What's the best way to ensure press standards while protecting press freedom?

This old chestnut has been preoccupying the media industry for some time and the question has come into particular focus as the Leveson Inquiry continues to examine press standards in Britain in the wake of the News of the World phone hacking scandal.

Speaking at the Leveson Inquiry yesterday, editor of the Daily Mail Paul Dacre advocated a new system of ensuring press standards by accrediting journalists.

Under the proposed system, news organisations and freelance agencies would have to voluntarily sign up to receive accreditation. Journalists convicted of serious misconduct would be struck off the list, much like doctors being struck off the Medical Register.

Described in the Daily Mail as "a badge of good journalism", an accredited press card would entitle journalists to attend, for example, government briefings, official press conferences and celebrity, sports and royal events.

Dacre stated: "The public at large would know the journalists carrying such cards are bona fide operators, committed to a set of standards and a body to whom complaints can be made."

The system would be run through a new independent body, working alongside the PCC and headed by a Press Ombudsman. According to the Mail, Dacre supported suggestions made by PCC chairman Lord Hunt last week. Speaking at the Leveson inquiry, Hunt recommended the creation of a more powerful PCC with three branches: one to mediate disputes, one to process complaints and one to uphold standards. Newspapers would sign up to the system through commercial contracts.

Dacre is not alone in advocating such a system. A report titled Better Journalism in the Digital Age has just been published by the Carnegie UK Trust, arguing that the creation of an independent body that officially accredited journalists would be an effective way to regulate the press.

Author of the report Blair Jenkins argues in The Guardian that a variety of public and private organisations already issue press passes to a "privileged club" of reporters in a system which effectively amounts to "informal licensing".

"But unlike most clubs, there are very few duties or obligations in return for the benefits and a new balance has to be struck," writes Jenkins.

Jenkins lists the benefits of a system of accreditation issued by a new, independent regulator: "It provides a clear link between benefits and obligations for serious news organisations. It provides a commercial imperative - a market incentive, if you like - for participation. It means that press regulation remains voluntary rather than statutory. It does nothing that interferes with editorial freedom."

However, others in the news industry are sceptical about the new suggestions. The Guardian's Roy Greenslade writes that he "cannot imagine too many journalists living in fear of losing accreditation privileges".

Greenslade raises four major objections to the plan: 1) so many sources are available online that many journalists don't need a press pass 2) journalists will be able to circumvent official accreditation rules 3) accreditation is too much like licensing and 4) some journalists are not in favour of privileged press access anyway, believing that its opposed to "proper non-diary, non-PR-organised journalism".

Greenslade adds that most online and citizen journalists will not accept codes of practice "and will laugh at the notion of accreditation".

Another Guardian journalist Dan Sabbagh raises similar objections to Paul Dacre's recommendations, although he doesn't dismiss the proposals out of hand. "Would third parties participate?" Sabbagh asks. "Could a hospital or the Department of Health, say, hold a press briefing closed to "accredited" reporters only?" Sabbagh also questions how bloggers and foreign media would fit into the system.

Still, Sabbagh believes the debate about accreditation is "worth having". "If newspapers wanted to get behind a scheme, and even promote it, it could have some merit in dealings with the public", he writes.

Sources: The Guardian (1) (2) (3) (4) Daily Mail Press Gazette

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