at Number 10, discusses the role of the press today. Is the press today freedom's guardian or is it a 'feral beast', as Tony Blair described the media at the end of his premiership? Sir Christopher draws on his personal experience as press watchdog and government spokesman. In his six years chairing the PCC, where he dealt with complaints against newspapers and magazines, he championed a free press and self-regulation, but had to contend with controversies that sometimes strained people's trust in the press. His health check on the press comes at a time when opinion is polarised. Is the press out of control, or is it more constrained than ever before by the law? Is the press destroying trust in our democracy, or are politicians giving the press undue importance by courting editors and journalists? Is the press too powerful, or is it vulnerable because of competition from the internet, much of it free and unregulated? And now that the printed word and audio-visual content appear together on the same website, what is the future for self-regulation by the press?