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| After Leveson: A funny thing happened to me on my way from the inquiry... | After Leveson: A funny thing happened to me on my way from the inquiry... |
| (7 months later) | |
| In this second extract from After Leveson, a book edited by John Mair, a former Sunday Mirror editor and News of the World deputy editor airs his grievances about the Leveson process. Paul Connew explains why he believes the Leveson process was flawed and revealed how he came to discover that he too was a victim of phone hacking… | In this second extract from After Leveson, a book edited by John Mair, a former Sunday Mirror editor and News of the World deputy editor airs his grievances about the Leveson process. Paul Connew explains why he believes the Leveson process was flawed and revealed how he came to discover that he too was a victim of phone hacking… |
| The setting up of the Leveson inquiry wasn't just a blatant example of political expediency, it was a disastrous PR strategy seized on in a blue funk moment of political panic. | The setting up of the Leveson inquiry wasn't just a blatant example of political expediency, it was a disastrous PR strategy seized on in a blue funk moment of political panic. |
| Yes, there was a tsunami of public revulsion over the hacking of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler's phone by the News of the World, as revealed in July 2011 by Nick Davies and The Guardian. | Yes, there was a tsunami of public revulsion over the hacking of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler's phone by the News of the World, as revealed in July 2011 by Nick Davies and The Guardian. |
| But was there a genuine and irresistible public clamour for a judicial inquiry into the "culture, practices and ethics of the British press" (Leveson's terms and conditions)? Probably not. | But was there a genuine and irresistible public clamour for a judicial inquiry into the "culture, practices and ethics of the British press" (Leveson's terms and conditions)? Probably not. |
| For a former professional PR man, the prime minister's skills seemed to desert him in the face of an impressively opportunistic parliamentary onslaught by Ed Miliband. | For a former professional PR man, the prime minister's skills seemed to desert him in the face of an impressively opportunistic parliamentary onslaught by Ed Miliband. |
| Instead of pointing out that phone-hacking was illegal and the outrageous hacking of Milly's phone was a matter for a criminal investigation and not an instant, knee-jerk judicial inquiry, Cameron buckled to the demands of Miliband, Hacked Off and the febrile frenzy that had been whipped up. | Instead of pointing out that phone-hacking was illegal and the outrageous hacking of Milly's phone was a matter for a criminal investigation and not an instant, knee-jerk judicial inquiry, Cameron buckled to the demands of Miliband, Hacked Off and the febrile frenzy that had been whipped up. |
| Due to the police investigation Leveson had to pussyfoot around the whole area of hacking, so Joe and Jane Public learned instead about politicians and the police and their unhealthy links to newspapers. | Due to the police investigation Leveson had to pussyfoot around the whole area of hacking, so Joe and Jane Public learned instead about politicians and the police and their unhealthy links to newspapers. |
| It must have left them perplexed over why so many millions of pounds of taxpayers' money was being spent simultaneously on at least four police investigations and a judicial inquiry. | It must have left them perplexed over why so many millions of pounds of taxpayers' money was being spent simultaneously on at least four police investigations and a judicial inquiry. |
| Despite the caution, it's still a strong likelihood that defence lawyers down the line will argue that even the limited evidence that emerged at Leveson will be prejudicial to their clients receiving a fair trial. | Despite the caution, it's still a strong likelihood that defence lawyers down the line will argue that even the limited evidence that emerged at Leveson will be prejudicial to their clients receiving a fair trial. |
| From high drama to farce to the theatre of the absurd | From high drama to farce to the theatre of the absurd |
| Should any of those arguments succeed, it would prove a disservice to the public interest and an acute embarrassment to all those who pressed for a public inquiry to plough ahead with uncharacteristically indecent haste. | Should any of those arguments succeed, it would prove a disservice to the public interest and an acute embarrassment to all those who pressed for a public inquiry to plough ahead with uncharacteristically indecent haste. |
| If, as a piece of judicial/media theatre, the Leveson inquiry began as the hottest ticket in town, it sometimes lurched from high drama into variations of Whitehall farce and the theatre of the absurd. You started to wonder if it might run longer than The Mousetrap. | If, as a piece of judicial/media theatre, the Leveson inquiry began as the hottest ticket in town, it sometimes lurched from high drama into variations of Whitehall farce and the theatre of the absurd. You started to wonder if it might run longer than The Mousetrap. |
| I sensed that the public grew bored long before the self-absorbed Westminster and media villages realised that on dull days of evidence they were flogging a dead horse. | I sensed that the public grew bored long before the self-absorbed Westminster and media villages realised that on dull days of evidence they were flogging a dead horse. |
