Rupert Murdoch and the Corruption of the British Media

[Douglas Caddy]

Rating James Murdoch's performance before MPs

By Robin Brant

Political Correspondent, BBC News

November 10, 2011

James Murdoch survived his second grilling by MPs on the culture, media and sport select committee.

He survived the comparison with a Mafia boss. He survived the claim that Asda was a better run business that News International. Most significantly he completely denied the accusation that he had lied about what he knew of phone hacking at the News of the World.

He had been called back to face MPs to explain inconsistencies in the evidence, in particular what he knew about widespread hacking and when he knew it. In black tie and with a poppy on his lapel Mr Murdoch appeared solemn. He was precise and insistent in his answers, at times combative.

He told them two former executives at the News of the World were to blame. The former top legal advisor Tom Crone and editor Colin Myler misled parliament and he disputed their version of events. He was clear: they did tell him about - but not show him or explain the full significance of - the For Neville email sent to a reporter which detailed a transcript of a voicemail intercept.

He was repeatedly asked to recall and comment on meetings, phonecalls, emails and legal briefings. He was succinct and insistent.

Aware that this was also a chance for him to attempt to repair the damage done to News International and its stable of newspapers he said sorry, he said he was humbled.

Then he was likened to a mafia boss.

The Labour MP Tom Watson, a fierce critic, also referred to Omerta, the vow of silence. It was the climax of an increasingly bitter exchange. James Murdoch called it offensive.

James Murdoch has come under increasing pressure from some shareholders over his future at News Corp. Today was the opportunity to rebut their criticisms and show them he is the man to carry on leading its subsidiary News International.

This was his chance to help to salvage any chance he has of succeeding his father in the top job.

But he did not emerge from this session as a media executive with a strong handle on dealing with serious problems at the coalface.

He rejected the claim that he had been "incompetent" but he said he had spent time reflecting on how well he had done as the man in charge as the scandal emerged. They took "too long" to come to grips with it he admitted.

It has been a "huge focus for the last year" to get to the bottom of this, he said.

It was at times a commanding performance, but, and it is a big but, the focus of much of the session was on illegal or simply bad things that his newspapers had done.

He apologised for the phone hacking. He apologised for the surveillance carried out for the News of the World. It was "appalling" and "shocking" that some people, including a 14-year-old girl, were secretly followed.

He apologised for the Sun's coverage of the Hillsborough disaster. The questioning also strayed into an investigation into computer hacking and claims that emails were illegally intercepted.

James Murdoch and the empire that his father Rupert has built up has been seriously damaged by all of this. The BSkyB buyout was killed off. The News of the World was closed. There are numerous police and judicial investigations underway.

James Murdoch may have come close to clearing his name today on the claim that he knew about the scale of hacking, but the arm of the company he runs has a huge mess on its hands, a mess highlighted in great detail today by MPs. And it is a mess that he is deeply involved in

[Douglas Caddy]

James Murdoch calm and contrite during gruelling inquisition by MPs

Apologies, that 'For Neville' email, and a failure to recall: the main themes of Murdoch's answers

By Lisa O'Carroll and Josh Halliday

guardian.co.uk, Thursday 10 November 2011 16.56 EST

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/nov/10/james-murdoch-phone-hacking-answers

•

It was a gruelling interrogation. Over almost three hours James Murdoch was grilled by MPs trying to establish who knew what about phone hacking at the News of the World. In one of the strangest moments, one MP likened News International to a branch of the mafia, bound by a code of silence.

For the most part, Murdoch appeared calm and contrite, sticking firmly to a strategy of heaping blame onto the former editor and legal chief of the News of the World and apologising on at least five occasions for alleged illegal activity at the now defunct newspaper. "I have had some time to reflect on these events … we are all humbled by it … it is something that we are very sorry about," Murdoch told the committee, echoing his father's "humblest day of my life" remarks in July.

The apologies

James Murdoch apologised repeatedly for errors in the past, going back to when he was a 16-year-old and the Sun published its infamous Hillsborough edition in 1989 blaming fans for the disaster: "It was 22 years ago and I was far away and a much younger person, and obviously no proximity to it. But I am aware of the hurt it caused and I am very sorry for it."

He was as contrite about hiring investigators to spy on Tom Watson: "I apologise unreservedly for that … it is absolutely not acceptable" and  for News of the World's decision to send a private eye to spy on two lawyers representing phone-hacking victims: "It is not something that I would condone, it is not something I had knowledge of, and it is not something I think that has a place in the way that we operate."

Murdoch also regretted not taking "the newspaper's" revelations seriously. "At various times through this process – and I am sorry for this – the company moved into an aggressive defence too quickly." Overall, he said he had "some time to reflect on these events".

Surveillance and smears

However MPs were undeterred by his contrition, and Watson landed a significant blow when, under parliamentary privilege, he revealed he was told by a former News International employee there was a "diktat" at the newspaper group "to dig up as much information you can about the members of the select committee".

The source told him that former chief executive Rebekah Brooks "took an absolute pathological dislike" to the MP and "tried to smear" Watson "as being mad". She had gone to Tony Blair to try and get Watson taken off the select committee alleging he was "mad". Murdoch appeared unfazed saying he had "no knowledge" of any of that, or any interest Brooks had taken in Watson.

