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The Leveson Inquiry

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
in Politics & Debate
Has anyone been following this? The witness statements can be found here [clicky]

Compelling to watch, if only to have my worst opinions of media scum confirmed.

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I'm not too interested in what the celebs have to say, but I have just read Chris Jeffrie's account. The press' treatment of him was vile, and I know the amount won't be disclosed but I hope he took them to the cleaners.

    The national tabloids in this country are a disgrace and a law unto themselves and until the PCC is given teeth and run by someone who isn't the owner of a national rag, nothing will change.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Whowhere wrote: »
    I'm not too interested in what the celebs have to say, but I have just read Chris Jeffrie's account. The press' treatment of him was vile, and I know the amount won't be disclosed but I hope he took them to the cleaners.

    He did. I'm interested in why you aren't interested in what the "celebs" have to say though. Some really damning indictments of how the media operates - do you think it's okay for them to print someone's home address, or publish photographs of their children? Do you think it's okay to doorstep someone within an hour of their child dying? Drive a member of their family to suicide, by hounding them?

    I personally don't accept that any of that is acceptable regardless of an individual's public persona.

    It's because the public's acceptance that "celebs are asking for it" that these scumbag have been able to get away with it for so long.

    Paul McMullan's testimony today was either the idiotic ramblings of a man burning every bridge he's ever been able to cross, or a really awful insight from someone on the inside. Sadly Peppiat and Davies' testimony today suggests it's the latter. McMullan said, at one point, that "Privacy is the space bad people need to do bad things. Privacy is for paedos. Privacy is evil".

    That's without going into the testimony of the McCann and Dowler families. Hell, McMullan even stated that "Hacking of Milly Dowler's phone was not a bad thing for a journalist to do"
    The national tabloids in this country are a disgrace and a law unto themselves and until the PCC is given teeth and run by someone who isn't the owner of a national rag, nothing will change.

    I'm not sure that I would limit this to the tabloid either, although they are easy targets. The PCC has to set out clear moral and ethical guidelines (like Lawyers and Doctors professional bodies have), with registration and (as you say) hefty teeth. Those teeth should include striking individuals off, million pound fines and front page headlines correcting errors in stories.

    There is a big difference between "in the public interest" and "what interests the public".
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I'm not saying I don't find the experiences of the celebs any less valid, what I mean is some of the behaviour towards them is to be expected as long as there is public interest in them and whilst what happens to them is just as vile, they're regularly compensated hundreds of thousands of pounds due to the line of work they're in.

    Ordinary members of public, who for whatever reason are thrust into the spotlight deserve extra protection from the press, imho anyway.
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