Beginning with Damian Tambini’s article today, British Politics and Policy at LSE is launching a new theme – Reforming the press (after the hacking scandal).

After this month’s revelations about phone hacking, it is clear that the way in which the British press is currently regulated in the UK urgently needs some kind of reform. With judge-leads inquiries already under way, and belated police investigations also, the next few months will be critical for the role of the press in UK politics.

Critics argue that the current industry-run Press Complaints Commission (PCC) is feeble, defining the ‘public interest’ in journalism too broadly to be genuinely effective. The public need to feel that press intrusion will be speedily acted on and privacy protected. In their view the culture of the press must change so that problems like hacking do not occur again and again.

Those urging caution point to the value of a free press and the potential dangers of allowing politicians or the legal system to start regulating a greater swathe of press activities and to restrict the freedom to report. Editors and reporters must be able to sometimes push the boundaries of what political elites deem to be acceptable.

British Politics and Policy at LSE would like to invite constructive suggestions and comments from our readers on how media regulation and press behaviour can be improved, without impairing the fundamentals of freedom of the press. We will collate readers’ suggestions and publish them periodically to help expand the agenda of solutions.

If you would like to contribute, please get in touch with the British Politics and Policy at LSE blog team.