Later, Tory MP Louise Mensch raised further allegations about surveillance the company had allegedly ordered in the past on every member of the committee.

For Neville

The most forensic of the MPs' analysis focussed on the now notorious "for Neville" email referring to transcripts of Gordon Taylor's voicemails, apparently ordered by News of the World's chief reporter Neville Thurlbeck.

In July, Murdoch testified he was "not aware" of "for Neville" email. This time round, Murdoch admitted that he was made aware of the existence of the "for Neville" email but said he was not shown it or told of its full contents by the paper's editor Colin Myler and legal chief Tom Crone when they discussed settling Taylor's case on 10 June 2008.

Murdoch insists he was never told of the significance of the email and that it wasn't flagged up as "for Neville"; hence his failure to recall it in July.

"The so-called 'For Neville' email – now referred to as the 'For Neville' email but not then referred to as the 'For Neville' email – was mentioned to me as evidence that was important with respect of it being a transcript of a voicemail interception that came through, that proved it was on behalf of the News of the World," Murdoch said.

"It was not shown to me, nor was it discussed with me its other feature – that it was 'For Neville', and that it might indicate wider-spread knowledge or wider-spread activities of phone hacking," he added.

Gordon Taylor

Paul Farrelly pressed Murdoch on why a payout was made to Taylor when the company had been maintaining at the time that phone hacking at the paper was confined to the royal editor Clive Goodman and the private detective Glenn Mulcaire. After all, why would a royal editor target someone in football?

"The one thing ... that really showed us, and I think showed any 10-year-old really, that the News of the World's line did not stack up was the fact that Gordon Taylor was not a member of the royal family or the royal household. Did you not say 'He's not royal?'" Mr Farrelly asked. Murdoch's answer to this appeared to suggest that he had simply failed to interrogate this contradiction. Tom Crone

Tom Crone

Murdoch says he was not told of a key internal memo sent by Tom Crone to Myler of 24 May 2008 warning them that Taylor had got hold of the "for Neville" email and that was "fatal" to News International's defence. Murdoch insisted there was never any discussion of wider criminality or wrongdoing with Crone or Myler. "I think Mr Crone and Mr Myler were very much driving the agenda around the Taylor litigation," he said.

10 June meeting

For almost three hours, Murdoch stuck rigidly to the line that his only "substantive" meeting with Crone and Myler was on 10 June 2008. It was that crucial meeting, Murdoch said, where Crone and Myler could have told him the significance of the bombshell "for Neville" email but did not. "Certainly, the nature of the 'for Neville' email and any suspicion of wider spread wrongdoing was never mentioned to me," Murdoch said.

Murdoch said: "Its dual importance – that it was beginning of suspicion other individuals were involved at News of the World was not described to me at all."

He said he was also kept in the dark about legal opinion from Michael Silverleaf QC advising Crone a week earlier about a "culture of illegal information access" in which at least three NoW journalists were implicated.

Crone and Myler

Murdoch said Crone and Myler's evidence to the committee was "inconsistent and not right". Murdoch said that the pair's testimony was "full of supposition" and their assertion they had told him about the 'For Neville' email "was misleading and I dispute it". Murdoch added: "Assertions that Mr Crone and Mr Myler made about my knowledge [of phone hacking] were wrong."

Tom Watson – mafia and Thurlbeck

Watson revealed that he had met Thurlbeck privately. Reading from a transcript of his conversation with Thurlbeck, Watson said that Crone told the former chief reporter that he had shown Murdoch the "for Neville" email in May 2008. "This is not some vague memory, I was absolutely on a knife edge," Thurlbeck had told Watson. "Tom [Crone] took it to him. The following week I said 'did you show him the email?' He said 'yes I did'. Now he can't remember whether he showed it to Mr Murdoch or not".

It was a moment that threatened to throw the calm and assured Murdoch, but he dispatched Watson's assault by refusing to comment on what Crone and Thurlbeck might have discussed.

Watson twisted the knife moments later when he suggested Murdoch and the UK arm of his father's media empire had adopted an "omerta" code of silence and compared it to a mafia organisation, "bound together by secrecy" who pursued their objectives "with no regard for the law". Murdoch replied: "I frankly think that is offensive and not true."

Management Today

A different tone was adopted by Damian Collins MP who told Murdoch that the newspaper group "may not have been the mafia but it was not Management Today". Murdoch barely bristled at the comparison but the editor of Management Today, Matthew Gwyther, posted on Twitter that he was "happy to give the Murdochs a session on how to run a company according to the proper standards any time

[John Dolva]

Murdoch: a cultural Chernobyl

23 July 2009

[Douglas Caddy]

James Murdoch as laughing stock: not good for survival prospects at BSkyB

Chairmen of FTSE 100 companies don't usually last long when they are being ridiculed

By Nils Pratley

Guardian

November 11, 2011

Bosses of FTSE 100 companies don't usually last long when they become a laughing stock. James Murdoch finds himself in this position today, the widespread response to his testimony to parliament yesterday being captured by the Telegraph's pocket cartoonist, Matt. Brilliant.

