National police guidance that compares journalists with criminals has been demolished in a great victory for freedom of the press.
A top police chief yesterday started the 'unique essential role' of the media in keeping officers to take into account the secret guidance.
All officers had advised that they had to treat journalists as a potential corruption risk, with the same suspicion as criminals, suspects and extremists.
It is after media groups, including the Crime Reporters Association and the Society of Editors, have been campaigning for more than two years to delete corruption guidance.
They argued that it contributed to a breakdown in the vital relationship between the police and the press.
In 2022 it was created in a power inspect report that secret guidelines were drawn up by the College of Policing Listing Journalists in addition to convicted perpetrators and suspects, advising an association can form a corruption risk or cause a conflict of interest.
The 'Reported Associations' policy obliged all police officers and employees to tell their employer if they had contact with journalists.
National Police Guidance that compares journalists with criminals has been demolished in a great victory for freedom of the press
College of Policing Chief Executive Sir Andy Marsh has said that the new guidance is now being issued to all police services in England and Wales
Now the College of Policing has revised the document to make it clear to officers that relationships with professionals such as lawyers and journalists, who can cause a conflict of interest, are independent of connections with perpetrators.
College of Policing Chief Executive Sir Andy Marsh said: 'The media hold a unique essential role for the police by reporting both about our public calls for information while we call ourselves to account, and without this the public will not be well served.
'The media have made strong representations to make changes to the national guidelines for the police and I agree that there should be a clear separation between legitimate professions and they are investigated or with criminal records.
'In recent years, the relationship between the police and the media has cooled and in the meantime we have seen the rise of wrong information online.
“We are now working together to make changes, so that the public has access to timely and accurate information to keep them and their families safe.”
The new guidance is now issued on all police services in England and Wales.
Rebecca Camber, chairman of the Crime Reporters 'Association (CRA) said:' In 2022, the CRA complained that the national counter-corruption guidance for officers equalized the profession of journalism, extremists and suspects.
'We are pleased that the College of Policing has agreed to change this guidance as recognition of the key role that journalists play to keep the public informed of the police and the forces of the statement.
“In recent years, the relationship between the police and the media has cooled and in the meantime we have seen the rise of wrong information online,” said College of Policing Chief Executive Sir Andy Marsh
'Media reporting not only helps to resolve crimes, but it also helps to bring perpetrators to court and to keep communities safe.
“We believe that this is an important step towards the reconstruction of a successful working relationship between police services and the media that remains essential for the trust of the public and supervising legitimacy in the UK.”
Dawn Alford, executive director at the Society of Editors, said: 'Society welcomes this long-awaited decision of the College of Policing to reset his national guidance in countercorruption that runs the risk of comparing the media industry to unjustly with the misconduct and corruption that wants to expose it.
'Journalists play a crucial role on behalf of the public to bring perpetrators to court.
'A successful and professional working relationship between officers and journalists remains essential for checking legitimacy in the UK.
“We hope that this new guidance sends a strong message that a healthy working relationship between the media and the police must be promoted and that, as recognized by the college, the media and the police, have to work together to herald a new era of communication and cooperation.”
