L47 Response Accepted in Part

Journalist Contract Protection

Recommendation

The industry generally and a regulatory body in particular should consider requiring its members to include in the employment or service contracts with journalists a clause to the effect that no disciplinary action would be taken against a journalist as a result of a refusal to act in a manner which is contrary to the code of practice.

Published Evidence Summary
The following publicly available evidence relates to this recommendation:
- The Editors' Code of Practice Committee maintains the Editors' Code used by IPSO. Clause 1 requires that the press "must take care not to publish inaccurate, misleading or distorted information or images" and provides for corrections (Editors' Code of Practice, IPSO, current version).
- IPSO's Regulations include provisions for editors and journalists to raise concerns about being required to act contrary to the Code, and IPSO handles complaints about alleged breaches (IPSO Regulations, IPSO).
- The recommendation's specific proposal for a contractual "conscience clause" as a standard term in journalist employment contracts has not been adopted as an industry-wide requirement. No published evidence of a regulatory body mandating such contractual terms has been identified to March 2026.
Sources
How was this evidence gathered?
Evidence searched by Claude (Anthropic) on 10 Apr 2026
Checked data held on this site (government responses, progress updates, independent evidence)
This recommendation applies across many organisations. The evidence above reflects central policy activity; adoption in individual organisations may vary.
Jurisdiction
UK-wide
Response
Accepted in Part
Accepted in Part UK Government
29 Nov 2012

The 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

Read Full Response
Note: PM David Cameron responded to all 92 recommendations with a single statement accepting them "in principle" or "in part". No per-recommendation response was published.
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.

Not Implemented
27 Feb 2025
Press industry Other

There is no regulatory requirement for publishers to include code-protection clauses in journalist contracts. Neither IPSO nor IMPRESS requires members to include such contractual protections.

View detailed findings

Not implemented. No contractual protection for journalists refusing to breach the code.

Press industry practice View Source
Source
Inquiry Leveson Inquiry
Report An Inquiry into the Culture, Practices and Ethics of the Press 29 Nov 2012
View Source
Responsible Bodies
Press Primary
Themes & Tags
Whistleblower channel absence Self-Regulation Journalists Employment Standards
Recommendation age 13.5 yrs
Last formal update 4931 days ago