Being chairman of a large public company requires an ability or willingness to ask tough questions of executives and to stick your nose into their affairs of behalf of shareholders. Those were not qualities on display at News International, it is felt. The Guardian's leader styles Murdoch as The Man Who Wasn't There. The Times leader (paywall) concludes that "a powerful organisation with a victim complex has the capacity to do great damage, not least to itself." Alex Brummer in the Mail says Murdoch's failure to track the cash "smacks of inexperience and even incompetence".

News Corporation owns 39% of the shares in BSkyB. But the official line, or polite fiction, has always been that James Murdoch is chairman on merit, having performed commendably as chief executive (if one ignores the big loss on buying a stake in ITV). It's rather harder to maintain that stance now that fundamental questions of business judgment are being raised.

The other argument has been that non-News Corp shareholders want James Murdoch as their chairman. Well, we'll see about that they vote on resolution 9 at the annual meeting on 29 November. But, if the vote against Murdoch's re-election turns out to be modest say 20% of non-News Corp votes senior non-executive directors such as Nicholas Ferguson and Jacques Nasser should ask why.

Part of the answer, one suspects, is that having a weakened Murdoch as chairman could be viewed as having a few advantages, from the point of view of ordinary shareholders. A showdown would be avoided but Murdoch might be less inclined to push any issue where the interests of News Corp could be construed as colliding with those of other investors; madcap adventures like the ITV share-purchase might be thought less likely to happen.

But, come on, these are poor arguments. The non-executives' job is to do what's best for the company. They should ditch James Murdoch for two good reasons: he's not the best person for the role and having an independent chairman is a healthier way to live

Edited November 11, 2011 by Douglas Caddy

[Douglas Caddy]

News of the World lawyer Tom Crone expected to face censure

Parliamentary committee likely to characterise James Murdoch as ill-informed rather than mendacious

By James Robinson, Lisa O'Carroll and Richard Wachman

guardian.co.uk,

Friday 11 November 2011 14.59 EST

Tom Crone, News International's chief lawyer at the time phone hacking was rife, is likely to be severely reprimanded by the culture, media and sport select committee.

The parliamentary committee investigating phone hacking at the News of the World is expected to heavily criticise Tom Crone, the paper's former lawyer, when it publishes its report into the affair.

Highly placed Westminster sources said Crone was likely to be severely reprimanded by the Commons culture, media and sport select committee over his failure to fully answer questions about surveillance carried out by the paper when he gave evidence in September.

Crone told MPs in September he "may" have commissioned private investigators "a long time ago maybe … on various things like tracing, maybe a bit of surveillance".

James Murdoch is expected to be characterised as ill-informed rather than mendacious by MPs, but News Corp's deputy chief operating officer is also likely to emerge with little credit when the report is finally published.

It is thought MPs will express surprise at Murdoch's lack of knowledge about phone hacking at the paper at a time when several key documents were circulating within the company that clearly showed the practice was widespread.

Murdoch said on Thursday in his own evidence to the committee that it was Crone and another unnamed NoW executive who commissioned a private investigator to spy on two lawyers who are acting for phone-hacking victims suing the paper. MPs are believed to be furious at what they regard as Crone's failure to offer up the whole truth about his involvement in that activity.

Colin Myler, the NoW's former editor, is also likely to be criticised in the report to be published at the end of the year or the beginning of 2012. MPs are expected to attack him for saying in September 2009 that the company had conducted its own inquiry two years earlier and "no evidence was found" that hacking went any further than a single NoW journalist.

Myler also told MPs: "No evidence or information emerged to suggest that others at the News of the World knew of these activities or were complicit in them." The committee is likely to take Myler to task because at the time he made that statement in 2009, he had seen the "for Neville" email, which showed the practice was not limited to a single "rogue reporter".

Crone had also seen that email. The question about whether its content was discussed with Murdoch remains a matter of dispute between the News International chairman and the two former NoW executives. The committee's chairman, Conservative MP John Whittingdale, has said: "It is plain that of the two accounts we've heard, one of them can't be true." Myler issued a statement late on Thursday insisting: "My evidence to the select committee has been entirely accurate and consistent."

Murdoch will come under further pressure at the end of the month, when he faces re-election as Sky chairman at its AGM. Its independent directors wrote to Sky shareholders on Friday urging them to vote in favour of Murdoch and arguing there was no evidence of "any negative reputational effect on the company as a result of the News of the World issues".

Sky's deputy chairman, Nick Ferguson, wrote that Murdoch had "always acted with integrity". But it emerged that a powerful shareholder body, the Association of British Insurers, will urge its members to consider carefully whether to re-elect Murdoch on the grounds that his family connections cast doubt on his independence. News Corp, which is controlled by Murdoch family trusts, owns 39.1% of BSkyB.

The ABI stopped short of recommending its members to vote against, however. Murdoch is expected to win because the News Corp stake means nearly every one of the remaining independent investors would have to vote against for him to lose. But a sizeable rebellion would be embarrassing, particularly if it is followed soon after by a withering verdict from the select committee.

MPs are expected to point to Murdoch's failure to ask detailed questions about why Myler and Crone recommended paying phone-hacking victim Gordon Taylor £725,000 to settle a hacking action in 2008 as evidence of ineffectual leadership. But they will stop short of calling the veracity of his testimony into question. The committee is highly unlikely to call any more witnesses or hear any more evidence.

Separately, News International has told Myler's solicitors it will not hand over company records, including business diaries and emails that could corroborate his claims he told James Murdoch about the significance of the "for Neville" email.

