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Tieng Anh Vui
Newspapers are considering their next move after the government published a royal charter aimed at underpinning self-regulation of the press.
An industry steering group said it did not address newspapers' fundamental objections about political involvement.
One newspaper source told the BBC there was a "realistic prospect" of the industry taking legal action after its own proposals were rejected.
The government said the charter would safeguard freedom of the press.
Independent, self-regulation is being brought in after recommendations by the Leveson Inquiry.
Analysis
Getting politicians to agree is only part of the story.
It might even prove to be the easy bit.
Now they need the papers on board, and some of them will take a lot of convincing.
Sceptical titles have a trump card: they could just set up their own regulator by their own rules.
Get that running, think some, and the differences between one version of a Royal Charter and another will look pretty obscure.
So the culture secretary has got a lot of persuading to do.
Fail to get the press onside and the politicians could look pretty weak, and make some powerful enemies.
The inquiry into press ethics and practices was set up amid public and political anger at the extent of phone hacking by journalists, first exposed when it emerged that the now-closed News of the World had accessed the voicemail messages of murdered teenager Milly Dowler.
Question process
The industry steering group, which represents national, regional and local newspaper publishers, said the royal charter unveiled on Friday was not "voluntary or independent".
"This remains a charter written by politicians, imposed by politicians and controlled by politicians," the group said.
"It has not been approved by any of the newspapers or magazines it seeks to regulate."
But the group said it would look closely at changes agreed by the three main political parties at Westminster to try to make the charter more acceptable to the industry.
BBC political correspondent Ross Hawkins reported that a newspaper source said an application for judicial review was possible but no decision had been made.
Any such attempt would question the process that the Privy Council - a body, mostly made up of senior politicians, that advises the Queen - used to reject the newspaper industry's own proposals for a royal charter earlier this week.
'Battle not over'
Industry figures are concerned that the news was leaked to the BBC's Newsnight programme and the rejection decision was made by eight senior politicians behind closed doors, our correspondent added.
Many in the press are keen to get their own regulator set up as soon as possible.
The Daily Mirror, in an editorial on Saturday, said the "dispute is essentially about the principle of politicians interfering in newspapers".
The Spectator Editor Fraser Nelson: The press being regulated by politicians is "like allowing the foxes to regulate the chicken coop"
"The secretive Privy Council can slip out its charter - but this battle is not over," it said.
Daily Mail editor-in-chief Paul Dacre said the row between Ed Miliband and his newspaper over an article about the Labour leader's late father showed why politicians should not be involved in press regulation.
Writing in the Guardian, Mr Dacre said: "Some have argued that last week's brouhaha shows the need for statutory press regulation. I would argue the opposite.
"The febrile heat, hatred, irrationality and prejudice provoked by last week's row reveals why politicians must not be allowed anywhere near press regulation."
Final agreement
Cross-party political agreement on regulation comes after months of wrangling since Sir Brian Leveson published his report.
Culture Secretary Maria Miller said that the deal would safeguard the freedom of the press and the future of local newspapers.
The all-party draft proposals include plans for:
- A small charge for arbitration for people seeking redress from newspapers - as an alternative to expensive libel courts
- An opt-out for local and regional newspapers
- More involvement in decision making for the press and media industry
Labour called on the newspaper industry to "engage" with the new system and said there must be "no press boycott", but one magazine - the Spectator - immediately rejected the all-party plan.
The press and politicians have been deadlocked over what a new system of self-regulation would look like.
Some in the newspaper industry fear politicians will be given too much power over press regulation.
Brian Cathcart from Hacked off: "With these further concessions there can be no argument from the press that they should not participate in this"
Earlier this week, the Privy Council dismissed a system proposed by the press that would have prevented Parliament blocking or approving any future changes to regulation.
The culture secretary said the draft charter included "some really important changes" in an attempt to appease the press, but said there would be no movement on how the system could be amended.
The all-party charter states that changes to regulation could be made only with a two-thirds majority in Parliament.
Hacked Off, which campaigns on behalf of victims of press intrusion, said changes to the draft proposals meant there was no reason for the press to refuse to back the charter.
The proposals will be put to the Privy Council for final agreement on 30 October.
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