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Editor Graham Johnson on why Byline Investigates chose to be independently regulated.

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This interview is part of a series featured in Hacked Off's new report:

Ten Years of Press Freedom.

Ten years after the phone hacking scandal there has been a revolution in Britain's media landscape, with the creation of the first ever independent press regulator IMPRESS - which is now even more popular than the national press' industry-controlled complaints-handler, IPSO. Despite attacks from Government and the national press, the Leveson system of independent regulation is thriving.

This report, with research and interviews with journalists, investigates the media standards revolution, and the pioneering publishers leading the way.

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[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Byline Investigates: the name strikes terror into the hearts of wrongdoers on Fleet Street - and rightly so. Set up in the wake of the phone hacking scandal, Byline Investigates reports on allegations of criminal activity in the press - particularly tabloid newspapers, and has racked up a remarkable number of scoops over the last few years. The Daily Mail - which has frequently argued that legal claims against the press "chill" free speech - once threatened to sue them.

Editor Graham Johnson says Byline Investigates aims to reveal new and exclusive stories, without commentary. It is made up of a team of former and current journalists and private investigators.

“Our work involves tracking down new witnesses and sources and persuading them to go on the record”.

“And we also write court reports on media litigations at the high court,” says Graham.

As an investigative journalist, Graham worked for Mirror Group newspapers for eight years. And now, as an expert on newspaper tabloid culture, he works to expose wrongdoing and illegality at national newspapers.

“Our coverage is driven by the story. But when we started it [felt like] an obligation because, at the time, mainstream newspapers weren’t reporting on these litigations”.

Graham continues, "Investigating reporting is a messy, thankless, time consuming process. It involves tracking down new evidence and documents, going over interviews and timelines over and over again.

“You have to have a lot of patience. It may be your instinct to get the story out, but actually you’ve got to sit on it. But time is great for sussing out the facts.

“You may get threatened, leaned on or even bribed. You have to have a thick skin.

“It’s a dark world and you need people you trust. Writing about press abuse is no different than writing about organised crime.

You have to be able to spot genuine people who want to help, and those who have ulterior motives.”

“Being a member of a regulator and joining IMPRESS has been a good thing”.

“There’s a lot of people who need regulation and should welcome it. Who needs to be reminded of regulation, as in the heat of battle it can be so easy to forget the rules.”

“IMPRESS training is very good, it’s organic and not formal. Having that network of support is really important, because it sparks conversations around ethics and regulation.”

Graham adds,“And they are truly independent and aren’t run by the newspapers.

“They aren’t too involved, and they’re open to having conversations on changes we’d like made. For example, in the arbitration process.”

“It makes each reporter think about regulation, which is important. Which is something you don’t necessarily have to always think about, if you were working for a tabloid.”[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]

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