| You would have needed a heart of stone not to feel moved and shamed by the powerful, poignant evidence of the Dowlers, the McCanns, Chris Jefferies and other "civilian" victims of outrageous press misconduct. | You would have needed a heart of stone not to feel moved and shamed by the powerful, poignant evidence of the Dowlers, the McCanns, Chris Jefferies and other "civilian" victims of outrageous press misconduct. |
| You only needed to be a father of daughters to wince at Sienna Miller's description of being chased down a dark street by a dozen large men whose only justification was that they were carrying cameras and she was a "sleb". | You only needed to be a father of daughters to wince at Sienna Miller's description of being chased down a dark street by a dozen large men whose only justification was that they were carrying cameras and she was a "sleb". |
| That said, you also wondered why the inquiry, and much of the broadcast media coverage, didn't also fully reflect that the Dowlers were expensively compensated by Rupert Murdoch (eventually), that the McCanns received over £500,000 in libel damages plus a front page apology from the Express group and Christopher Jefferies collected hefty libel settlements from several newspapers, with The Sun and the Daily Mirror also (rightly) being prosecuted and fined for contempt of court. | That said, you also wondered why the inquiry, and much of the broadcast media coverage, didn't also fully reflect that the Dowlers were expensively compensated by Rupert Murdoch (eventually), that the McCanns received over £500,000 in libel damages plus a front page apology from the Express group and Christopher Jefferies collected hefty libel settlements from several newspapers, with The Sun and the Daily Mirror also (rightly) being prosecuted and fined for contempt of court. |
| In the Jefferies case, it's worth pointing out that the titles responsible for breaching the contempt laws were guilty of a kindergarten level of journalistic incompetence comparable to that displayed by the BBC Newsnight team's failure to show their main witness a photograph or give Lord McAlpine the opportunity to respond to the false child sex abuse allegations being levelled at him - though not by them directly but on Twitter. | In the Jefferies case, it's worth pointing out that the titles responsible for breaching the contempt laws were guilty of a kindergarten level of journalistic incompetence comparable to that displayed by the BBC Newsnight team's failure to show their main witness a photograph or give Lord McAlpine the opportunity to respond to the false child sex abuse allegations being levelled at him - though not by them directly but on Twitter. |
| How I discovered I was a hacking victim | How I discovered I was a hacking victim |
| A funny thing happened to me after I'd submitted my own evidence to Leveson. It came with a call from Scotland Yard's Operation Weeting squad informing me I was another statistic on Glenn Mulcaire's voluminous list of hacking targets. | A funny thing happened to me after I'd submitted my own evidence to Leveson. It came with a call from Scotland Yard's Operation Weeting squad informing me I was another statistic on Glenn Mulcaire's voluminous list of hacking targets. |
| This was nothing to do with my own journalistic history but was apparently linked to my role as a PR adviser to various celebrities, corporate clients and charities with prominent royal patrons. | This was nothing to do with my own journalistic history but was apparently linked to my role as a PR adviser to various celebrities, corporate clients and charities with prominent royal patrons. |
| It forced me to question whether I should change my mind about opposing statutory regulation of the press, not least because - as a lifelong Labour supporter - it felt strange to be in bed with Michael Gove, Eric Pickles, David Cameron and George Osborne rather than my more natural bedfellows, such as Ed Miliband and Harriet Harman. | It forced me to question whether I should change my mind about opposing statutory regulation of the press, not least because - as a lifelong Labour supporter - it felt strange to be in bed with Michael Gove, Eric Pickles, David Cameron and George Osborne rather than my more natural bedfellows, such as Ed Miliband and Harriet Harman. |
| The verdict? My belief in the principle of a free press outweighed personal grievances or my usual political loyalties. | The verdict? My belief in the principle of a free press outweighed personal grievances or my usual political loyalties. |
| It was a development I finally decided to go public on the eve of publication of Leveson's report in November last year while appearing on an Oxford University debate panel featuring Hugh Grant, Will Hutton and Baroness Helena Kennedy. | It was a development I finally decided to go public on the eve of publication of Leveson's report in November last year while appearing on an Oxford University debate panel featuring Hugh Grant, Will Hutton and Baroness Helena Kennedy. |
| Afterwards, Grant seemed to struggle with the notion that a Labour-supporting victim of phone-hacking was arguing against the Hacked Off view rather than for it. | Afterwards, Grant seemed to struggle with the notion that a Labour-supporting victim of phone-hacking was arguing against the Hacked Off view rather than for it. |
| Similarly the otherwise genial actor suffered a minor sense of humour failure when I suggested being frontman for Hacked Off was his best role since the halycon days of Four Weddings, Notting Hill, Bridget Jones's Diary and About a Boy. | Similarly the otherwise genial actor suffered a minor sense of humour failure when I suggested being frontman for Hacked Off was his best role since the halycon days of Four Weddings, Notting Hill, Bridget Jones's Diary and About a Boy. |
