A journalist or editor who wants to be taken seriously should have a “well-thumbed and inwardly digested” copy of McNae’s Essential Law for Journalists in their bag, according to the chairman of IPSO.
Sir Alan Moses (pictured) gave the ringing endorsement of the journalists’ legal bible at the launch of its 23rd edition, with guests including News UK chief executive officer Rebekah Brooks and Sky Sports News executive editor Andy Cairns.
Moses said of the book: “If you leave it behind, if you ignore it, you do so not only at your own peril but at the peril of all those who fight for and believe in an untamed, unruly and a free press.
“I defy anyone to find any holes in this essential guide.”
Moses also praised the book’s coverage of press regulation, saying: “We at IPSO must congratulate you on managing to succeed in dispelling ignorance and misinformation in a field so ripe with such vices. You at least understand and explain what regulation is about.
“Chapter two gives a clear and correct summary of how regulation works through IPSO and clarifies what has become, all too unnecessarily, opaque and complex; you are one of the few who have understood and because you understand can explain the dreary mechanisms of the Charter and recognition.”
Also attending the event on Thursday were current editors Mike Dodd and Mark Hanna and the family of the book’s original author Leonard McNae, who died in 1996 aged 93.
Cairns, who told how as a young trainee journalist he relied on his copy of McNae’s to guide him through his early work, is now quoted on the back of the latest edition.
His quote reads: “A vital tool for every journalist and every newsroom. This cuts through the legal complexities with important detail and great clarity.”
(Picture: Frontline Photography)
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