Three well-known online publishers – The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, Open Democracy and The Bristol Cable – have signed up to independent press regulator Impress.
They join more than 200 other – mostly small, online and either local or specialist – member publications to Impress, which is the Royal Charter-recognised press regulator.
Rival regulator the Independent Press Standards Organisation represents most newspaper and magazine publishers in the UK including all the nationals except for The Guardian, The Observer, Financial Times and The Independent which are not signed up to any regulator.
Of the new arrivals, Impress chief executive Lexie Kirkconnell-Kawana said: “As Impress reaches the end of its first decade, it is incredibly heartening to see these prestigious platforms eager to join the membership.
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“With plummeting trust in journalism and increased threats to freedom of speech, the importance of Impress and the protection we offer public interest journalism has never been more apparent.
“So I welcome TBIJ, Open Democracy and The Bristol Cable and applaud them for their leadership in adopting truly independent self-regulation and hope others will follow.”
It means the three publishers will adhere to the Standards Code set by Impress and they get access to advice from experts and alternative dispute resolution services, which Impress said could help them against legal intimidation from people trying to stop stories getting out.
TBIJ chief executive and editor-in-chief Rozina Breen told Press Gazette earlier this year that the non-profit publisher has been forced to spend an increasing amount on fighting legal threats. Breen has repeatedly been part of calls for legislation to crack down on the use of gratuitous lawsuits designed only to silence public interest journalism.
TBIJ recently celebrated a victory after a two-year libel battle was dropped against it. Open Democracy, also a non-profit publisher, settled a similar claim.
Open Democracy editor-in-chief Aman Sethi said: “Open Democracy’s journalists around the world pride themselves on adhering to the highest standards of ethical journalism.
“Joining Impress is part of this commitment to reporting with honesty, accountability and rigour.”
The Bristol Cable’s strategic lead, Eliz Mizon, said: “Our decision to be regulated by Impress is not only beneficial to the Cable itself, due to the support available for us in the event of bad actors seeking to derail our work.
“It’s also beneficial for our readers, members and those who appear in our reporting, who can better understand the ways our work conforms to codes of conduct, and how to seek redress if they feel it necessary.”
The Bristol Cable is member-owned and last month hit a major target to boost its membership revenue by 50% in a year – a campaign for which it was just highly commended at Press Gazette’s Future of Media Awards.
Impress chair Richard Ayre described the three publishers as “three of the most innovative publishers this country has to offer”.
“By providing serious, enquiring, groundbreaking news to local, national and international audiences, these are tomorrow’s media. By joining Impress they’ve made a public commitment to integrity: confident journalists happy to be publicly accountable for their conduct as well as their content.”
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