THE sharper-eyed among you may have noticed a small change to the Argus this week.

Details about how to complain if we get things wrong have altered.

You can find this information on our letters page every day in the printed newspaper, and via the 'Contact Us' button on our website (you'll find this at the bottom of every page on our site).

The change happened on Monday and has happened because the Argus, like the vast majority of the British printed media, is now regulated by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso).

Ipso has replaced the Press Complaints Commission (PCC).

The PCC was a busted flush after the Leveson inquiry into the behaviour of some national newspapers.

I've expressed my support for the PCC before in this column and I still remain of the belief that it was a robust organisation that worked extremely well for the local and regional press.

Unfortunately, the failure of some national newspapers to take the PCC seriously added to the PCC's inability to hold those newspapers to account meant the organisation was fatally discredited in the eyes of the public.

Ipso came into being on Monday. I don't think anyone in the newspaper industry will claim the new body is the perfect answer to the problems unearthed by the Leveson inquiry.

But it is as close as we are going to get to proper regulation without the involvement of the state. And state regulation would signal the end of a free press in this country.

Ipso works differently to the PCC and has more powers than its predecessor. Complying with Ipso is certainly a more onerous task for local and regional newspapers.

Some, notably the Hacked Off group that purports to represent those who have suffered at the hands of the Press, do not recognise or support Ipso. They believe its is flawed because it is financed by the Press.

My view is a regulator paid for by the industry it regulates is better - providing those who sign up to it abide by its rules and adjudications - than expecting the taxpayer to fund it.

There are people involved with Hacked Off with whom I have the utmost sympathy. The Dowlers, the McCanns and Christopher Jeffries, among others, were all treated appallingly by some national newspapers.

Others in the group, however, I simply refuse to accept moral guidance from - the likes of Hugh Grant and Steve Coogan, for instance.

I do not doubt for a second that my colleagues in the local and regional newspaper industry across the UK will respect Ipso and the Editors' Code of Practice. Why? Because we always did when the PCC was in existence.

Whether the new regulator will succeed or fail depends entirely on the behaviour of Britain's national newspapers.

If they heed the lessons and warnings from the phone hacking scandal and the Leveson inquiry, then Ipso has a chance.

If they do not, then it has none and the next step will be state regulation of the Press.

I do not believe anyone wants that. Over to you, Fleet Street.