Leveson five years on: the effect of the Leveson and Filkin Reports on relations between the Metropolitan Police and the national news media

This paper re-examines certain previous conclusions from the classic literature on police/media relations in the United Kingdom in the wake of the Filkin and Leveson Reports. The paper draws on interviews with senior Metropolitan Police officers, press officers and national crime journalists and argues that previous conclusions about asymmetrical relations favouring the police are partially problematic, with the media being in possession of key resources that often give them the upper hand. The paper also explores the role of new media in crime reporting and exposing police misconduct and suggests a new transfiguration may be emerging in police/media relations, allowing the media partially to bypass police sources.