PCC shows its teeth; they're broken

News from the Select Committee hearings that the Express Newspapers could be kicked out of the Press Complaints Commission illustrates both how weak the PCC is, and how seriously Richard Desmond takes newspaper publishing.

According to the Press Gazette, Tim Bowdler of PressBof said that, if the PCC decided to stop adjudicating complaints about Express Newspapers, those titles would face additional costs as complainants would have no choice but to go to the courts.

So the PCC not adjudicating complaints against the Express and the Star is meant to be a punishment? I can't work that out - the last thing most complainants want to do is go through a lengthy, costly court battle, especially if the dispute is a relatively minor one, so they probably won't complain at all. Which will result in the Express getting away with even worse journalism than it already manages.