Leveson hears from old contact

I was interested to the read latest from the Leveson Inquiry, which touched on how an old contact Martin Salter was treated by the News of the World when he was my MP in Reading. My old paper the Reading Chronicle reported on his written evidence as part of Labour MP Tom Watson’s appearance at [...]

‘New Sun rising’ feels like more of the same

I was one of more than 2.6m people who bought the first copy of the Sun on Sunday, launched today under a manifesto to campaign for its readers and champion good journalism. Today’s leader sets out the ‘new’ paper’s approach in typically strident terms:

Links I like 11.11.18

Tom Watson reveals how the phone hacking scandal affected him – Express and Star This local newspaper column was being shared across Twitter this morning. MP and ‘scourge of the tabloids’ Tom Watson writes in the Express and Star about the campaign against phone hacking which has played a huge part in exposing the problems [...]

Editor’s final speech to NoTW colleagues

With the News International crisis escalating further this week, it’s been easy to forget that just a few days ago many News of the World journalists who had nothing to do with the phone hacking scandal were caught in the crossfire and lost their jobs as a result. This video on YouTube of the editor [...]

NoTW staff use new media to turn on old employer

Some of the most fascinating details about the News of the World’s closure seem to be coming from former staff who are deeply unhappy about finding themselves out of a job today. Anonymous Twitter feeds have been set up by people claiming to be former staffers on the paper and one (@ExNOTWJourno) already has more [...]

Phone hacking is only part of the story

Anyone who’s worked in a newsroom will understand the uncomfortable situations journalists sometimes have to address when pursuing a story. A very good example of this – which I have experienced – is the ‘death knock’, where reporters are sent to interview a family who has just suffered a tragedy. Often, the best stories result [...]

Some feelings on phone hacking and journalism

I’ve followed the unfolding phone hacking saga with interest over the last couple of years, since The Guardian first broke the story, and with amazement as the crisis escalated to claim The News of the World, which has been culled today. It’s an amazing story, which everyone has commented on but no-one connected with it [...]

Tomorrow’s going to be worse for Murdoch

I am half way through a draft blog posting, and think I’ll to sleep on it before publishing. As Twitter continues to sing on the scandal, this tweet from Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger about The Telegraph’s front page tomorrow shows that this story is going to get even worse tomorrow, and for a long while [...]

Links I like 11.01.30

George Eustice: The dilemma for Coulson’s heir – PR Week David Cameron’s former press secretary and Camborne and Redruth MP George Eustice gives his take on the Government’s communications challenge in the wake of Andy Coulson’s resignation. He makes the point (which I agree with) that there is a difference between managing the press and obsessing over [...]

Links I like 11.01.23

‘Rupert Murdoch’s arrogant empire must be reined  in’ – The Observer One of a number of pieces about the News of the World phone hacking scandal in The Guardian’s sister paper today. Campaigning journalist Henry Porter draws our attention to the ‘bigger picture’, reminding us that this story is about much more than one high profile individual. It [...]