MediaGuardian wonders if the tabloid hoaxers featured in London Film Festival entry, Chris Atkins’ Starsuckers have done us a favour.

One view is that stories about celebrities are so unimportant (yes, they are) that it doesn’t matter if journalists lie about them and make stuff up.

It matters.

Every lie and piece of fictional ‘news’ published by the Shag Rags does further damage to the credibility of the press as a whole, and thus its value as a purveyor of news and truth. That’s serious at a time when conditions are so harsh for the printed media. It has become more important than ever that those papers who wish to be seen as ongoing providers of reliable, in-depth investigative journalism maintain the highest standards. Only that way can they maintain their worth in comparison with online news services.

Of course it’s only one section of the press who regularly abuse the truth and their readers’ trust, but as long as the whole industry insists on identifying itself as one type of medium, the less reckless press will suffer.

Most tellingly, the Redtops are seen to consider the PCC as a very minor irritant, who don’t even have the power to penalise miscreants. A reporter from the People - an ambitious, pushy little woman – dismissed the sanctions that can be imposed by the PCC as utterly trivial and not worth worrying about. “All it means is a little apology somewhere in the paper. You get a slap on the wrist; you get recorded on the PCC, but there’s no money [fine to pay].” Self-regulation is starkly revealed as the sick joke most observers consider it. The new chairman, Baroness Buscombe has barely uttered a squeak in the aftermath of The Screws admission of guilt over grossly illegal hacking of Gordon Taylor’s phone. The PCC is a toothless, gutless busted flush – a sham to which editors like Paul Dacre pretend to offer obeisance in a bid to keep a proper, independent regulator off their backs. [See my earlier blog on PCC]

There is also a strong case now, in the public interest, for newspaper employees to be officially qualified and rated as reliable purveyors of news – in the same way that only qualified nursing homes, or law firms or accountants can go about their business. No one would seriously challenge the concept that only qualified professionals should be allowed to dispense law, medicine or tax advice.

At present, any compulsive liar can enter the realms of journalism and be welcomed with open arms if an editor thinks their stories – however they are acquired – will sell newspapers. Take for example, the News of the World management, who have allowed Mazher Mahmood, their Investigations Editor not only to make up stories but to set them up and cast them,in such a way, time and place that the police can be called to make arrests (which have frequently led to costly, abortive prosecutions ) after the critical moment on a Saturday evening when it’s too late for their ‘scoop’ to be discovered and spoiled by their rivals.

Perhaps only those papers consistently meeting the required standards should be allowed the luxury of self-regulation. While the feral beasts of the tabloid press should be subjected to all the restraint, regulation and chastisement they deserve.

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