More than 200 celebritiies, from JK Rowling to Rowan Williams, feature in Hacked Off ad supporting the press censorship system rejected by publishers. More than 200 leading figures from the arts and academia, including writers, film-makers, actors,
comics and broadcasters, have signed a declaration of support for a system of press censorship underpinned by royal charter. They include Danny Boyle, Michael Palin, Sir Tom Stoppard, Sir David Attenborough, Sir Alan Ayckbourn, Alan Bennett, Dame
AS Byatt, Irvine Welsh, Bob Geldof, Ian McEwan, John Cleese, VS Naipaul, Sir Ranulph Fiennes and the former archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams. Their names appear in full-page advertisements published in three national titles. The
declaration, and the assembling of the names, has been organised by Hacked Off. But the royal charter has been rejected by the overwhelming majority of newspaper and magazine publishers, who are on the verge of creating a new regulator, the
Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso). Its founders have said they will not seek recognition under the royal charter, which they regard as state restriction on press freedom . |