He made the request more than a week ago but it was declined.

Asked during Thursday's hearing if he would release the files, Murdoch said: "We can review that and I can come back to you."

News International refused to say last night if it would now grant Myler's request. "We will respond to the committee," said a spokesman.

It is unclear what, if any, sanctions the select committee could levy for misleading parliament. The hacking inquiry broke new ground when it threatened to summon James Murdoch and his father Rupert to give evidence in July, a power that had not been used for centuries, before they eventually agreed to appear

[Douglas Caddy]

Hacking police find 'bombshell' emails: Now detectives may want to question James Murdoch

Daily Mail

By Stephen Wright

Last updated at 12:36 PM on 12th November 2011

Police investigating phone-hacking at the News of the World have recovered a series of ‘bombshell’ emails which they believe takes the inquiry to ‘a new level’.

The emails were among tens of thousands held by the newspaper at a data storage facility in India.

Police are believed to want to question News International chief James Murdoch and former Sun and News of the World editor Rebekah Brooks about their contents.

Discussions have taken place with the Crown Prosecution Service about whether Mr Murdoch should be arrested and interviewed under caution.

Last night it was unclear whether the emails suggest Mr Murdoch and Mrs Brooks were involved in a cover-up of phone-hacking or prove they had knowledge of malpractice at the News of the World, which was closed in July.

Both Mrs Brooks, who has already been arrested in connection with the inquiry and is on police bail, and Mr Murdoch deny any wrongdoing.

The latest twist in the case emerged 24 hours after Mr Murdoch – the son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch – was grilled for two and a half hours on Thursday by a House of Commons select committee.

In a bruising second appearance before the Culture Committee, he insisted he had not learned until recently that the practice of illegally eavesdropping on private phone messages went beyond a single ‘rogue reporter’.

Detectives on Operation Weeting, the Scotland Yard squad investigating phone-hacking, took a detailed note of his comments.

His testimony will be compared to the emerging email evidence in India, before he is interviewed by police.

Last night speculation was growing that the new development could be linked to the large-scale deletion of News of the World emails.

In January 2007, the News of the World’s then royal editor, Clive Goodman (left), and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire were jailed for illegally intercepting voicemails

Three months ago, the technology firm HCL told the Home Affairs Committee it was aware of the deletion of hundreds of thousands of emails at the request of News International between April 2010 and July 2011, but said it did not know of anything untoward behind the requests to delete them.

HCL said it was not the company responsible for emails on the News International computer system that are older than a couple of weeks. It said another unnamed organisation was responsible, but confirmed it had co-operated with it in deleting material.

It stressed that since it was not the company that stored News International’s data ‘any allegation that it has deleted material held on behalf of News International is without foundation’.

In January 2007, the News of the World’s then royal editor, Clive Goodman, and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire were jailed for illegally intercepting voicemails, but News International maintained until earlier this year that they were acting alone.

While testifying on Thursday, Mr Murdoch was accused by Labour MP Tom Watson of acting like a ‘mafia boss’ whose company operated ‘omerta’ – a code of silence to cover up criminal behaviour.

After Mr Murdoch repeatedly denied being aware of wrongdoing within the company he has led since 2007, Mr Watson told him: ‘You must be the first mafia boss in history who didn’t know he was running a criminal enterprise.’

Mr Murdoch confirmed he had not been detained for questioning by police, but informed sources say that will change in the coming weeks. One source told the Mail: ‘It is possible the most shocking revelations in the phone-hacking scandal are yet to come.’

[Douglas Caddy]

Watson's outburst exposes split within hacking committee

The Independent

James Cusick and Cahal Milmo

Saturday, 12 November 2011

Divisions, playing to the gallery, the failure to hunt as a pack, and a lack of co-ordinated questioning damaged the efforts of the parliamentary committee that has spent years probing the phone-hacking scandal, according to committee chair John Whittingdale.

His committee faces criticism that it failed to deliver definitive evidence on who inside News International was ultimately responsible for the criminal culture in the tabloid's newsroom. Speaking privately after James Murdoch had appeared before the media committee for the second time, Mr Whittingdale suggested he doesn't see eye-to-eye with the most high-profile of his colleagues, Labour MP Tom Watson.

He criticised the deputy chair of the Labour Party for labelling Mr Murdoch as "the first Mafia boss in history who didn't know he was running a criminal enterprise".

The Independent understands the committee is preparing a fast-tracked publication of attendance records, which will show Mr Watson focusing on the hacking inquiry and less on probes into football and gambling.

Mr Whittingdale yesterday said his committee would stop taking testimony. But Mr Watson said: "I know the chairman has said there won't be any more witnesses – but we work as a team and the committee has yet to decide on our next step. James Murdoch's evidence yesterday, in relation to Tom Crone [News International former legal manager] and Colin Myler [the former News of the World editor], was new. And I believe we should give both the opportunity to return again before us, if they want to."

At times the absence of co-ordinated questioning of Mr Murdoch appeared to separate the committee's inquisitors into for-and-against Murdoch factions. Mr Watson alleged "omerta" at News International – a business group bound by coded secrecy – while Paul Farrelly referred to a Banquo-like spirit of Rupert Murdoch, saying he had a "growly Australian accent rattling around in his head".

