Hugh Grant has called for European legislators to tackle the issue of media power, continuing his crusade for better regulation of the press.
Mr Grant has played an instrumental role in bringing the media to account for their, at times, shameful practices. He was responsible for secretly taping a former News of the World journalist who revealed crucial information on the extent of the hacking scandal.
However, despite the ongoing and far-reaching Leveson Inquiry into media ethics Mr Grant doubts whether changes can ever be made unless individuals such as Rupert Murdoch face legal limitations on the amount of the media they can control.
Mr Grant met Neelie Kroes, the senior EU media regulator on Tuesday.
"Europe in our dreams would help us to restrict... the amount of a certain media that you could own," said Mr Grant afterwards.
"Otherwise you have these big corporations dictating our public life," he said.
Mr Grant was the victim of phone hacking earlier in his career and has been the subject of several media revelations, most notably in the mid-nineties when he was caught by police in America indulging in the services of a prostitute.
The Leveson Inquiry is set to commence hearings into its fourth module at the beginning of July. This will look at how regulation can work to promote freedom of the press whilst encouraging high ethical standards.
Mr Grant remains hopeful that the inquiry will have a lasting effect on media practice.
"Things... have now been exposed to the public through the inquiry so I think the inquiry has done a very good job," he said.
"I hope the recommendations are strong enough. I have every faith that they will be. I think the real hurdle comes in trying to get them enacted because I think there are huge forces of conservatism lined up against doing something about this," he added.
Sources:
Actor Hugh Grant calls for EU media law (Reuters)
The bugger, bugged (The New Statesman)
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