Naughty, but not that naughty

The raunchier they get, the more nervous the industry gets, at least in Great Britain. So called "lad mags" are in danger of being segregated to the top, back row of the newsstands, behind the modesty shields and in company with skin books unless the Periodical Publishers Association (PPA) can persuade the British Parliament otherwise.

According to a story in the Guardian, The PPA has written to Members of Parliament to argue against proposed new legislation. Claire Curtis-Thomas, the Labour MP for Crosby, Merseyside, has called for new laws to govern the display of lads' mags (such as Zoo and Loaded), men's lifestyle magazines and newspapers such as the Daily Sport and Daily Star. She wants magazines and papers containing sexually explicit material to be kept out of sight of children.

But the PPA (an industry trade group that is Britain's equivalent of Magazines Canada) believes existing voluntary Home Office guidelines are stringent enough (e.g. don't put lad mags like Zoo near comics such as the Beano, for instance).

"Magazine publishers and retailers believe the resultant code is strengthened, and its voluntary nature is far more effective and flexible than any statutory regulation, given that standards of taste and decency are constantly changing," the PPA said in its letter to MPs.

"Ultimately it is the retailers' responsibility to sell products, and to use their discretion and judgment as they see fit to display and sell those products, including magazines."

The letter added: "It has been acknowledged that 'lads' mags' do not contain pornographic material, and are not adult materials in the sense that they do not contain such material."