It’s a bit of poetic justice that the phone hacking claims that have beset The News of the World, its former journalists and pay masters have in themselves instigated such a palpably venomous witch hunt of a media storm. With the closure of the newspaper and subsequent apparent retreat of its owners, News Corporation, from the BSkyB takeover bid, it must now face a full government inquiry.
Prime Minister, David Cameron has announced the full details of the hacking inquiry that will commence immediately. However, if the news release by Number 10 is anything to go by, we might have a long wait for any real results to surface.
Lord Justice Leveson, who has been appointed to lead the inquiry, will apparently aim to make a report on the first part of the inquiry within 12 months. Although there is no clear indication about what specifically will be taking so much time, it could be a result of the changes to the remit of the inquiry. In a statement to Parliament earlier today (20th July 2011), David Cameron said, “that the inquiry should consider not just the relationship between the press, police and politicians but their individual conduct too”.
The inquiry panel will be made up of civil liberties campaigner and Director of Liberty, Shami Chakrabarti CBE, former Chief Constable of the West Midlands, Sir Paul Scott-Lee, former Chairman of OFCOM, Lord Currie, former Political Editor of Channel 4 News, Elinor Goodman, former Political Editor of The Daily Telegraph, George Jones and former Chairman of the Financial Times, Sir David Bell.
One of the core requirements of the inquiry will be to report on the extent of the improper or unlawful activities of News International (the UK arm of News Corporation) and other newspapers. It’s just a shame it’s going to take them such a long time to pull it all together.
The relationship of the Metropolitan Police, and other relevant forces, with media organisations will also fall under the remit of the inquiry, possibly paving the way for policy changes in the future.
