Leveson inquiry into phone hacking and media standards – live

Full coverage of the first seminar in the inquiry into media standards and ethics, where those appearing include former News of the World editor Phil Hall 10.20am: Peppiatt says the issue is that every journalist has to fit in with his or her proprietor’s agenda. In approximately 900 newspaper bylines I can probably count on fingers and toes the times I felt I was genuinely telling the truth, yet only a similar number could be classed as outright lies. This is because as much as the skill of a journalist today is about finding facts, it is also, particularly at the tabloid end of the market, about knowing what facts to ignore. The job is about making the facts fit the story, because the story is almost pre-defined. The newspaper appoints itself moral arbiter, and it is your job to stamp their worldview on all the journalism you do. If a scientist announces their research has found ecstasy to be safer than alcohol, as a tabloid reporter I know my job is to portray this man as a quack, and his methods flawed. If a judge passes down a community sentence to a controversial offender, I know my job is to make them appear lily- livered and out-of-touch. Positive peer reviews are ignored; sentencing guidelines are buried. The ideological imperative comes before the journalistic one – drugs are always bad, British justice is always soft. 10.19am: Richard Pappiatt, the former Daily Star reporter is now presenting. “When the PCC won’t even enforce the first section of their code – ‘The press must take care not to publish inaccurate, misleading or distorted information’ – is it any surprise that newspapers push the boundaries, hacking phones, bribing police, pursuing their own commercial and ideological aims under the cloak of journalism, with reporters used as the foot soldiers?” he asks. Pappiatt quit the Star last week protesting he was routinely asked to make up stories. 10.16am: Hall talks about the harassment of Princess Diana and notes that none of the paparazzi who chased her, day in day out, were arrested. “Why did the authorities not use the tools available to them” he asks saying he thought the problem would have been sorted overnight had the police had done something at the time. He tells the audience of about 100 that journalists often did things that those in power didn’t like and that yes, sometimes they were ‘ruse, aggressive and unreasonable”. But he says: “I have no idea how we legislate against human nature.” 10.11am: Apologies everyone for the late start – the wifi system at QEII is unusual to stay the least. Ex News of the World editor Phil Hall is now on his feet. “Pressure is increased as circulations dwindle”, he says. There were some exceptions years ago – the News of the World, the Daily Mail on Mail on Sunday, Sunday Times were pre-eminent and were not under pressure to get salacious. But big scoops didn’t necessarily deliver sales increases. The Jeffrey Archer exclusive in the News of the World when he was editor did not increase circulation. 9.39am: Good morning from the Queen Elizabeth conference centre where the first two of three Leveson inquiry seminars is taking place. This morning the inquiry is looking at the pressures facing journalists in a competitive environment and among the speakers are Phil Hall, a former News of the World editor and a former Daily Star journalist, Richard Peppiatt. He quit the paper last year protesting that he had been routinely told to make stories up or at least ignore some relevant facts. We’ll be here all day – I’m joined by colleagues James Robinson and Amelia Hill who will be filing stories throughout. Leveson inquiry Phone hacking National newspapers Newspapers Newspapers & magazines Lord Justice Leveson Lisa O’Carroll guardian.co.uk

Posted by on October 6, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.