.png)
.png)
.png){kind=logo}
28/06/2026
Liz Pendleton
In temperatures literally hotter than the Sahara*, victims, survivors Hillsborough campaigners and high profile individuals united against the UK's shambolic press regulatory system gathered for the Better Media Rally - at Westminster’s Methodist Central Hall
A diverse list of speakers, delivered powerful messages and detailed their own experiences of abuse, stings and press lies, along with testimony from academics and environmental experts.
Hacked Off Board director Hugh Grant spoke of his wish that the future Prime Minister ‘whoever it might be’ would finally stand up for the public interest and deliver the change the Labour Party have promised.
He said: “When you’re weighing up whether to protect vulnerable people from giant corporations and their agendas, or to cosy up to those giant corporations for your own political career, bear this in mind, those media organisations are going to pour a bucket of **** over you, whatever you do, whether you support them or whether you don’t.
“So this is a chance for someone new to be in my opinion a statesman instead of a politician. To govern instead of justice playing Westminster snakes and ladders. To protect the public, rather than protect vested interest.”
Our current ‘protector’ IPSO (the sham regulator) upholds a microscopic 0.6% of complaints received, taking on average 6 full months to process a single complaint, forcing victims through a grueling, bureaucratic war of attrition.
In the case of Misan Harriman IPSO received an unprecedented 22,390 public complaints after he was targeted by the press across a number of publications.
The number, almost 5 times as many as all the complaints made to IPSO in 2025, [1] -were a response to the renowned photographer and chairman of the Southbank centre’s brutal treatment by the Daily Telegraph, The Times, the Daily Mail, and the Daily Express which has triggered widespread condemnation.
Misan spoke passionately of the importance of a fair and accountable press. He said: “The Fourth Estate is supposed to be the last pillar of any democratic society that holds the powerful to account.
“I came to ask those who have access to the corridors of power, those who lobby, those who understand how best to make this country better, to hold the whole Fourth Estate to account — because impunity must not have dominion over accountability.”
The true scale of public fury about Harriman’s treatment by the press is likely to be even higher a spokesperson from NewsCord - an app designed to help spot and respond to press bias - said they helped those outraged by the coverage to submit an estimated 109,000 complaints to IPSO.
X-factor global super star Tulisa Contostavlos, who was ruthlessly targeted and duped by a tabloid sting, announced the launch of her new press reform campaign - aligning closely with Hacked Off - with placards reading ‘Fair & True: Regulation’s Overdue.’ On the mic, she took aim at the heart of the matter.
“Right now there is a deep and dangerous lack of trust between the press and the public. It is meant to serve and where there is mistrust, there is division. Imagine a Britain where people actually trusted the press to tell them the truth. Imagine how much else we could fix if we could rebuild that trust.”
“I don't know of any other industry in this country with this much power over people's lives, where the regulator is funded by the very organisations it is supposed to regulate.”
The singer isn’t alone in demanding change. 71% of the British public support a press regulation system that is completely independent of both newspaper publishers and politicians. But IPSO isn’t independent - it’s owned and controlled by the same newspaper publishers it’s supposed to regulate, and for most of its life was chaired by a former Conservative minister and member of the House of Lords.
Despite persistent inaccuracies, discrimination, and media abuse perpetrated by the press over more than a decade, IPSO has initiated exactly zero standards investigations and levied zero fines. A genuinely independent and bonafide regulator exists - it’s aptly called Impress - but the largest publishing companies still refuse to clean up their act .
The Better Media Rally saw many on stage courageously re-telling the personal stories that our shameful news system sold as frontpage scandal, when the real scandal is the organisation’s lack of moral accountability, ethics or integrity.
As singer Lisa Moorish said “Will Andy Burnham now implement Leveson two, where Starmer and the Labour Party failed to meet our demands and deliver? For me, Starmer attending the Murdoch Summer Party, is one of the worst betrayals to the British people to me personally, and those in this room who have been victims of press abuse from The Sun, The Times, The Mail and Telegraph.”
Whether by lies, omission, disinformation or intrusion - by bravely explaining how press abuse changed their lives forever, speakers walked the path from victim, to survivor and on to take the mic as determined and visionary changemakers.
Professor Des Freedman, co-founder of the Media Reform Coalition, channelled the classic film Network to sum up the collective fury in Central Hall: “We’re as mad as hell, and we are not going to take it anymore."
“If you’re also mad as hell, and won’t take it anymore, Hacked Off is the campaign for you.”
So, what next for the cranked up campaigners? With broad support from across Parliament and an anticipated incoming Prime Minister with a strong record on Leveson 2 and independent press regulation, there a compelling reasons to be hopeful about the future.
*Daytime temperatures currently average 37 degrees in the Sahara desert. London yesterday, was 38 degrees. Talking of 38 degrees - did you know, 82,417 people signed our last petition on the 38 Degrees website to call Keir Starmer to bring in fair, independent regulation? You can add your name here.