Both the men are Labour MPs.

Tory MP, Louise Mensch, generously warned Mr Murdoch that she would have to leave early to pick up her children from school. He wished her "good luck". She ended her questioning by wishing the News Corp boss "luck" in pursuing the "ethical review" of his company.

Mr Whittingdale made no reference to Mrs Mensch, Mr Farrelly or others in his assessment of the James Murdoch session. Focused on Mr Watson, Mr Whittingdale accused his colleague of failing to give prior notice of new revelations to be incorporated into his line of questioning.

Mr Watson had revealed that a former Army Intelligence officer, Ian Hurst, and 16 of his associates were victims of computer hacking.

He also revealed that ex-News International boss Rebekah Brooks told Tony Blair that Mr Watson was "mad" and urged the ex-prime minister to "call this man off". The divisions do not auger well for the committee's report on phone hacking which will be delivered in next year.

The lack of a consensus on where the buck should stop inside News International is potentially damaging for both the authority of the report and for Mr Whittingdale's leadership of the high-profile parliamentary committee.

MPs Divided: The Key Players

John Whittingdale

The wise owl of the culture committee. But his neutrality is seen as compromised by his closeness to Les Hinton, once Rupert Murdoch's closest confidant. Dined with Rebekah Brooks – but denies any friendship.

Tom Watson

The committee's attack dog. His solo sorties, based on years of extensive research, have been ruthless and headline grabbing. Has been rewarded with a seat in Labour's Shadow Cabinet.

Louise Mensch

The former chic-lit author had surprised many by being aggressive in some sessions. But she showed her kinder side when wishing "luck" to James Murdoch. Priority this week: leaving early to pick up the kids.

Paul Farrelly

Perhaps distracted by the "growly Australian voice" he kept hearing in his head, the Labour MP seemed to lose track of the meaning of the words "final question". He used the phrase three times.

[Douglas Caddy]

Phone hacking: 'nearly 30 NI staff named in Glenn Mulcaire notes'

Leveson inquiry hears details of investigator's work for News of the World, and suggestion he may have worked for Daily Mirror

By James Robinson and Josh Halliday

guardian.co.uk,

Monday 14 November 2011 09.11 EST

The names of 28 News International employees appear in notebooks belonging to Glenn Mulcaire, the private investigator who worked for the News of the World, the Leveson inquiry into press standards heard on its first day at London's high court.

Lord Justice Leveson's inquiry also heard that Mulcaire wrote the words "Daily Mirror" in his notepad, which suggests he may have carried out work for the paper.

Robert Jay QC, counsel for the inquiry, told the high court that "at least 27 other News International employees" are named in Mulcaire's paperwork, as well as former News of the World royal editor Clive Goodman, who was jailed for phone hacking along with the private investigator in January 2007.

Jay also told the inquiry, which began formal hearings at the high court on Monday: "The inquiry is beginning to receive evidence to indicate that phone hacking was not limited to that organisation [News International]."

He said the number of News International names and the scale of the activity indicated there was a culture of phone hacking at the company. "Either management knew what was going on at the time and therefore, at the very least, condoned this illegal activity," he said, or there was "a failure of supervision and oversight".

Mulcaire received a total of 2,266 requests from News International journalists, Jay said, 2,142 of which were made by four unnamed reporters. The most prolific of them made 1,453 of those requests.

A total of 690 audio tapes were also recovered from Mulcaire's office, Jay revealed, and there was a record of 586 recordings of voicemail messages intended for 64 individuals. The evidence was seized by Metropolitan police officers during a raid in 2006.

Mulcaire's 11,000 pages of notes mentioned 5,795 names, he confirmed, who could be potential phone-hacking victims.

Jay also said the inquiry had seen documents that suggest Mulcaire was hacking into phone messages ago as early as May 2001.

It had been thought until today that the earliest phone hacking by Mulcaire occurred in 2002. The new date is potentially significant because it falls before the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

It has been alleged that News International instructed private investigators in the US to target relatives of the victims of the 9/11 attacks, although no proof has so far emerged that this took place.

The Sun is also named in Mulcaire's notes, Jay said. Jude Law had cited the Sun along with its former sister paper the News of the World in his civil case against News International, although the Sun has since been dropped from his claim.

Several public figures are believed to be preparing civil cases against the Daily Mirror, but none have so far come to court.

The paper's publisher, Trinity Mirror, continues to insist that its journalist operate within the law and follow the Press Complaints Commission's code of conduct.

A Trinity Mirror spokesman said the company has "no knowledge of ever using Glenn Mulcaire".

Jay said the Mulcaire notes showed a "thriving cottage industry" and that the "scale of activity gives rise to the powerful inference that it must have occupied Mulcaire full time".

Outlining the vast remit of the inquiry, Jay described a "root and branch" investigation of the press that would not be cowed by the powerful range of institutions in the media.

He said the inquiry would consider granting "protected measures" to whistleblowers who were afraid of criticising their employer or speaking truthfully about press ethics.

The inquiry will not be limited to phone hacking, Jay said, adding that Leveson was keen to learn about all "unlawful and unethical" newsgathering methods, including subterfuge and blagging.

The former News of the World undercover reporter, Mazher Mahmood, has submitted written evidence and will give oral evidence to the inquiry at a later date, Jay said.

