Coverage of News Publishers
A new system of regulation should not be considered sufficiently effective if it does not cover all significant news publishers.
- IPSO covers most major national and regional newspapers, but significant publishers remain outside any regulatory system. The Financial Times, the Guardian, and Private Eye are not members of either IPSO or IMPRESS (various press reports, accessed March 2026).
- IMPRESS, the only recognised regulator, covers primarily small and independent publishers and does not include any major national newspaper titles (IMPRESS, accessed March 2026).
- The Press Recognition Panel stated in its 2024-25 Annual Report that the current system does not achieve the coverage Leveson envisioned, with the press industry remaining fragmented across regulated and unregulated publishers (PRP Annual Report 2024-25, September 2025).
How was this evidence gathered?
Response
Accepted in Part
Response
Accepted in PartThe Prime Minister stated on 29 November 2012 that he accepted "the principles that Lord Justice Leveson has laid out" for independent self-regulation, including "an independent board, a standards code, an arbitration service and the power to demand up-front, prominent apologies and impose million-pound fines." However, he rejected statutory underpinning, expressing "serious concerns and misgivings" about crossing "the Rubicon of writing elements of press regulation into the law of the land." The Royal Charter on Self-Regulation of the Press was granted on 30 October 2013, establishing the Press Recognition Panel as the recognition body. IPSO was established in September 2014 but has not sought Royal Charter recognition. IMPRESS was recognised by the PRP in October 2016. Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/david-cameron-statement-in-response-to-the-leveson-inquiry-report
Published Evidence
Published assessments of progress from inspectorates, select committees, official progress reports, and other sources. Source type badge indicates whether each assessment is independent or government self-reported.
IPSO covers most major national newspapers but significant publishers remain outside any regulatory system. The PRP's February 2025 report noted the system is not 'sufficiently effective' as it does not cover all significant news publishers. Neither IPSO nor IMPRESS achieves universal coverage. The fragmented landscape -- IPSO outside the Leveson framework, IMPRESS inside it but covering few major publishers -- means the recommendation for effective coverage of all significant publishers is unmet.
View detailed findings
Major publishers are split between IPSO (not recognised), IMPRESS (recognised but few major members), and unregulated. The system Leveson described as necessary has not been achieved.