We intend to increase the heat right under the seat of the next leader of Labour. But we can't do it alone.
Join our WhatsApp channel to stay tuned for the next phase of the campaign.
P.S. Though the outside temperature was as hot as hell, luckily the rally was held in the much cooler basement of Central Hall, complete with air conditioning. We’re mad as hell, but we’re not mad enough to hold a rally outside in a heatwave.
[1] - Press Gazette https://pressgazette.co.uk/news/ipso-notifies-information-commissioner-over-ai-generated-misan-harriman-complaints/
13 other quotes not to be missed from the rally:
Singer-songwriter; phone-hacking and press-intrusion campaigner
"For me, Keir Starmer attending the Murdoch Summer Party is one of the worst betrayals to the British people... How can any politician or political leader rubbing shoulders with press barons be trusted in any way, shape, or form? The right-wing press have been key in whipping up division... so we don't look at them and their cosy elite billionaire club with their fancy tax evasion schemes. Let's keep up the fight. Continue to grow this movement until real change is made."
“All those promises, all that work in Parliament, all that agreement, all those promises made to us as an organisation and to individual victims — word just fell away… Now, even if it is fourteen years later, all those culture secretaries and all those prime ministers, many of whom made us promises in person that they would act, have reneged. We have had enough.”
Hillsborough Law Now (statement read by Jacqui Hames) Daughter of a Hillsborough victim,
“Survivors of the Hillsborough disaster were wrongfully blamed, and The Sun newspaper was complicit… There is no doubt that the coverage from The Sun contributed to the length of time it took to expose the truth about Hillsborough. Don’t buy The Sun.”
MP for Pontypridd; former Victims Minister
“I have pledged to always be that voice for victims, because stepping down doesn’t mean stepping back. And I will always ensure that their voices are heard by those who aren’t the wealthy, the rich, the powerful — so that they always get a fair hearing.”
Media regulator; former BBC Trust member
“Let’s see whether Andy Burnham grasps the importance of securing a British press where truth still matters, where facts still matter, where honesty and decency still matter, where individuals matter - and, most of all, where the interest of an informed democracy matters.”
Writer and philosopher; phone-hacking victim
“If the press continue to exercise their freedom of speech without also exercising an element of responsibility, they are jeopardising an enormous privilege. A society in which the police and elected government officials kowtow to a small group of unelected press barons is not, in my opinion, a democracy.”
Charity leader; phone-hacking victim
“The free press is essential- this is not an attack on press freedom. But freedom without accountability is not freedom, it’s privilege. No institution should be privileged beyond the law, nor have the licence to intimidate with impunity.”
Professor of Media Law, University of Leeds
“Leveson recognised that press malpractice causes real harm to real people.Leveson represents a promise - a promise to effect real change, to ensure that this real harm to real people ends. That has not happened.”
Labour Party politician
"I took the difficult decision in 2014 to come out about my gender identity.and received widespread positive coverage, except from The Sun. This is transphobia. This is about division, and it was undermining me as a woman and a disabled woman. But the pushback from the public in support of me was significant. Britain deserves a better press system than we have today. Everyone in our society deserves respect."
Beauty therapist; subject of a Mail on Sunday story
“They looked at me and saw a single working-class mum, and they didn’t think I could do anything about it. They were wrong about that.”
Professor of Colonialism and Heritage; local councillor
“People attempted to silence me in the name of freedom. Fortunately, I’m still here to tell the tale, and it’s only made me stronger.”
Clinical psychologist, gender healthcare specialist
“It shouldn’t be down to private citizens to have to launch their own legal cases and sue big, large media corporations just to get the record set straight. That’s the role of a regulator — an independent body that should be doing that as a matter of course.”
Hacked Off Board director and former Culture Secretary
“When this issue comes up, courage tends to become absent and cowardice tends to prevail — we’ve got to find a way of breaking through that and find somebody who’s willing to do the right thing.”
Media and PR manager, Refuge
"Domestic abuse is arguably the biggest issue facing women and children... Media directly impacts the steps a survivor may make or the way a family member or friend feels about intervening... Too often we see homicide coverage referred to as 'crimes of passion' or implying it was something the victim did to court his behaviour. These narratives must be challenged every single time we see them. We need to eradicate misogynistic and victim-blaming language from the media. It's a vital step to ultimately eradicating domestic abuse from society."
Director of the Centre for Media Monitoring
"Islamophobia has passed the dinner party test... Today, it's passed the politicians' test and it's certainly passed the media's test. We actually have a two-tier media where the media deals with different communities in a different way... Muslim communities and other minoritized communities are constantly attacked, dehumanised, and othered... Enough is enough. We do not want to see these newspapers and broadcasters propagating hate and division which end up on the streets of Britain."
By submitting your details you agree to receive email updates about the campaign. We will always keep your data safe and you may unsubscribe at any time.
.png)