This undermines actual parity by creating a false sense of the right to reply.  A right to reply would be no more of a fig leaf than voluntary self-regulation that has so bedevilled the media in so many countries. Responsible journalists and publications are already involved in the process where it is useful and others would use it as an excuse to avoid real regulation.  It is comparatively rare for the damage to be done at the level of factual data but signing up to making those corrections (indeed the requirement to give equal parity would allow papers to make a great song and dance about the fact) would mask the real story that opinions and comment are what really trash reputations – along with the half-facts and insinuations mentioned in the previous argument.  Different countries tackle press regulation in different ways. In some the threat to freedom of speech comes from over-regulation, in others from an over-mighty press drowning out dissent. The right of reply seems to answer neither concern – the paper will always have the last word as it can respond to the response or simply press its case more subtly. A right of reply hides that fact and creates a false sense of parity between the two.