The British press is still trapped in a fight for survival

The newspaper industry is apparently working this weekend on a new response to the Leveson inquiry. This should be an interesting exercise. Throughout this imbroglio, the British press has proven itself almost comically incapable of collusion; to collectively agree on anything is not in the nature of our fiercely-competitive newspapers. This makes for healthy competition and democracy: no one can ‘square’ the press in Britain because there are too many newspapers who dislike each other too much. But this has been a problem for the press, in general, during the Leveson inquiry.

Hacked Off produced a very well-run campaign and presented a united front. But as Charles Moore argued in The Spectator, the press got to work insulting and exposing each other. The ordinary voter – looking on at this fight between journalists, politicians, celebrities and their lawyers – might think it a shame they could not all lose. But just as capitalism needs to be saved from the capitalists now and again, the free press needs saving from the press.