04 May 12 | Leveson Inquiry
Update 15:21 — Eight government ministers have today been granted core participant status at the Leveson Inquiry, meaning they will have advance access to evidence and the right to seek redactions of other statements submitted. Lord Justice Leveson rejected the application by the government as a body, but granted individual CP status to David Cameron, Nick Clegg, Vince Cable, Ken Clarke, George Osborne, Theresa May, Jeremy Hunt and Michael Gove, who will be known as “government core participants“.
The coalition government will this afternoon make an application to be a core participant at the Leveson Inquiry, in a special hearing announced today.
If granted, this would mean that the government would have advance access to written statements and attachments submitted in module three of the Inquiry, which is examining relations between the press and politicians.
The Inquiry states that individual or an organisation can become a core participant if they are deemed by Lord Justice Leveson to meet one or more of the following criteria:
- the person played, or may have played, a direct and significant role in relation to the matters to which the inquiry relates;
- the person has a significant interest in an important aspect of those matters to which the inquiry relates; or
- the person may be subject to explicit or significant criticism during the inquiry proceedings or in its report
Those already granted CP status in module three include Guardian News and Media, Associated Newspapers and News International; the Metropolitan police; the National Union of Journalists, and former News International CEO Rebekah Brooks, who is scheduled to give evidence to the Inquiry next Friday. MPs including Tom Watson, Denis MacShane, Tessa Jowell and Chris Bryant have also been granted CP status.
Today’s hearing is scheduled to take place at 2pm.
Follow Index on Censorship’s coverage of the Leveson Inquiry on Twitter – @IndexLeveson
02 May 12 | Leveson Inquiry
A statement released by the Leveson Inquiry late last night has raised doubts as to whether the second part of the Inquiry into press standards will go ahead, due to concerns over value and costs.
In the statement, Lord Justice Leveson expressed concern over the “enormous cost (both to the public purse and the participants)” and voiced his fear that the Inquiry may “trawl over material then more years out of date”.
While not ruling out the possibility of a second part, Lord Justice Leveson said: “It is likely that the process of pre-trial disclosure and trial will be lengthy so that Part 2 of this Inquiry will be delayed for very many months if not longer.”
He added:
In those circumstances, it seems to me that it is in everyone’s interests that Part 1 goes as far as it possibly can. If the transparent way in which the Inquiry has been conducted, the Report and the response by government and the press (along with a new acceptable regulatory regime) addresses the public concern, at the conclusion of any trial or trials, consideration can be given by everyone to the value to be gained from a further inquiry into Part 2.
Part Two of the Inquiry, intended to commence after any possible criminal trials would have been completed, would examine the extent of unlawful or improper conduct at News International and other media organisations.
Part One, which is currently underway, is looking at the culture, practices, and ethics of the press and will make recommendations based on the findings this autumn.
Follow Index on Censorship’s coverage of the Leveson Inquiry on Twitter – @IndexLeveson
01 May 12 | Uncategorized
Rupert Murdoch is “not a fit person to exercise the stewardship of a major international company”, a committee of MPs has concluded today.
In a damning report on News International and phone hacking, the Commons culture, media and sport select committee accused the media mogul of exhibiting “wilful blindness to what was going on in his companies and publications” and not taking steps to become fully informed about the extent of phone hacking at his empire. It said:
This culture, we consider, permeated from the top throughout the organisation and speaks volumes about the lack of effective corporate governance at News Corporation and News International.
The report accused three former News International executives — Les Hinton, Colin Myler, and Tom Crone — of misleading the committee during its inquiries, which began in July 2011 in the wake of revelations about the extent of phone hacking at the now defunct News of the World. The report said that NI’s former legal manager Crone and ex-News of the World editor Myler “deliberately avoided disclosing crucial information to the Committee and, when asked to do, answered questions falsely”.
The report said that the company “finally realised that its containment approach had failed” by spring 2011 in the wake of civil cases brought forward, and that its “one rogue reporter” stance was by then no longer credible. It said that News Corp’s strategy was to “lay the blame on certain individuals” (citing Myler and Crone amongst others) while “striving to protect more senior figures, notably James Murdoch.”
“Even if there were a ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ culture at News International, the whole affair demonstrates huge failings of corporate governance at the company and its parent, News Corporation”, the report added.
Meanwhile, former NI chairman James Murdoch, who gave evidence to the committee along with his father last year, was accused of “wilful ignorance” and of betraying “astonishing lack of curiosity on the part of a chief executive” for not having inquired more deeply into the extent of the practice in 2008, at the time of negotiations surrounding a £700,000 phone-hacking settlement paid to the Professional Footballers’ Association boss, Gordon Taylor.
“Had James Murdoch been more attentive to the correspondence that he received at the time, he could have taken action on phone hacking in 2008 and this committee could have been told the truth in 2009,” the report said.
Last month the younger Murdoch resigned as chairman of BSkyB, whose parent company News Corporation was founded by his father. He also stood down as chairman of the newspaper publisher, News International, earlier this year.
However the report’s conclusions were not unanimous, with the committee split over several of its findings. The motion to submit the report to Parliament passed by a majority of six to four, with four Conservative members opposing. Four of the five Tory members of the committee also refused to declare the elder Murdoch was a fit person to run an international company.
“This line about Rupert Murdoch not being fit was stuck in on the basis of no evidence to the committee whatsoever,” Tory MP Louise Mensch said. She added that the report was “carried on political lines” and feared its credibility had been damaged as a result of not having full backing of all committee members. Committee chair John Whittingdale stressed, however, that the committee was “wholly agreed” on the main findings relating to their being misled by named individuals.
Meanwhile, Ofcom released a statement noting it had seen today’s report:
Ofcom has a duty under the Broadcasting Acts 1990 and 1996 to be satisfied that any person holding a broadcasting licence is, and remains, fit and proper to do so. Ofcom is continuing to assess the evidence – including the new and emerging evidence – that may assist it in discharging these duties.
Marta Cooper is an editorial researcher at Index. She tweets at @martaruco
Index is one of four public benefit organisations which have today made an urgent application to the Leveson Inquiry regarding Government ministers’ new status as ‘core participants’ in the Inquiry (more…)