IPSO is the more powerful self-regulator with the ability to impose fines of up to £1 million, as recommended by the Leveson inquiry, says the Society of Editors. With a built-in majority of lay members it will work independently of the national press and the hundreds of regional and local newspapers and magazines that will pay for it. It is due to start work in September replacing the Press Complaints Commission which Leveson said did not have sufficient powers or sanctions.
A Court of Appeal judge for nine years Sir Alan was previously a high court judge. He was appointed after a rigorous search by an independent selection panel chaired by former high ranking civil servant Sir Hayden Phillips.
Among the trials he presided over were the Soham murders and the prosecution of the MI5 officer David Shayler for passing classified information and documents to the press in breach of the Official Secrets Act.
He will follow a distinguished list of SoE lecturers who have included Lord Grade, Alexander Lebedev, Lord Hunt of Wirral, Paul Dacre, Andrew Neil, Gavin O’Reilly, Sir Christopher Meyer and Ben Bradlee who was editor of the Washington Post in the Watergate era.
Based at the Grand Harbour Hotel in Southampton, the SoE Lecture will take place on the evening of Sunday 9 November with conference sessions taking place on Monday 10 November and throughout the morning of Tuesday 11 November.
The extensive programme, incorporating the Black Tie annual Gala Dinner, will be set against the backdrop of Southampton’s iconic waterfront which is a short distance from this year’s venue.
The conference will include sessions on new press regulation in action, attempts to restrict freedom of the internet and the future for broadcasters. Debate will also focus on the battle for the right to tell the public what they are entitled to know and football and sport reporting rights. It will also be a chance to put pressure on the politicians in advance of the General Election and question them on policies for the media.
Ian Murray, President of the Society of Editors and editor of the Southern Daily Echo said: “With his unique experience as a court of appeal judge, the Society has no doubt that Sir Alan’s Lecture will look to the future of press regulation under IPSO and set out the changes and work that the new regulator will undertake.
“It will also be an opportunity for those who are already criticising the new regulator to hear first-hand how it is working in its first few months.”
