At the time of giving evidence, Megone was Professor of Interdisciplinary Applied Ethics at Leeds University, having led a successful £3 million bid for a new Centre of Excellence in Teaching and Learning in Inter-Disciplinary Ethics, of which he became director. Told the Inquiry that there was a significant public interest in a free press, but the social purpose or interest which the press serves is not guaranteed to be achieved simply by the freedom given by lack of censorship. The public had an interest in a press which was more than simply "free" in that sense, he said.
