Olivia Colman, recipient of an Academy Award, 4 BAFTAs and two Golden Globe awards, joins activists Salma Yaqoob and Sajda Mughal OBE as well as fellow multi-award winning actor, writer and comedian Steve Coogan and many more free expression advocates, Parliamentarians and well known personalities in pointing the finger at IPSO over rising racism and Islamophobia in the press.IPSO, the publishers’ association which handles complaints against newspapers, has failed to take action against a series of examples of racist and Islamophobic coverage in newspapers which are cited alongside the letter. The open letter has now been signed by almost 100 well known people, as well as thousands of members of the public. The letter is published in full, with the full list of signatories, here.Each day brings another influx of signatories, as the pressure grows on the IPSO association to take action.No national newspaper has yet covered the letter, despite the extraordinary list of signatories.Hacked Off’s Director Kyle Taylor said,

“The latest signatories to the Hacked Off open letter on racism in the press ratchets up the pressure on IPSO, and show how low the complaints-handler is held in public opinion. Racist press abuse on their watch has become a national scandal, which IPSO appear both unwilling and unable to resolve.“The sheer volume of signatories on this letter shows that when it comes to racist and Islamophobic abuse in newspapers, the public hold IPSO at least as responsible as publishers. They are effectively enablers of this abuse. The only way for IPSO to escape collapse and to attain public confidence is to reform and become certified as independent and effective under the Leveson framework.”

ENDSFor press enquiries contact: sara@hackinginquiry.org and 07554 665 940NOTESHacked Off is the campaign for a free and accountable press, and we work with the victims of press abuse to achieve those aims.