Mirror urged to set up vetting group

SHAREHOLDERS in Trinity Mirror are urging the newspaper group to set up an independent editorial committee to consider vetting contentious articles ahead of publication.

Investors are keen to avoid a repeat of the fake photos debacle that cost editor Piers Morgan his job at the Daily Mirror, the group's flagship title.

Sources close to Trinity Mirror say the company would be likely to resist such a move.

However, it is examining its own performance after the sacking of Morgan a fortnight ago after the Mirror published pictures purporting to show British troops abusing Iraqi prisoners. The newspaper later accepted that the pictures were faked.

US investors applied pressure on the board to act, having previously let it be known that they were unhappy with the newspaper's criticisms of President Bush.

One shareholder said: 'Piers Morgan had carte blanche to take decisions and they are reviewing whether that is the right thing to continue with. Some form of internal committee to handle especially sensitive stories could be a solution.'

Trinity Mirror would not be the first newspaper publisher to introduce a committee to oversee editorial issues - both the Daily Express and The Times have had such committees in the past.