Through most of its history the council was funded by newspaper proprietors, with the stated aim of maintaining high standards of ethics in journalism.
By the time of the Second Royal Commission on the Press in 1962, the General Council had been subject to considerable criticism.
The commission's report demanded improvement, particularly the inclusion of members that were not employed by print media.
In response to two Private Members' Bills promoting privacy laws, the government set up a committee chaired by David Calcutt QC to investigate in 1989.
The new Commission would be given 18 months to prove non-statutory self-regulation could work effectively and if it failed to do so, then a statutory system would be introduced.