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September 8, 2014

Former Mail on Sunday editor and ex-Guardian managing editor among members of IPSO’s complaints committee

By Dominic Ponsford

The board of the Independent Press Standards Organisation has today confirmed the names of the 12-person committee who will hear its complaints.

They are five journalists (who can't be editors) and seven lay members (not involved in the journalism industry).

Here they are (biogs provided by IPSO):

The journalists:

Richard Best

Richard Best spent more than 25 years working in print media, both abroad and at home, following his training on a weekly newspaper. He has spent the past 15 years back in the British regional press, and served as editor of the North Devon Journal and Mid Devon Gazette. His most recent position was as editor of the Wes Country's largest regional weekly title, the Truro-based West Briton, and associated websites. He was also managing editor of Cornwall Today. He now runs the consultancy Straightshot Communications.

Gill Hudson

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Gill Hudson is the multi-award-winning editor of a very wide range of titles, including Radio Times, Reader's Digest, Maxim, New Woman and Company magazines. She was Chair of the Editorial Training Consultants Committee for the PPA from 2009-2012, and won the Mark Boxer Award in 2011 for her contribution to the industry. She stopped full-time work at the end of 2012 and is now a part-time writer and consultant, and Visiting Professor of Journalism at Southampton University.

David Jessel

David Jessel's television series Rough Justice and Trial and Error led to the quashing of more than a dozen criminal convictions. He subsequently served as a Commissioner at the Criminal Cases Review Commission for ten years, and gained regulatory experience at the ASA and at PhonePayPlus.

Elisabeth Ribbans

Elisabeth Ribbans is a former managing editor of the Guardian. A journalist for more than 25 years, she has experience on local and national newspapers, as well as specialist magazine titles, and now works as an editorial consultant. Outside the media Elisabeth is an adjudicator on the Code Compliance Panel of the premium rate services regulator, PhonepayPlus, and a member of the Portman Group's Independent Complaints Panel, which considers complaints about the marketing of alcohol in the UK.
 
Peter Wright (pictured above)

Peter Wright is Editor Emeritus at Associated Newspapers and in that role was a member of the Implementation Group which co-ordinated the newspaper industry's response to the Leveson Inquiry and the creation of IPSO. He was Editor of The Mail on Sunday 1998-2012, a member of the Editors' Code Committee 2004-8 and of the Press Complaints Commission 2008-14. 

The lay members:

Lara Fielden

Lara Fielden is an author and policy analyst with a range of regulatory and governance expertise. As a visiting fellow and research associate at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism in Oxford she has published numerous reports and articles including an independent comparative review of international press regulation which informed the Leveson Inquiry Report. Lara is the lead non-executive director of The London Community Rehabilitation Company (formerly the London Probation Trust). She is a former broadcasting regulator, managing fairness and privacy adjudications at Ofcom, and is now a disciplinary panel member for The Bar Tribunals and Adjudication Service.

Janette Harkess

Janette Harkess is a former journalist who has worked in senior roles across a range of titles in Scotland. For the past three years she has been head of media for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games and was previously Director of Policy and Research for the independent economic development network, the Scottish Council for Development and Industry. A board member of National Theatre of Scotland and Scottish Youth Theatre, she is also an honorary Vice President of the Journalists' Charity. 

Matthew Lohn 

Matthew is the Senior Partner at Fieldfisher. He is the Chair of the firm's Supervisory Board and practises as a Solicitor in the Public and Regulatory law team. Matthew is appointed as a Legal Chair for the Disciplinary Panel for the British Horseracing Authority and the National Anti-Doping Panel. He has recently been appointed to the Determinations Panel of The Pensions Regulator.

Jill May 

Jill May has over 25 years' experience in financial services, having worked latterly as a Managing Director focused on Group Strategy at UBS AG and previously as a mergers and acquisitions professional at S.G.Warburg & Co. She is currently a Panel Member at the Competition and Markets Authority ("CMA") and is also a Non-Executive Director of the CMA. Jill is also a Member of Council of Durham University and a Council Member of the National Trust.

Neil Watts

Neil is an experienced secondary school headteacher now working as a consultant headteacher for Suffolk County Council. He is a Board member of Ofqual and ARB (Architects Registration Board), and on the Board of Trustees of SHINE charity.

Nina Wrightson OBE

After a career in safety and risk Nina Wrightson is currently Deputy Chair of the NHS Litigation Authority, chairs Fitness to Practice Hearings for the NMC and is a Public Member of Network Rail. Previously she has been Risk Management Director of a plc, Chairman of the British Safety Council and President of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health.

Plus:
 
IPSO chairman Sir Alan Moses.

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