What A Tangled Web We Weave…

Michael Hedges July 9, 2009 Follow on Twitter

British media is rocking as almost hourly revelations come to light about reporters stealing information on private individuals through snooping and hacking schemes. It’s hairy stuff, more than a little frightening, of an “out of control” tabloid, settlements for silence, collusion of police and, of course, Rupert Murdoch. Politicians, some targeted by the snooping, smell blood in the water.

The Guardian broke a story (July 8) revealing payments made by News Corporation to individuals as settlements for criminal privacy invasion. High profile individuals – numbering in the thousands – were targeted by private investigators hired by News Group Newspapers, part of News Corporation, including Professional Footballers Association CEO Gordon Taylor.

Reporters working for UK tabloids News of the World and The Sun captured personal information through ‘blagging’, said the UK Information Commission (ICO) in a statement (July 9). “Following a court order in 2008 we made available a copy of some information, from our investigation into the buying and selling of personal information, to lawyers acting on behalf of Gordon Taylor,” said the ICO statement. “This included material that showed that 31 journalists working for The News of the World and The Sun had acquired people’s personal information though blagging.” In informal British English usage, blagging means stealing.

Adding to injury if not the irony, the alleged snooping took place when Andy Coulson, current Tory (right-wing) party communications director, was editor of News of the World. Coulson, apparently, resigned before settlements were made. Several of the alleged snooping targets are political figures from other British political parties.

"I think it is one of the most significant media stories of modern times,” said former Sunday Times editor Andrew Neil to The Guardian (July 9). “It suggests that rather than being a one off journalist or rogue private investigator, it was systemic throughout the News of the World, and to a lesser extent the Sun. Particularly in the News of the World, this was a newsroom out of control … Everyone who knows the News of the World, everybody knows this was going on. But it did no good to talk about it. One News of the World journalist said to me … it was dangerous to talk about it.”

Taylor received £700,000 from News Corporation, said The Guardian (July 9), in return for confidentiality. Two other individuals reportedly received payments in return for continued secrecy. Taylor sued News Group in last year claiming the publisher must have known about the actions of its employees.

Another target was ex-deputy Prime Minister John Prescott. Oddly – or not – he only learned of the phone tap scheme from The Guardian’s reporting. “I find it staggering that there could be a list known to the police of people who had their phone tapped,” he said, reported by the BBC (July 9). “I'm named as one of them. For such a criminal act not to be reported to me, and for action not to be taken against the people who have done it, reflects very badly on the police, and I want to know their answer.”

Clearly embarrassed, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson promised to “do the right thing and do whatever we have to do investigate crime wherever it exists,” reported Sky News (July 8).

“While we are rightly worried about Government surveillance getting out of hand,” said MP Evan Harris in a statement,“the public also have the right to be protected from illegal actions by newspapers and their agents. I want to see effective investigative journalism - especially of public figures who wield power - but such journalism must be within the law. The law must be seen to take its full course when wrongdoing is found to avoid suggestions that wealthy interests are able to buy their way out of the criminal justice system." Harris is a member of the Parliamentary joint committee on Human Rights.

House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport committee chairman John Whittingdale has called Dow Jones CEO Les Hinton and Guardian reporter Nick Davies to give evidence next week (July 14) in an inquiry over the use of illegal surveillance methods by News Group Newspapers employees. Hinton was CEO of News Group Newspapers at the time the phone hacking took place.

Hinton gave testimony to the Culture Committee following the 2006 arrest of News of the World editor Clive Goodman for illegally obtaining information through phone hacking. "I believe that Clive Goodman was the only person who knew what was going on," said Hinton to the Culture Committee.Goodman went to jail in 2007. So did the private investigator he’d hired.   Coulson, Goodman’s boss, ‘resigned’ shortly thereafter.

“It does beg the question why News International have apparently paid huge sums of money in settlement of actions in the courts,” said Whittingdale. “That is a question I would wish to put to News International.”

No one has ever accused News Corporation outlets of treading lightly on journalistic ethics. From the infamous British tabloids to the Fox News channel in the United States, nothing gets in the way of bombastic headlines. And, of course, that’s what sells. The newspaper people should be damned proud.