Government Warns British Tabloids to ‘Clean Up Their Act’

The government warned Britain’s tabloid newspapers Friday to “clean up their act” or face laws to curb sensationalist journalism which has led to huge libel awards.

Home Office minister Timothy Renton, responding to public anger over the way tabloid newspapers fight their circulation wars, announced the setting up of an independent review of press behavior.

He told Parliament that the investigation will be completed within a year and will be followed by legislation if press behavior did not improve.

“Editors and publishers of the national press are on probation in this country,” Renton said. “They have a year or two to clean up their act.”

The review was disclosed as government supporters ensured the defeat of an attempt by opposition Labor Party legislator Tony Worthington to provide victims of unfair newspaper reports with a legal right of reply.

The government, which has had its own quarrels with the press, torpedoed Worthington’s proposals only because it considered them unworkable.

The exchanges in Parliament coincided with a meeting in London of the International Press Institute to discuss accusations by some journalists that Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has eroded press and broadcasting freedom in Britain.

Pressure for reform of the press has resulted from what critics say is its growing intrusions into the private lives of the famous, sexual smears and blatant invention of headline stories.

The Sun paid a record $1.7 million in libel damages to rock star Elton John last December after admitting that stories about him were untrue.