Abstract
The former ITV political editor looks back on the Hutton report and comments: "When governments fight the political battle with the intensity shown in Britain since May 1997, peacetime complaints can be just as voluminous as those that arise during a time of conflict. Peacetime procedures for handling them need to be equally robust. As the Phillis inquiry concluded, a greater willingness to separate fact from comment and entertainment might do the media a power of good, but so might "a greater willingness to admit and to correct mistakes and inaccuracies. However, if [Andrew] Gilligan's mistake and the consequences that still may flow from it affect us all, it should only be in the sense that it provides us with a chance for a great strengthening of British journalism."
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.