WHEN the Press Complaints Commission was set up in 1991, British journalism was at an all time low.
In a democracy the media must be free, but competition between national tabloids had produced a press notorious for intrusiveness, tastelessness callus methods and chequebook journalism.
The only curb was the old Press Council, funded by the industry and widely seen as a "watchdog with false teeth".
A Press Free and Responsible: Self Regulation and the Press Complaints Commission, 1991-2001 by Richard Shannon, traces the development of the PCC in its first decade.
It reveals the struggles that divided the PCC and the industry, and the serious question of balancing public interest with an individual's right to privacy.
This book deals with the inside story of the great privacy battles between the politicians and the press during the first 10 years; Princess Diana's relationship with the press; the "Camillagate" tapes and the unmasking of Jonathan Aitken.
John Murray £25
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