Mayor of London Boris Johnson told ITV News, during a visit to India, that he did not "think it would be right to come up with statutory legislation" ahead of the publication of Lord Justice Leveson's report into press standards.
He added: "You need to have a free press to have a free society. If you want to keep the gutters of public life clean you need a gutter press."
18 months after David Cameron set up the judge-led public inquiry into press standards the Prime Minister faces a tough decision.
Read the full storyMayor of London Boris Johnson has said Lord Justice Leveson's imminent report on the future of press regulation should be taken "very seriously".
He told Murnaghan: "The present system has obviously failed and it doesn't carry confidence with the public at large."
He added that he did not want politicians influencing the media's agenda.
The Prime Minister is keeping an open mind about the future regulation of the press and will make no decisions before he has had sight of Lord Justice Leveson's report, Downing Street insisted.
According to a report in the Mail on Sunday, David Cameron will reject full-blown state regulation.
The newspaper claimed he would back a new, tougher model of self-regulation to replace the Press Complaints Commission - but with the threat that a statutory system could be brought in later if matters do not improve.
Sir Jeremy Heywood is reported to have told Prime Minister David Cameron about the conversation.
"Our clear impression was that he was spitting tacks with Gove and was ready to resign unless the Minister was told to shut up," a Government source told the newspaper.
Mr Gove, a former journalist at the News Corporation-owned Times, told a Parliamentary Press Gallery lunch in February that he saw "dangers" in the inquiry into press cultures, practices and ethics.
Lord Justice Leveson instructed his officials to compile a full report of the comments and he phoned Sir Jeremy within 24 hours, it was reported.
The Mail on Sunday reports that the judge leading the investigation into media ethics in the wake of the phone hacking scandal was poised to quit following a public attack on the probe by the Education Secretary.
Lord Justice Leveson complained to Downing Street's most powerful civil servant about claims made by Michael Gove that the inquiry had created a 'chilling atmosphere' towards freedom of Press, according to the Mail on Sunday.
In a telephone call with Cabinet Secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood he called for the Tory to be "gagged" and warned the inquiry was being undermined, it said.
