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Professor Vaughan appointed to press regulation non-exec role at Editors’ Code of Practice Committee
8 January 2024
Professor Stevan Vaughan has been appointed to a non-executive role at the Editors’ Code of Practice Committee, which writes and reviews the Code setting out rules which newspapers and magazines regulated by IPSO have agreed to follow.
Professor Steven Vaughan, Professor of Law and Professional Ethics at UCL Laws, has been appointed as one of three independent lay members of the Editors’ Code of Practice Committee.
The Editors’ Code of Practice is the cornerstone of press regulation in the UK and is upheld and enforced by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO). The Code comprises a body of rules that newspaper and magazine industry members have agreed to accept. It sets the standards that newspapers and magazines can be held to account by IPSO and is part of the contract between IPSO and the newspapers and magazines it regulates.
The Code of Practice is a living document: flexible and responsive, changing with the times to reflect developments in circumstances, technology, and public attitudes. It is the job of the Editors' Code of Practice Committee to write, review and revise the Code, often considering suggestions for amendments from the public, or civil society, as well as from within the industry.
The Editors’ Code of Practice Committee comprises ten senior editors and five lay members, two from IPSO (the Chairman and Chief Executive) and three independents. The Chairman of the Committee is currently Chris Evans, editor of the Daily Telegraph.
Reflecting on his appointment, Professor Vaughan said:
"I am much looking forward to working with the editors and lay members of the committee on such a fundamental aspect of press regulation. My academic work is largely about professional standards – how to set those standards, how they have meaning, why people sometimes fall short of them – and I hope that expertise will be of use to the committee."
Professor Vaughan has a long history of public service, with former appointments at the Solicitors Regulation Authority, Legal Services Board, Law Society, and a number of charities and not-for-profits. He currently also sits as a non-exec independent Council Member on the council of the Health and Care Professions Council.