A SENIOR British judge concluded that the country needs a new, independent media regulator to eliminate a subculture of unethical behaviour that infected segments of the country's press.
Lord Justice Brian Leveson says a new regulatory body should be established in law to prevent more people from being hurt by "press behaviour that, at times, can only be described as outrageous."
Lord Justice Leveson reported at the end of a year-long ethics inquiry triggered by revelations of tabloid phone hacking. His proposals will likely be welcomed by victims of press intrusion and some politicians who want to see the country's voracious reined in. But some editors and lawmakers fear any new regulator could curtail freedom of the press.
British Prime Minister David Cameron set up the inquiry after revelations of illegal eavesdropping by now-defunct News of the World tabloid sparked a criminal investigation and a wave of public revulsion.
Leveson criticised the cozy relationship between politicians, police and the press, but he insisted in his 2,000-page report that politicians and the government should play no role in regulating the press.
Parliament would have to approve any legal changes the report recommends, and Mr Cameron is under intense pressure from both sides. He is also tainted by his own ties to prominent figures in the scandal.
It erupted in 2011 when it was revealed that the News of the World had eavesdropped on the mobile phone voicemails of slain schoolgirl Milly Dowler while police were searching for the 13-year-old.
News Corporation shut down the 168-year-old newspaper in July 2011. News Corp's U.K. newspaper company, News International, has paid millions in damages to dozens of hacking victims and faces lawsuits from dozens more.
Former News International editors and journalists subsequently charged with phone hacking, police bribery or other wrongdoing include Mr Cameron's former spokesman, Andy Coulson, and ex-News of the World editor Rebekah Brooks, a friend of the prime minister.
Mr Coulson and Ms Brooks were appearing in court today on charges of paying public officials for information.
Mr Cameron, who received a copy of Leveson's report a day early, is due to make a statement about it in the House of Commons later.
He and other senior politicians insist they will not curb Britain's long tradition of free speech.
"Everybody wants two things: firstly, a strong, independent, raucous press who can hold people in positions of power to account, and secondly to protect ordinary people - the vulnerable, the innocent - when the press overstep the mark," Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said.
"That's the balance that we are trying to strike and I am sure we will."
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