“This phone-hacking is wrong, at a time when investigations were still going on. But parents and the public have been let down by both sides acting in a reckless and provocative manner. I urge both sides to drop the rhetoric, get round the negotiating table, and stop it happening again. This phone-hacking is wrong, at a time when investigations are still going on. But parents and the public have been let down by both sides acting in a reckless and provocative manner. I urge both sides to drop the rhetoric, get round the negotiating table, and stop it happening again…”
I may have missed this being mentioned but Radio 4 announced that the Soham girls' family have been contacted by the police which suggests that it is them next
The first discussion with Campbell, and Paul McMullan (the Reporter Hugh Grant stung) was interesting, particulary with McMullan who was cagey, almost unforgiving. There was a point where he turned to Paxman and said to him 10% of the population have had their phone hacked and that conceivably his (i.e Paxman) girlfriend could have looked at his phone to see if he was having an affair (which constitutes hacking in his mind). Campbell laughs nervously and Paxman looks at him with that wtf Paxman look. I thought McMullan was very odd, everything you would expect of a slimey ex-NOTW hack, Paxman wrapped up that section at the next opportunity
Later Paxman chatted with Arianna Huffington, Alastair Campbell, and the new editor of the indie, Chris Blackhurst - discussing the big news. The conversation frequently broke into levity and mirth but with the tragic images of Milly Dowler, Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells beaming out from behind them all. I thought it missed the mark.
The discussion was strange too, They seemed to want to broaden the argument out onto the media as a whole rather than focus on the new revelations of the last 36 hours or so.
This broadening would have helped lessen (a little) the intense heat that is felt at News International tonight. I'm not saying they can kill the story, rather than noting their possible crisis management tactics. I thought the 2nd discussion in particular was fairly sterile for Paxo considering, funny in places but?? funny??
This seems like as good a reason as any to mention (not for the first time) the Istyosty proxy, which allows you to read basically all the red tops plus the Mail, Telegraph and others (although not, oddly, The Times - presumably won't work with the paywall), without giving them any hits and thus without contributing to their ad revenue.
It'll give you an alternative URL to use when linking to places, so anyone clicking the link will see the site just the same (minus ads and some Flash features), and thus be able to read what you're talking about, without giving them any revenue.
There's a plugin you can download for Google Chrome as well, which means if that's your browser and you click on a non-proxy link to one of those sites, the proxy is applied as well.
And obviously, fuck News International. The UK government should go all Cristina Kirchner on them. That'd be equally deplorable, but at least in this case it'd be possibly justified.
At Liverpool Street station right now, the massive Sky News screens that usually show a summary of the headlines aren't even showing news. They're just showing an endless trailer on a loop boasting "First. Everywhere." you heard it here, er, last I guess?
This is true, and sort of key in terms of the weaselling excuses that are doubtless coming to justify approving the takeover nonetheless. Of course the words "promise to spin Sky off as an independent entity" can be interpreted whichever way people want. It's not as if Murdoch keeps promises.
I'll whisper it quietly, but the Times isn't a bad read, he doesn't get too stuck in to the editorial output, it doesn't read like a Murdoch manifesto. Some decent, independent writers in it.
I would still hang, draw and quarter him though. What with him being the original Prince of Darkness an all.
I want to apologise to anybody who was hurt or upset.
Working for the News of the World was never easy. There was relentless pressure.
I knew what we did pushed the limits ethically. But I didn’t understand that I had broken the law.
What I did was for what I thought was the greater good. I never had any intention of interfering with any police inquiry into crime.
Didn't know he was breaking the law? No intention of interfering with any police inquiry? The greater fucking good?
He was illegally hacking into the phone of a missing teenager, and deleting messages whilst being aware that she had probably been kidnapped, raped and/or murdered. This was "pushing the limits ethically".
What an utter cunt. It was ethically bankrupt, yet at no point did his moral compass even flicker. No amount of pressure at work should make you carry on in such a repulsive act unless you have no morals and your only interest is how much you are being paid for it.
Jenny Jones, the Green Party member on the authority, said that the investigation, which is being handled by the Met’s serious crime directorate, was diverting officers away from more important crimes.
“Although this is not a victimless crime it is not something we should be spending a huge amount of time on,” she said.
“There are murders, child abductions and rapes that these officers could be investigating. All these people have to do is not use the voicemail facility on their phone and they will never be hacked again. At a time when resources are so stretched this investigation, for me, should be pretty low on the agenda.”
Before I scroll back through the thread to find out, everyone already knows Glenn Mulcaire once played for AFC Wimbledon, right? I'm sure it's been done to death already, but just in case.
Not significant, but just kind of creepy. Mulcaire scored that goal on 17th July 2002, which was in the period between Milly Dowler's disappearance on 21 March and the discovery of her body on 18 September.
Paul McMullen was also peddling the greater good line on Nicky Campbell's phone in show on Radio 5 Live this morning. He stated that he and his ilk were simply writing the truth and that they were society's last bulwark against corrupt politicans and police. He felt they should not be tarnished by the errors of one man: Mulcaire. Among some other warped ideas.
While I hesitate to take a NOTW hack's word at face value I found him chilling.
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