Opening the hearing, Leveson said he had "absolutely no wish" to stifle freedom of speech and expression, and that the inquiry would monitor media coverage to see if it appears that anyone who speaks out is being "targeted adversely

[Douglas Caddy]

Phone hacking: Tom Watson seeks legal advice over alleged surveillance of MPs

Labour MP pulls out of editors' conference over claims that News International investigators targeted select committee members

By Josh Halliday

guardian.co.uk,

Monday 14 November 2011 08.29 EST

Labour MP Tom Watson has pulled out of the Society of Editors conference over fresh claims that MPs on the Commons select committee investigating phone hacking were targeted by private investigators working for News International.

Watson said that he was withdrawing from the annual conference to seek legal and constitutional advice over the alleged surveillance. Watson claimed the surveillance took place six months ago, but the Guardian understands it took place in mid-2009.

He made the comment in a letter to the SoE published in a blogpost on Monday. Watson said: "Under the circumstances, I have to spend the day seeking advice from the Speaker and discussing the matter with fellow members of the DCMS select committee as to our legal and constitutional position."

Watson's claim marks the second occasion on which he believes he was targeted by private investigators working for News International.

Tory MP Louise Mensch claimed during James Murdoch's appearance before the committee last week that private investigators had tailed members of the select committee, including Watson, and "all members" of the original select committee inquiry into phone hacking in 2009.

The surveillance in mid-2009 is alleged to have been carried out for between three and 10 days, before it was abandoned after a number of News International staff protested at the huge resource it required.

Watson told Murdoch last week that officers from Operation Tuleta, the Metropolitan police investigation into claims of computer hacking at the NoW, contacted him earlier this month to say that his name appears on seized electronic devices.

Murdoch told MPs that he was aware of the surveillance of Watson, a long-time critic of News International over phone hacking, but not about the Operation Tuleta claim.

"I am aware of the case of the surveillance of Mr Watson; again, under the circumstances, I apologise unreservedly for that," he told MPs.

"It is not something that I would condone, it is not something that I had knowledge of and it is not something that has a place in the way we operate. I think it is important to note that certain surveillance of prominent figures in investigative journalism and things like that is acceptable but, in this case, that is absolutely not acceptable.

"You have my unequivocal statement to that effect and my apology on behalf of the company – even though I did not condone it, would not condone it and don't agree with it."

[Douglas Caddy]

Leveson: Sun and Mirror journalists' names found in Glenn Mulcaire's notebooks

Private detective Glenn Mulcaire's notebooks suggest he hacked phones for the Sun and the Daily Mirror as well as for a series of News of the World journalists, the press standards inquiry heard today.

Among those who could be called to give evidence are Sienna Miller, Hugh Grant and JK Rowling Image 1 of 3Lord Justice Leveson Photo: AP

Among those who could be called to give evidence are Sienna Miller, Hugh Grant and JK Rowling

Daily Telegraph

1:47PM GMT 14 Nov 2011

The investigator wrote first names in the top left-hand corner of his notes recording details of the telephone voicemails he illegally intercepted.

Some of these corresponded to News of the World employees, one of whom - referred to only as ''A'' - apparently made 1,453 separate requests for information from Mulcaire.

But the private detective also wrote ''The Sun'' and a name relating to the Daily Mirror in his notebooks, the inquiry was told.

Mulcaire was jailed with the News of the World's former royal editor Clive Goodman in January 2007 after they admitted intercepting voicemail messages left on phones belonging to members of the royal household.

The inquiry heard that the investigator's notes relating to the royal aides are marked ''Clive'', ''private'' and with the name of ''A'', who cannot be named for fear of prejudicing the ongoing police investigation into phone hacking.

Robert Jay QC, counsel to the inquiry, noted: ''One possible inference to be drawn is that 'A' was working with or for Goodman, and he or she may have instructed Mulcaire to carry out an interception.

''It might be argued that 'A' could have been acting independently of Goodman, but that would not make much sense since Goodman was the royal editor.''

Mulcaire also pleaded guilty to hacking the phones of publicist Max Clifford, football agent Sky Andrew, chairman of the Professional Footballers Association Gordon Taylor, MP Simon Hughes and supermodel Elle Macpherson.

His notes for Mr Clifford feature the name ''A'' and ''private''; for Mr Andrew a person referred to as ''I''; for Mr Taylor ''A''; for Mr Hughes ''A'' and people named only as ''B'' and ''C''; and for Ms Macpherson ''B'' and ''private''.

In total about 28 legible corner names are legible in the 11,000 pages of notes that police seized from Mulcaire, which relate to a total of 2,266 taskings and the names of 5,795 potential victims, the inquiry heard.

''A'' requested information from the private investigator on 1,453 occasions, followed by ''B'' on 303, ''C'' on 252, and someone identified as ''D'' on 135.

Mr Jay said: ''We have a range of corner names. I know the names in each case, but obviously do not know anything about the corner name 'private' or its significance.

''We only have the first name in each of the cases, but they happen to tie up with the first names of employees of News International.''

The inquiry heard that actor Jude Law has brought a claim against the Sun for allegedly hacking his phone.

Mr Jay said: ''Part of the evidential matrix in support of his case is a corner name in the Mulcaire notebook which simply states 'the Sun' without specifying the individual working there.''

