Philippa Kennedy, who handles complaints from readers, says she has detected a 'sea change' in attitudes at the newspaper
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guardian.co.uk, Friday 5 April 2013 14.07 BST
The Sun’s readers’ editor, Philippa Kennedy, told a conference she believed journalists at the paper had been ‘badly affected’ by the Leveson inquiry.
The Sun's readers' editor, Philippa Kennedy, has said that she detects a "sea change" in attitude among its journalists in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal and Leveson inquiry.
Kennedy, who was appointed as the Sun's ombudsman in September, is responsible for handling complaints from readers and liaising with the Press Complaints Commission.
She told a journalism conference at the London School of Economics on Friday that she has experienced some resistance to publishing clarifications and corrections in the Sun.
"I've been there seven months, and so far I've managed to find resolutions for 70 cases," she said at the Polis event in London. "Sometimes it's necessary; sometimes it's a kind of a half-apology, a clarification in the paper. And you get resistance in the paper, some people say 'why are we running all these clarifications?'
"And I say 'well the difference is that one paragraph is probably four or five weeks of negotiation … and the alternative is a 600-word adjudication against the newspaper'. Sometimes I don't please either side, sometimes I please both sides."
Asked by media commentator Steve Hewlett whether she believed her appointment had an impact on newsgathering at the title, Kennedy said: "I hope that they're taking it seriously and I sort of detect a sea change at the Sun. I do, really. I think people have been badly affected by Leveson and by the revelations."
Kennedy was a reporter at the Sun in the 1970s and 1980s, before moving to the Daily Express, where she became its first female news editor. She was editor of Press Gazette from 1998 until 2002 and awarded an OBE in 2003 for services to journalism.
Her appointment was part of a pledge by the Sun to strengthen its "bond of trust" with readers ahead of Rupert Murdoch's launch of the seven-day Sun in March 2012.
Asked whether she believed the newspaper industry faced a crisis moment, Kennedy said: "Totally, totally. It's about a nervous breakdown [in the industry]. People are frightened, they're worried.
"I have nothing to do with the daily editorial process, but I have been approached a couple of times, especially [about] stories where children are involved – children and sex is a very difficult area – and I've had to say I think the PCC would take a dim view of it. For example, an under-16 [year old] who's got sexual problems is just a no-go area. There are a lot of areas now that are no-go areas."
Kennedy said she believed Sun journalists get "very bad press" because they "choose the most sensational angle" for a story.
Kennedy was on a panel alongside Alexi Mostrous, the Times special correspondent, Martin Hickman, the Independent's consumer affairs correspondent, and Neil Wallis, former executive editor of the News of the World.
Wallis was told last month that he would face no further action after being arrested under Scotland Yard's Operation Weeting inquiry into phone hacking. He told the conference that the newspaper industry would be "stupid" if it did not accept it had overstepped the mark, but described David Cameron's plans for a tighter regulation as tantamount to the end of a free press.
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