Newspaper Reaches New Low...

[Dave]

Something smells fishy here. I think you know by now that I'm not a fan of conspiracy theories, but it is clear that some people knew about about the revelations of the last 24 hours for 6 months, if not for many years. Previous to that, we knew that Royals, celebrities and politicians had all been hacked, but we didn't really care about them. But senior politicians and senior police must have known that it was much bigger than that. Now we know that the Police have opened and shut this case more times than a barn door, so are they incompetent or were they bribed? It is alleged that Rebekah Brooks is a friend of David Cameron. I can't substantiate that but her wikipedia page is a terrible indictment of the worst tabloid journalism. What a resume to have! David Cameron did employ Andy Coulson; poor judgement, or was he really so out of the loop that he didn't really know? Put it all together with the performances in Parliament this afternoon and the letters sent from Rebekah Brooks to the families affected. “You may fool all the people some of the time, you can even fool some of the people all of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all the time.”

[mosaix]

Originally Posted by Dave

It is alleged that Rebekah Brooks is a friend of David Cameron. I can't substantiate that...

Apparently they shared a family Christmas dinner.

[Tillane]

Down and down and down they go. Where they stop...well, it's starting to look like they won't.
Dead soldiers' families 'hacked by newspaper'

[Ursa major]

Originally Posted by Tillane

Now, on the other hand, if the NOTW hacks have been bribing police officials...well, that's another ball game entirely. For the journos and the police officers involved. Then we're talking very hefty fines and potential prison sentences.

The BBC has been running a clip of Rebekah Wade (now Rebekah Brooks) giving evidence to a House of Commons Select Committee sometime in 2003, where she says quite openly that the Sun had paid police officers for stories.

Here's one account of the story:

Ms Wade made her admission in response to a question from Chris Bryant, the Labour MP for Rhondda. "We have paid the police for information in the past," she said. The MP asked if it would happen in the future; Andy Coulson, editor of the News of the World, interjected and said: "We have always operated within the code and within the law."

Mr Bryant said he believed it was illegal for police to be paid for information. Mr Coulson replied: "As I said, we have always operated within the code and within the law."

From http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2003...sandpublishing.




The article also this:

Such is the sensitivity surrounding the issue that News International, which publishes the Sun and the News of the World, later issued a statement that contradicted Ms Wade's evidence to the Commons select committee for culture, media and sport, which is preparing a report on media intrusion.

[Tillane]

Perhaps the one and only time she was honest - and perhaps the one and only time she was slapped down by her bosses.

Incidentally, I heard an interview last night in which the very valid point was made that the current Guardian (and now Telegraph) stories are almost certainly the result of someone in the police leaking info to the press. One has to wonder if they were paid for it...

[Ursa major]

And a certain Robert Peston is making hay on the BBC about the NOTW's problems**. I thought the Today programme missed a trick yesterday when they didn't ask Peston about the source(s) of all those Credit Crunch stories he seemed to have exclusive access to. Journalists, eh...?







** - And, apparently, not that open with where he got at least one story: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/cele...ns-Vanity.html.

[Tillane]

Hmm. Peston being chided by Robinson over his vanity? Pots and kettles spring to mind...

[chopper]

i can't say i'm a big fan of peston: everytime HMV is mentioned he has a Pavlovian reflex to savage it and tear the company's throat out with great joy. not the sort of unprejudiced journalism i'd expect from the BBC; more what i'd expect from the news of the screws.






(incidentally, in case anyone wonders about my grammar: i prefer not to capitalize proper names unless i need to. or unless i consider them important. )

[Tillane]

Not a fan of either man, particularly. Peston's delivery is appalingly deliberate - it seems like he's struggling to rouse himself to speak half the time - while Robinson is just an ego in a suit.*



*And a Tory one, at that, but that's my own prejudice coming through.

[Clansman]

BTW, this is international news, now. It air on Canada's flagship news program, The National, on July 5, as the second story.

I hope the momentum is sustained, and that several heads get a long-deserved lopping.

[Starbeast]

Originally Posted by mosaix

Apparently the New Of The World hacked into the mobile phone of Milly Dowler, the murdered schoolgirl.

In a new low for British journalism they deleted some messages left by Milly's relatives and this gave false hope to her parents that Milly was still alive.

I never could understand how soul-less people can be, these people are no better than the worst criminals locked up in prison!

[Ursa major]

It has just been announced that this coming Sunday's edition of the News of the World will be the last.

Sadly, I suspect that the main effect of this will be to buoy up its sales.


Perhaps they will produce a replacement paper under Private Eye's name for the NOTW, the News of the Screws, which may identify the new principal official source of leaks: prison officers at the gaols where various News International employees and corrupt police officers will be spending some of their time (one would hope).




** - For those who don't know, screw is a slang term for a prison officer. (Any more dubious meanings of the word are purely in the mind of the reader.)

[thaddeus6th]

Pretty surprised. It's a sly move, and may suggest Brooks is unsackable.

It's worth pointing out that the attention ought now to shift to other papers of dubious note in this way.

[Ursa major]

So will we see the Sun on Sunday in ten days' time or the Sunday Sun?


And I agree, thad: it's hard to believe that other papers haven't been up to similar behaviour. (Too hard for me to believe, at any rate.)

[thaddeus6th]

It'll take longer than that. If nothing else, they'll want to leave it a while so it doesn't get immediately tarred with the same brush.

I feel rather sorry for the many entirely innocent staff at the paper, who have just lost their jobs for something with which they had nothing to do.