The barrister added: ''There is also documentary evidence which we have seen of another corner name relating to the Mirror.''

Opening his public inquiry, Lord Justice Leveson warned newspapers that he will closely study the way they cover the people who speak to his inquiry.

Expected witnesses to the inquiry include the parents of Milly Dowler, the actor Hugh Grant and the author JK Rowling.

"I particularly thank those who allege they have been the subject of press intrusion," Lord Justice Leveson said.

Some had expressed concerns that they could be targeted with adverse coverage and personal scrutiny because they had helped the inquiry, he said.

In that context, he said, “I anticipate that monitoring will take place of press coverage."

"If it appears that those concerns are made out, without objective justification, it might be appropriate to draw the conclusion that these vital rights are being abused."

[Douglas Caddy]

Leveson Inquiry analysis: who watches the watchmen?

Quis Custodiet Custos Ipsos? Lord Leveson does.

Daily Telegraph

By James Kirkup, Deputy Political Editor

10:36AM GMT 14 Nov 2011

Who watches the watchmen? The question first posed by the Roman poet Juvenal has hung over every society where power is dispersed between institutions.

In Western democracies, some of that power rests with the media, and in Britain, that still largely means newspapers.

For centuries, papers have had the power to scrutinise, to reveal and to condemn.

For politicians, that power is often irksome and sometimes career-ending.

Many now argue that Britain's free Press has been too free, that the system of self-regulation has failed and some outside body or authority must now be created to oversee journalists' activities.

As the cliche says, with power comes responsibility. Has every newspaper journalist used the power of the Press properly? The closure of the News of the World gives an obvious answer. But what of the rest of the industry?

Lord Leveson today starts to consider that question.

Already, the inquiry and its authors have come under fire. Some say the Leveson panel is too narrow, and contains no one with experience of today's industry. The danger is that newspapers are held to an impossible standard, a rose-tinted and unreliable memory of a bygone trade.

Others suspect David Cameron and other politicians of hoping to use Leveson as a way to curb a troublesome Press: some MPs privately regard the inquiry as journalists' just deserts for exposing their expenses. They observe that once, MPs were sovereign, able to set their own rules, yet now they must bow to an independent expenses watchdog. They say that if those who make the rules are subject to such checks, how can mere hacks justify continuing with self-regulation?

The counter-argument is that the more constraints are put on the Press, the easier it will be for those with real power to misuse it. Some of the watchmen have erred. How does it benefit our society to respond by blinding the rest?

The inquiry then must balance any number of powerful imperatives and forces: the freedom of the Press and the freedom of the individual; the politicians' demand to hold the Press to account and journalists' continued ability to hold the politicians to account.

For Lord Leveson, wisdom may be found not in Roman classics but in the words of Thomas Carlyle, writing in the 1840s:

"The Germans say, 'you must empty-out the bathing-tub, but not the baby along with it.' Fling-out your dirty water with all zeal, and set it careering down the kennels; but try if you can keep the little child.

[Douglas Caddy]

Computer Hacking: Former News Of The World Executive Alex Marunchak Linked To Mail On Sunday

News of the World is at the centre of phone and computer hacking claims

Huffington Post UK Huffington Post Reporter

First Posted: 14/11/11 11:23 GMT Updated: 14/11/11 11:23 GMT

A former senior executive at News of the World worked for the Mail on Sunday days before he was linked to computer hacking, it has emerged.

Alex Marunchak, who worked at the now defunct News International title between 1981 and 2006, was paid for a series of stories which were published in the MoS in January and February this year.

His last story - "My Chinese bosses sacked me for being British, says lawyer who is suing firm for racism" - was published on 26 February.

Two weeks later, on 14 March, he was accused by BBC's Panorama of obtaining emails hacked into by a private detective.

According to the BBC, Marunchak - whose copy was also used by the Mail Online - was sent ex-British intelligence officer Ian Hurst's private emails in 2006.

During last Thursday's media and culture select committee hearing, MP Tom Watson revealed Hurst had himself been hacked by News of the World.

Marunchak, the News of the World's former Irish edition editor, has previously denied these allegations.

"It is absolutely untrue any unlawfully obtained material was ever received by me at the News of the World's offices in Dublin," he told the BBC in March.

This week James Murdoch told the select committee that he was unaware of computer hacking taking place at News of the World.

Neither the Mail Online or the Mail on Sunday would comment on the payment of Marunchak.

But it is understood that he filed stories in the same way as other freelancers and was not commissioned to do work.

"He would have been paid the normal freelance rate and he only filed a handful of stories. This was all before the computer hacking claims were made and he wouldn't be used now," a source told The Huffington Post UK.

Marunchak's location is currently unknown and he was not answering calls to his UK mobile phone.

In July it emerged Marunchak had also moonlighted as an interpreter for the Metropolitan Police between 1980 and 2000 translating for Ukrainian suspects.

At the weekend it was revealed every single member of the parliamentary committee investigating phone hacking was followed for three days by private investigators and staff at News of the World as recently as February.

[Douglas Caddy]

Tom Watson attacks BBC's Nick Robinson over phone hacking

Tom Watson, the Labour MP, has accused BBC political editor Nick Robinson of being too busy “kissing Andy Coulson’s a---” to investigate the phone hacking scandal.

