Regional and national newspaper editors from across Britain have given evidence before the Leveson Inquiry on Wednesday.The editors were grouped together for questioning with John McLellan of the Scotsman, Spencer Feeney from the South Wales Evening Post, Jonathan Russell of the Glasgow Herald and Belfast Telegraph editor Mike Gilson appearing first.Russell told the inquiry online content was “popular” and the challenge of newspapers was to "monetise" it.He said authorising subterfuge was not always “a moral dilemma” and described sending Scotsman journalists undercover to a swingers' club. Gilson had a different view, explaining that he once spent four months before agreeing the details of an undercover story.When asked about corrections, Russell said there was a "vast difference" between factual inaccuracies and stories people "don't like".Gilson added: "The practice of same place, same prominence, I think are a problem... It would be disproportionate".Feeney said all corrections at South Wales Evening Post went on page three, but he had printed a front-page apology on one occasion.McLellan said: "I think we have to accept that the greatest transgressions have to be rectified in a suitable and proportionate manner".The editors discussed the importance of local newspapers in covering public proceedings.Feeney told the inquiry: "If a town loses its paper then clearly courts and councils aren't being reported and held up for public scrutiny".Gilson added: "Bloggers don't go to town halls or the courts".McLellan said he had a "healthy relationship" with politicians but a "certain amount of distance".Feeney said his dealings with government were not "cosy" but worked well. He added newspapers should talk to police officers freely.He said: "For us to limit who we can and can't talk to would be counter to everything we are about".He also wanted a "guarantee" that Scotland would have a voice in new regulation, and was in favour of a single body to make sure Scottish papers would not have to deal with two sets of rules in the future.Feeney said regulation should apply to all publications in the same way to make sure the regional press was not seen as a "second division". He said local press was in a "fragile financial state".He added: "I would say don't relate the PCC with something vastly more expensive".Next to the stand were Peter Charlton of the Yorkshire Post, Noel Doran from the Irish News, Maria McGeoghan of the Manchester Evening News and Nigel Pickover from the Ipswich Evening Star.All four editors said print circulation was a concern, but that reader numbers had been boosted by online content. Charlton called it a "transformation to a digital era".Lord Justice Leveson asked whether conscience clauses should be added to staff contracts.Doran said: "No one has come to me and said they have ethically a problem with a story we were undertaking".Charlton said: "I think honesty fairness and balance are the principles which guide the majority of regional papers".When asked about ethical practice, McGeoghan said the Manchester Evening News insisted on “treating people with courtesy and decency”.Pickover said: "We don't always get it right. We've all got to learn the power of being sorry". He told the inquiry that all journalists at the Evening Star carried a pocket-sized copy of the PCC code. He said an independent ombudsman was responsible for “poaching and gatekeeping” complaints and corrections at the newspaper.Pickover told the inquiry about tabloid interest in the 2006 Ipswich serial killings. He said national newspapers and television crews arrived in “great numbers” and were “desperate to beat each other to the latest angles”.Leveson asked if the Evening Star had suffered as the result of tabloid coverage. Pickover said a campaign launched by his paper in the aftermath of the tragedy had helped prevent a backlash.He said: “We were able to preserve our relationship with our readers”.Doran said the Irish News had been sued over restaurant review and ordered to pay damages of £25,000. The case was later appealed and overturned but the paper was left with extensive legal fees.He said: “So at the end of the day everybody paid on that particular case”.Charlton described the "annoyance and shock" felt in the regional press following the phone-hacking revelations.Doran added: "It's clearly a problem for the image and the reputation of journalism".McGeoghan said: "I think there has been a backlash. I've lost count now of the number of times I've been asked how you hack a phone or what the going rate for paying off a policeman is and it's not funny anymore".The editors praised the Press Complaints Commission in dealing with regional press. McGeoghan called the body "very effective" and said an upheld adjudication was a "badge of shame" for a newspaper.Charlton said the PCC have done a very good job for the regional press.He added: "I think that there is probably an expectation in the public and indeed the industry that there will be change".Pickover said the PCC needed to "beef things up" but that any change "shouldn't throw out the good things". Doran called it an "exemplary body", saying at he dealt with two to three complaints a month.All eight editors said they had not come across phone hacking at their publications. Doran told the inquiry he had heard about hacking on "anecdotal basis" in Belfast, but not at his paper.Read-only statements from Tim Blott (Glasgow Herald), Paul Connolly (Independent News and Media, Northern Ireland) and Peter McCall (Johnston Press) are available on the inquiry website.