| (I've also several times felt compelled to question why Hacked Off, piously dismissive of the tabloids' fascination with celebrity stories, should be so eager to be publicly represented by an Anglo-Hollywood star on the campaign trail). | (I've also several times felt compelled to question why Hacked Off, piously dismissive of the tabloids' fascination with celebrity stories, should be so eager to be publicly represented by an Anglo-Hollywood star on the campaign trail). |
| Lest anyone get the wrong impression, I don't doubt Grant's sincerity in being involved with the Hacked Off cause. But I do believe that, in light of the compromises now being offered by the newspaper industry, Hacked Off's statutory demands smack of zealotry. | Lest anyone get the wrong impression, I don't doubt Grant's sincerity in being involved with the Hacked Off cause. But I do believe that, in light of the compromises now being offered by the newspaper industry, Hacked Off's statutory demands smack of zealotry. |
| The elusive butterfly of 'the public interest' | The elusive butterfly of 'the public interest' |
| Almost inevitably, Leveson failed to nail the elusive butterfly of what constitutes the public interest. The tabloids, and the readers who exercise their right to buy them, will remain fascinated by the celebrity factor. | Almost inevitably, Leveson failed to nail the elusive butterfly of what constitutes the public interest. The tabloids, and the readers who exercise their right to buy them, will remain fascinated by the celebrity factor. |
| The journalist in me remains convinced that exposing hypocrisy among the rich and famous is perfectly valid, provided the methodology is strictly legitimate. The PR in me will continue to advise celebrity clients along the following lines: | The journalist in me remains convinced that exposing hypocrisy among the rich and famous is perfectly valid, provided the methodology is strictly legitimate. The PR in me will continue to advise celebrity clients along the following lines: |
| If you do drugs, don't be tempted to front up a government anti-drugs campaign; if you are a serial adulterer don't trade on a idyllic marriage image; and if you choose to invest in perfectly legal, but morally questionable, tax avoidance schemes, don't promote yourself as a champion of the underprivileged. | If you do drugs, don't be tempted to front up a government anti-drugs campaign; if you are a serial adulterer don't trade on a idyllic marriage image; and if you choose to invest in perfectly legal, but morally questionable, tax avoidance schemes, don't promote yourself as a champion of the underprivileged. |
| And, if you choose not to follow said advice, don't cry when the damage limitation exercise proves less than totally successful and the commercial sponsorship deals start to dry up. | And, if you choose not to follow said advice, don't cry when the damage limitation exercise proves less than totally successful and the commercial sponsorship deals start to dry up. |
| Lord Justice Leveson was right to point out that, while there was little wrong with the editors' code (as administered by the Press Complaints Commission), the now moribund watchdog was never truly a regulator. | Lord Justice Leveson was right to point out that, while there was little wrong with the editors' code (as administered by the Press Complaints Commission), the now moribund watchdog was never truly a regulator. |
| There are those of us committed to non-statutory regulation who have long argued the case for beefed-up independent self-regulation by a body with the power to levy fines, pro-actively investigate, rule on the prominence of apologies and corrections and with a minority of its members drawn from the press and without the involvement of serving editors in any complaint-judging capacity. | There are those of us committed to non-statutory regulation who have long argued the case for beefed-up independent self-regulation by a body with the power to levy fines, pro-actively investigate, rule on the prominence of apologies and corrections and with a minority of its members drawn from the press and without the involvement of serving editors in any complaint-judging capacity. |
| The inclusion of some experienced newspaper hands would still be essential, but there is hardly a shortage of ex-editors and executives no longer reliant on the industry for their salaries or career ambitions to draw on. | The inclusion of some experienced newspaper hands would still be essential, but there is hardly a shortage of ex-editors and executives no longer reliant on the industry for their salaries or career ambitions to draw on. |
| Most of the above is already on the table in the delicate post-Leveson negotiations. Toss in an imposing independent chair like Sir Alistair Graham, the no-nonsense former head of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, and we might just have a formula that only the most obdurate members of the pro-statute lobby could reject. | Most of the above is already on the table in the delicate post-Leveson negotiations. Toss in an imposing independent chair like Sir Alistair Graham, the no-nonsense former head of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, and we might just have a formula that only the most obdurate members of the pro-statute lobby could reject. |
| *After Leveson? The future for British journalism, edited by John Mair, is published by Abramis. Available at a special Media Guardian price of £15 from richard@arimapublishing.co.uk | *After Leveson? The future for British journalism, edited by John Mair, is published by Abramis. Available at a special Media Guardian price of £15 from richard@arimapublishing.co.uk |
| Tomorrow: Experienced PR executive Patrick Barrow considers the twin narratives of the Leveson inquiry and the Jimmy Savile scandal. | Tomorrow: Experienced PR executive Patrick Barrow considers the twin narratives of the Leveson inquiry and the Jimmy Savile scandal. |
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