Journalists are no longer being equated with criminals and extremist groups in police counter-corruption guidance.
The change comes after a long battle by the Crime Reporters Association whose chair, Daily Mail crime and security editor Rebecca Camber, described it as a “significant step towards the rebuilding of a successful working relationship between police forces and the media”.
In 2022 a HM Inspectorate of Constabulary report on corruption in the Met Police found the force was not following national guidance on counter corruption set by the College of Policing.
It emerged that the guidance, which police forces in England and Wales use to set their own policies, required officers and staff to disclose any association they had with journalists, criminals or people in extremist groups.
The HMIC report about the Met said: “We were surprised to find that police officers and staff did not have to disclose their association with journalists or extremist groups. This is despite national guidance to the contrary and a history of scandals.”
The Crime Reporters Association, whose almost 50 members had not known about this unpublished guidance, lodged a formal complaint. Camber said at the time: “To mention association with journalists in the same breath as that of extremist groups is unjust.”
HMIC apologised and agreed to change the wording of its report. However it has taken a further three years for the College of Policing to change the actual guidance.
The changes add more nuance and clarity, adding a list of professions alongside journalists such as solicitors working on a relevant case that may mean officers should make a disclosure.
This means journalists are no longer listed directly alongside criminals and extremists, which the CRA feared could give the impression that they should be avoided entirely by officers.
Chief Constable Sir Andy Marsh, chief executive at the College of Policing, said: “The media made strong representations to make changes to the national counter-corruption guidance for police and I agree there should be a clear separation between legitimate professions and those under investigation or with criminal records.
“In recent years the relationship between policing and the media has cooled and, in the meantime, we have seen the rise of misinformation online. We’re now working together to make changes so that the public has access to timely and accurate information to keep them and their families safe.”
The relevant section of the counter-corruption guidance now states: “There are some professions and occupations which, due to their nature, could give rise to conflict of interest, or a perception of such a conflict.
“It is important to emphasise a notifiable association policy should not seek to cast doubt on the integrity of those professions but should protect all parties involved from any perception of conflict.
“Members of a number of these professions (eg legal profession, journalism) are working within the public interest and policies should not seek to undermine their work.
“Policies should make clear that the vast majority of such relationships are likely to be entirely proper and appropriate.”
The guidance goes on to list examples of such professions, including “journalists and those working in the media, where their area of professional interest relates to investigations or activity being conducted by the force”, members of the legal profession especially if they are working on cases involving the force, employees of companies with a commercial relationship with the force, and private investigators.
Camber said the change was a “recognition of the key role that journalists fulfil in keeping the public informed about policing and holding forces to account”.
Dawn Alford, executive director at the Society of Editors, said: “The Society welcomes this long-awaited decision by the College of Policing to re-draft its national guidance on counter corruption which previously risked wrongfully equating the media industry with the wrongdoing and corruption it seeks to expose…
“We hope this new guidance sends out a strong message that a healthy working relationship between the media and police forces should be promoted and that, as recognised by the College, the media and police must work together to usher in a new era of communication and co-operation.”
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