Why does the Code not cover issues of taste and decency?
Questions of taste and decency are always highly subjective, and if the PCC were to have to decide whether something was ‘tasteless’ or ‘offensive’, it could become a moral arbiter, thereby inhibiting newspapers’ right to free expression. Most editors are acutely aware of what is and is not acceptable to their readership. If they do publish material that causes offence to their readers, they know that they run the risk of their readers going elsewhere. The issue of taste is an interesting demonstration of how press regulation differs from the way that other media are regulated. Advertising billboards (and to a lesser extent television programmes, for example), contain information disseminated on a very wide scale, the consumption of which cannot necessarily be controlled. As anyone can look at an advert, it is necessary to ensure that all advertisements do not break basic standards of decency and taste. On the other hand, newspapers are actively purchased and therefore need not be subj
