ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how the issue of press reform played out in the UK following the publication of the Leveson Report in November 2012. It outlines the subsequent implications for access to justice and for protection of the “ordinary people” singled out by Leveson as the primary intended beneficiaries of regulatory reform. The chapter deals with a summary of the historical context of regulatory interventions in the UK press, which is essential to understanding the response of the UK press to Leveson. The chapter also outlines the reception of the Leveson recommendations, and the negotiations between political actors and the newspaper industry that culminated in the production of rival regulatory systems. It considers the implications of the outcomes five years after Leveson reported, where no settled resolution has yet been reached. There are lessons to be drawn from the post-Leveson process that have implications for media regulation beyond the UK.
