Born 1957. Journalist and author and former press secretary to Tony Blair as Leader of the Opposition (1994-97) and as Prime minister (1997-2000). From 2000-2003, he was director of communications for the Labour Party (2000-03). Before 1994, he had been political editor of Today newspaper and the Daily Mirror. Campbell gave detailed testimony on the political media and what he saw as the decline of genuine investigative journalism and the increasing tendency of owners, editors and senior journalists to wish to be political players. Embellishment and pure invention were tolerated and encouraged by some editors and owners, he said.
Set up by the Press Council to raise a levy on the newspaper and periodical industries to finance the Council, which had previously been funded directly by newspaper proprietors. Known as "PressBoF", it later funded the Press Complaints Commission. This arrangement was intended to ensure secure and independent financial support for effective self-regulation. The Board ceased to operate following the abolition of the Press Complaints Commission in 2014, and it was dissolved in August 2016.
