A full-time academic and freelance journalist, Petley has campaigned for a free press that maintains openness and public accountability. Professor of Journalism at Brunel University London at time of submitting evidence and a member of the editorial board of the British Journalism Review and the advisory board of Index on Censorship. Also a member of the National Council of the Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom and supporter of Hacked Off. He argued for a media free from restrictions which hinder the performance of proper social functions, and also for a media that lives up to standards of openness and public accountability.