The Hacked Off campaigning group, which has been highly prominent throughout the Leveson inquiry with support from celebrities including Hugh Grant and JK Rowling, has already racked up more than 127,000 signatures of people supporting the victims and putting pressure on the government to implement the Leveson report in full.
Read more on Leveson proves editors are the most forgetful of people [Funny videos]…
The Evening Standard reports Scotland Yard has told Damian McBride, Gordon Brown’s former spin doctor, that emails which led to him losing his job might have been hacked. McBride lost his role as director of communications for Brown in 2009 in what was known as the “smeargate” scandal. It also saw Derek Draper the former Labour Insider step down as editor of the LabourList website.
Read more on Emails of Brown’s former spin doctor Damian McBride maybe have been hacked…
The Sun has this morning printed the naked pictures of Prince Harry taken earlier this week in Las Vegas in defiance of a request from Palace lawyers to respect the prince’s privacy.
It has splashed the image on its front page this morning and again across pages four and five.
On the front pages the headline reads “Heir it is! Pic of naked Harry you’ve already seen on the internet”. Read more on The Sun continues to stoop as it publishes Prince Harry pics…
An extraordinary battle appears to be shaping up at News International as Sun journalists battle management and the committee formed to to take responsibility for all matters regarding phone hacking. At the weekend the Management Standards Committee was responsible for the arrest of several sun journalist and contacts at the Sun raising fears that it was revealing legitimate contacts to the police.
This sparked a robust defence by Trevor Kavanagh in the paper on Monday and on TV and radio and now the Guardian is reporting that senior journalists at the Sun are considering a legal challenge to block the MSC. Read more on Sun journalists consider human rights challenge to News Corp inquiry team…
Another weekend another clutch of Sun journalists have been arrested. This time five were arrested and bailed “over allegations of inappropriate payments to police”.
The infection that quickly killed the News of the World appears to be sapping the Sun. The arrests were the second round at the Sun and over the weekend and led to some calling for Rupert Murdoch to sell the paper and be done with his rotten British tabloid business, which has tarnished his global media empire. Read more on Should Rupert Murdoch sell the Sun?…
Rupert Murdoch’s News International is having another cheque signing day in court as more phone hacking victims receive payments.
Among those up today are Tony Blair’s former Communications Chief Alistair Campbell who has settled for what are being described as “substantial damages”. He has said he donate his settlement to charity Mind and the Labour Party. Read more on Alistair Campbell, Steve Coogan and Paul Gascoigne settle phone hacking claims…
The Times is being investigated by the Metropolitan police over email hacking claims, according to a BBC report. There are few details available yet, but is another sign that News International can not shake-off hacking allegations.
News of the investigation comes after it emerged at the Leveson inquiry last month that a controversial 2009 Times article that outed an anonymous police blogger, known as Nightjack, was based on material obtained by hacking a Hotmail email account. Read more on Hacking scandal spreads to The Times as paper investigated…
I wrote a few things last year about News International possibly launching The Sun on Sunday, in the wake of the demise of the News of the World, and how it could be a success.
It all went quiet on The Sun on Sunday front after that as the hacking saga rumbled on. We’ve heard nothing since October, but apparently a launch could again be back on the agenda with the new paper on our newsstands as early as the Spring. Read more on Murdoch to launch Sun on Sunday in April, says source…
After News International yesterday paid out what is expected to be a healthy seven figure sum to 37 phone hacking victims, who had been targeted by the News of the World, high court judge, Mr Justice Vos, said that the Rupert Murdoch-owned company had made “an admission of sorts” that it deliberately engaged in a cover-up of evidence relating to phone hacking.
The judge said he had seen evidence which raised “compelling questions about whether you [News Group Newspapers] concealed, told lies, actively tried to get off scot free”. Read more on How News International hid the phone-hacking scandal…
News International has agreed to pay settlements to 37 victims of News of the World phone-hacking scandal in civil settlements. Among those receiving payouts are actor Jude Law, Labour MPs Denis MacShane and Chris Bryant, Ashley Cole and ex-Deputy Prime Minister Lord Prescott.
Most people pursuing damages from New International have now settled, according to lawyers. Law alone has been paid £130,000 in damages. Read more on News International to payout to 37 hacking victims…
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