 |
| Leveson Inquiry reveals the worst side of the British press |
Of course, the Americans must have heard of the Leveson Inquiry and know what it's about but the publicity in Britain on this story is so big, a lot of people have been captivated, disgusted and gobsmacked over the revelations that have come before us during this public inquiry. For those who don't know, here is a basic background to how this event came about. Prime Minister David Cameron announced on July 13th of this year that there is to be a two-part "module" on media ethics and the role of investigative journalism during the wake of the phone hacking scandal in Britain which consequently closed News International's News of the World, a popular Sunday newspaper dissolved last summer due to the atrocities and law breaking actions they took when publishing stories.
Why is it called Leveson? That's because Lord Justice Leveson has been appointed by the government to get answers from witnesses and victims of not just phone hacking, but other reporter's actions which appear wrong and not in the public interest - two things which the Press Complaints Commission are meant to despise. Leveson has been assisted by six independent commissioners who provide the questions for those interviewed. The Lord Justice opened the Inquiry on November 14th by saying, "The press provides an essential check on all aspects of public life. That is why any failure within the media affects all of us. At the heart of this Inquiry, therefore, may be one simple question: who guards the guardians?"
The length of the case is unclear but on the Leveson Inquiry home page of their website, the first module is due to end by the last weeks of January 2012 and offers suggestions and issues for the second module to address in due course. At hindsight, I can see this inquiry going on for a long time.
Despite me saying this, a lot has been learned over the last four weeks. One example comes from the Millie Dowler's parents, Bob and Sally who, almost a decade ago heard the devastating news that their daughter was brutally murdered by a psychopath recently guilty of the attack. But the family weren't giving evidence about the event, they were telling the Leveson Inquiry of the press and how they thought Millie Dowler was alive. "I told my friends: 'She's picked up her voicemail, she's picked up her voicemail,'" said Sally Dowler when in fact, it was News of the World reporters who intercepted Millie's phone and her parents were given false hopes. It was a rather emotional address to the committee and it makes me glad that the newspaper is shut as that one hack alone was one too many.
From one victim to another - Madeleine McCann has been missing since May 2007 and her parents Kate and Gerry have also given evidence to the Leveson Inquiry, telling their stories about how the press have intruded their privacy and also given them false hopes over the search of their daughter lost while they were on a family holiday. Kate told the inquiry that News of the World violated her private life when they released extracts of her diary entry to the general public. It's another case which damns the reputation of the newspapers but with the McCann case, I can sympathise easier with the Dowlers on two accounts; one, why would any parent leaves their children alone in a hotel room. Safe place, or not safe place when anyone is on a vacation, I wouldn't let my children out of my sight even if they entered their teenage years (warning to my future children!) and second of all, the press has given a substantial amount of support to their "Madeleine fund" and most of the time encouraged their readers to be on the lookout for the girl - specific mentions go to the Daily Express and Daily Star which their group "Express Newspapers" owned by Richard Desmond gave £550,000 donation to the fund. It's a generous amount and yet they felt violated by the press' intrusion. What is done, is done and my advice for people in the future if they don't want another situation like this is not to open your arms too widely to the newspapers as privacy has been limited.
Talk of privacy, it is for paedos according to tabloid journalist and former features editor of News of the World Paul McMullan. His appearance by far has to be the most controversial of all during this process as he was in favour of the phone hacking by saying hacking Millie Dowler's phone was "not a bad thing". Despite these shocking quotes, he has pointed fingers at former editors of the recently dissolved paper, Rebekar Brooks and Andy Coulson. McMullan said, "They should have been the heroes of journalism, but they aren’t, Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson, they are the scum of journalism for trying to drop me and my colleagues in it." That is something I personally was looking for - names, names of people responsible for the atrocities. It's easy to say you were violated by the press like Sienna Miller and Sheryl Gascoigne but to tell on someone is going to escalate the story even further and I'm glad McMullan said those two names despite the pair being arrested and denying claims from the start. In addition, McMullan also points his finger towards another former editor - Piers Morgan who was only editor of the paper for a year in 1994, where according to the features editor, Morgan "set the trend" to unfair practices. It is interesting he said that because I recall back in July when the Murdochs were interviewed by MPs, Piers was involved with a spat with one MP, Louise Mensch who said he was involved with the phone hacking when editing the Daily Mirror. She has since apologised but Morgan hasn't responded to McMullan's accusations. Perhaps, as a suggestion I like Piers Morgan to take to the Leveson Inquiry stage as it being the second time he has been linked with the phone hacking I believe is no coincidence. I'm unsure if he's done it but with sufficient evidence provided in the near future, I think Morgan must defend his case and fast.
The world of entertainment also took centre stage with further questions at the Leveson Inquiry including Sienna Miller as mentioned before, JK Rowling who said a reporter left a note at her daughter's school bag one day and Steve Coogan but one person has been personally involved in this case since he was hacked all those years ago - Hugh Grant. Yes, the Hollywood actor; love him or loath him, this Englishman has been great at being honest about the Metropolitan Police's performance in recent years during the phone hacking scandal and has getting involved with television programmes such as Question Time and has been in press conferences, despite his private life has caused a distraction of late, particularly when it was announced recently he was a father - the girl he slept with he went out with only for a brief period but nonetheless, his appearance at the Leveson Inquiry has caused a stir. Unlike McMullan, Grant didn't point fingers at a particular editor or journalist but he did say Mail on Sunday hacked his phone because nobody else would have known if his relationship with then partner Jemima Khan was on the rocks. Although it indeed had been, Grant argues the story should never have been released in that fashion. The newspaper in question categorically denies this claim but again as this incident happened in 2007, the editor of the paper at that time must be questioned during this process. The more people the inquiry interviews, the more clues are released and of course the public demand the truth after years of lies.
Despite these "wow" quotes, as I call them, I feel the Bafta must go to Welsh singer Charlotte Church who from a young teenager has been singing in front of many big faces including opening one of Dame Shirley Bassey's concert and had the "Voice of an Angel". However, that wouldn't last forever as she was caught underage drinking and taking drugs which got the press even more interested, especially when Church was raised as a Roman Catholic. This was when she announced the press gave her a negative impression on the audience which had a big impact on her life - but it wasn't that which got the papers talking after her appearance at the Leveson Inquiry. She said her record label and management told her to accept the £100,000 offer from Rupert Murdoch to sing at his wedding when he married Wendi Deng in 1999 "for good press". She was just 13. To me, that has been the best quote so far, especially when she said "He [Rupert Murdoch] had specifically asked for me to sing Pie Jesu [...] The correspondence went back and forth and he said he didn't care if it was a funeral song, he liked that song, he wanted me to sing it, so I did".
It is mind boggling how Murdoch works but what Church said adds to the information Court Justice has to think through. What these people have so far said might have damned the British press, indicating the tabloids are "bad", however millions of people go out of their way and read them on a daily basis. It will interest me how the readership and circulation rates will fare in the coming months when more revelations are out. Leveson has so far interviewed dozens of witnesses and victims, but there are far more to interview yet. Embrace yourself as this Hollywood epic is set to dominate our headlines in the short and long term.
Enjoyed reading this blog post, like "John Saleh Price blogging" on Facebook, follow me on Twitter @johnsalehprice or add me on Google+ (John Saleh Price).
Comments
Post a Comment