Press: Editor, Heal Thyself

Britain's racy tabloids try internal reforms

Britain's tabloid newspapers have long slavered over the lurid and the voyeuristic, whether it be gruesome photographs of air-crash victims on the pages of the People or bare-bosomed women on page 3 of the Sun. But in recent months, the newspapers' owners have discovered that the regular diet of sex, scandal and sensationalism has resulted in parliamentary dyspepsia and growing public outrage. With the threat of government press curbs looming, 20 of the country's leading newspapers last week signed a broad code of ethics, which includes the hiring of mediators, ostensibly to slap down editors and reporters who place exploitation before...

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