Tina Brown has got a point, continued #coulson
Trying out Google news and blogsearch to check the claim in the print Guardian that the Coulson resignation is under reported. According to Brian Cathcart
News International used to tell us, until a week ago, that it had had one rogue journalist and that was the end of it. When the Commons media committee heard these things it snorted with derision, so why haven't these people been called to account?
One reason is that the tabloid press has ignored the story. Miller must be amazed: she has finally found something she can do in her private life that red-tops won't feast on. But for most of the newspaper-reading public this story does not exist: they have never been confronted with the strange claims of the Met and News International.
More below on some links, but first breaking news from Sky. Phone-Hacking Row 'Involves Other Papers'.
The phone-hacking scandal that cost the Prime Minister's head of communications, Andy Coulson, his job involves a string of newspapers - not just the News of the World, a lawyer has told Sky News.
Mark Lewis said he is representing clients preparing to bring civil court cases against several newspaper groups over allegations of phone tapping.
His claims suggest the practice of illegal eavesdropping is much more commonplace than first thought.
"I am absolutely positive - and I am not an advocate for the News of the World - that this wasn't a practice for one newspaper or even one newspaper group," Mr Lewis said. "It's fair to say that over the past 10 years or so most entertainment stories will have had some element of subterfuge."
Can all the red-tops ignore this sort of claim? This is Saturday afternoon so here in the UK we are all looking forward to the sunday papers.
I am not going to buy much print. I already get the Observer on subscription. The FT I bought this week for details on local TV actually had less than the Guardian. But the web versions show there is some coverage.
Evening Standard
It emerged earlier this month that News of the World executive Ian Edmondson has been suspended as a result of claims in a case brought by actress Sienna Miller. Police subsequently wrote to the newspaper asking for any new evidence staff had on the case.
Peter Oborne in Telegraph
The House of Commons Media Culture and Sport Committee need to reopen their enquiry into the phone hacking affair. Some of the evidence presented by Coulson last time he appeared in front of it now makes no sense (for instance his claim to the MP Adam Price that ‘I am absolutely sure that Clive’s case was a very unfortunate rogue case’) now appears nonsensical.
But the most interesting writing so far is in the Daily Beast.
The humiliating scene at 10 Downing Street was also a victory for The New York Times over Rupert Murdoch—not that anyone in Arthur Sulzberger’s employ would be so petty as to point that out, unless you eavesdropped on their phone calls
Could it be that News International has reached a position of such influence that some other media will choose not to ignore the associated issues? This may become clearer over the next few months. The New York Times did publish statement that were later repeated in the UK Guardian.
Recent NYT reporting probes the official story but also leaves open the question of how widespread "outlandish practices" may be.
Britain’s sharp-elbowed tabloids seem to have abandoned some of their more outlandish practices since Mr. Coulson worked at The News of the World. But politicians and many British reporters and editors say that few standards apply in a world where reporters think nothing of concealing their identities when pursuing stories and tabloids routinely pay thousands of dollars to sources willing to provide evidence of celebrities’ extramarital affairs.
Tabloid editors are also known to keep close watch over their reporters.
“No one who knows how a newspaper works, let alone a well-run British newspaper, has ever been able to understand for one second why a very effective editor wouldn’t have at least asked his royal reporter where a stream of very strong scoops had come from,” said an editor at another tabloid who asked not to be quoted by name because he was not authorized to speak publicly to the press.
Perhaps you are still reading this for the Tina Brown link. Previously she wrote about Coulson and the Diana tape from long ago. "Did Murdoch's Hacks Bug Diana, Too?"
Without getting into the credibility of the various stories, it just seems surprising to me that the UK press has not picked up on this. It may not have been "Murdoch hacks", it might have been some other newspaper. Or just chance for a couple of individuals. But this blog in the Daily Beast is surely worth a link or two?