The phone-hacking scandals indicate that industry self regulation has failed to safeguard standards and accountability in the news media. A Media Commission is needed

Reports emerged yesterday that the News of the World allegedly hired a private investigator to hack into the voicemail of missing schoolgirl Milly Dowler back in 2002. Damian Tambini argues that such scandals are undermining the legitimacy of the Press Complaints Commission and that industry-led self regulation has clearly failed. We are now facing a critical juncture and a Media Commission should be appointed to review the current state of the news media and intervene where necessary.