But its findings have been openly mocked by journalists and publications it has found to have breached standards, including News Corp, which has allowed its journalists to call the body “foolish” and “idiots”.
Yet if the government ever tried to regulate, the first thing the Murdoch press would do is talk about the Press Council and how good the self-regulation system is.
Guardian Australia is not a member of the Australian Press Council but it has an independent readers’ editor who investigates complaints and publishes corrections and clarifications.
I wasn't aware of that. I'd be interested to know why. I guess it being a largely Murdoch-funded initiative might factor into it, but I suppose also that a publication doesn't really need a self-regulatory body to deflect from the introduction of government regulation if that publication isn't constantly doing the kind of stuff that warrants regulation (like News Corporation is).