Daily Telegraph

By Victoria Ward

4:34PM GMT 14 Nov 2011

Mr Watson criticised the journalist in a blog post in which he explained that he was taking legal advice after being told that every member of the culture select committee on which he sits had been put under surveillance by the now defunct Sunday tabloid.

He also attacked Lord Patten, chairman of the BBC Trust, who told the annual Society of Editors conference that the corporation could not pursue the story as vigorously as others because it would be construed as political bias.

Mr Watson, who had been due to appear at the conference, wrote: “Had I been there, I would have made the case for editors getting on the front foot and coming up with their own reform position – one that protects the noble tradition of robust, no-nonsense journalism that typifies the British newspaper industry but that ensures editors put matters right when they get them wrong.

“I would also have taken a pot shot at Lord Patten’s lugubrious speech justifying the BBC not being able to adequately investigate the phone hacking scandal. The DCMS committee published a report that found Rupert Murdoch’s executives guilty of ‘collective amnesia’.

“We found it ‘inconceivable’ that others were not involved in hacking. Where was Nick Robinson, the most powerful political editor in the land, during this period? Kissing Andy Coulson’s a---”.

Mr Coulson, a former News of the World editor, resigned as Prime Minister David Cameron’s communications director earlier this year before he was arrested in connection with phone hacking and making corrupt payments to police officers.

Mr Watson, who accused News International chief James Murdoch of being a “mafia boss”, claimed that he had been the target of covert surveillance by News Corp at least three times.

He has previously accused Mr Robinson of “missing the story of his life”, claiming that BBC political journalists had not taken the phone hacking story seriously.

The latest allegation was made by Roy Greenslade, a media commentator, who said News of the World staff were scrambled to follow “every single member” of the committee investigating phone hacking in mid-2009.

The surveillance reportedly lasted between three and 10 days before it was abandoned when various News International staff voiced concerns about the resources it would involve.

Louise Mensch, a Tory MP and fellow committee member, said: "If it's true then it's very, very serious. Members will want to know if their families and children were under surveillance

[Douglas Caddy]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/interactive/2011/nov/14/phone-hacking-scandal-numbers

[Douglas Caddy]

Leading article: Leveson must remember the laws we already have

The Independent

Tuesday, 15 November 2011

Two events occurred simultaneously yesterday that have great bearing on the future of newspapers. One was the opening of Lord Justice Leveson's inquiry into the "culture, practices and ethics of the press" and the efficacy of press self-regulation. The other was the Society of Editors' annual conference at a hotel at Runnymede, site of the signing of Magna Carta, and billed by the organisers as also occurring at a historic juncture for their industry.

While Leveson issued stern warnings to editors, telling them not to victimise witnesses who speak out against press intrusion, at their gathering the editors were contemplating beefing up the regulator, the Press Complaints Commission, in a belated attempt to head off the worst that his lordship may recommend when his inquiry finally concludes.

All the editors were agreed on the need to avoid statutory interference, that we cannot have a system of state control, that press freedom is rightly sacrosanct. For that is the fear with Leveson – that having been handed a remit so broad by David Cameron he will respond in kind, and what had its origins in the furore surrounding phone hacking by a small group of rogue journalists has spiralled into something much bigger and all-encompassing. And unnecessary.

It seems to be forgotten that we already have tight laws in place to deal with press malpractice. Hacking has been a criminal offence since 2000; trespass, burglary and theft a lot longer. We have a strict law of libel – indeed too onerous, say many of those in the UK media and certainly one of the most severe when compared with other jurisdictions. We have punitive rules about contempt of judicial proceedings. We have the PCC and its code, to which most newspaper journalists are signatories. Now, we are to get the findings of Leveson.

That some reporters and their executive bosses apparently chose to ignore the existing ethical and legal framework is conveniently overlooked. In any walk of life there will be bad apples. No amount of judicial scrutiny is going to change that.

The Leveson omens are not promising. The panel is comprised of people without frontline journalistic experience; the first two days of pre-inquiry hearings, when senior members of the press gave their thoughts, merely highlighted the gulf between, on the one hand, Leveson and his team, and, on the other, the media.

Last week, Leveson went on fact-finding visits to newsrooms. If he was disappointed not to come across bunches of renegade hacks whispering phone numbers to private detectives, their desks awash with wads of cash, he did not say. There again, all is not so clear-cut: it could be that if he had, those journalists were investigating a scandal of enormous public significance, one that when it is exposed may reform our society for the good. This, too, is something Leveson must determine: the distinction between the public interest and what interests the public. The two are very different.

What is undeniable is that the standing of the press in the eyes of the public has been dealt a severe blow by hacking. But it should not be forgotten that those who listened to Milly Dowler's voicemail are being pursued by the police – belatedly, it is true (and the cosiness of relations between the police and elements of the press is another subject for Leveson's groaning in-tray), but they are at least being tackled.

Quite where Leveson leads remains to be seen. Such is the opprobrium (or is it apathy?) that politicians and public are not perturbed. But imagine: if, after Bloody Sunday, Lord Saville had been asked to probe not just the 1972 Londonderry shootings but the conduct of the entire British Army. The uproar would have been deafening. Good luck to Leveson, he is going to require it – all the more so if Britain is not to emerge the poorer.