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Leveson inquiry: Alleged victims' lawyer says media 'self-serving' Leveson inquiry: Lawyer says media 'self-serving'
(40 minutes later)
The lawyer for 51 alleged victims of press intrusion has told the judge-led inquiry into media practices the whole press stands in the dock.The lawyer for 51 alleged victims of press intrusion has told the judge-led inquiry into media practices the whole press stands in the dock.
Lord Justice Leveson is examining the media's culture, practices and ethics and if its self-regulation works.Lord Justice Leveson is examining the media's culture, practices and ethics and if its self-regulation works.
David Sherborne said the press had a "self-serving agenda" and accused it of buying, stealing and making up stories.David Sherborne said the press had a "self-serving agenda" and accused it of buying, stealing and making up stories.
"The press have a very powerful voice and should not be able to drown out the voice of the victims.""The press have a very powerful voice and should not be able to drown out the voice of the victims."
Mr Sherborne said the experience of his clients was "primarily and largely" at the tabloid or popular end of the press but "it is the whole of the press that stands in the dock".Mr Sherborne said the experience of his clients was "primarily and largely" at the tabloid or popular end of the press but "it is the whole of the press that stands in the dock".
"While there are 51 core participant victims there are many more with similar stories.""While there are 51 core participant victims there are many more with similar stories."
"The press is a powerful body. They have a common interest and a self-serving agenda... this is about survival.""The press is a powerful body. They have a common interest and a self-serving agenda... this is about survival."
Mr Sherborne said media had tried to influence politicians to try to persuade them that less regulation would make journalism better. Mr Sherborne said the media had tried to influence politicians and persuade them that less regulation would make journalism better.
But he said: "A number of individuals have already been vilified for agreeing to share their experiences with this inquiry."But he said: "A number of individuals have already been vilified for agreeing to share their experiences with this inquiry."
He added that the parents of murder victim Milly Dowler - whose phone was allegedly hacked by News of the World - would both give evidence to the inquiry on Monday.
Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger said it was important the inquiry looked at the 18 months after News International's "so-called rotten apple excuse" had exploded. Mr Sherborne said police had pointed to over 2,000 tasks relating to the News of the World (NoW) in notebooks belonging to Glenn Mulcaire - the private investigator jailed in 2007 for illegally accessing the voicemails of royal aides for the tabloid.
He said this suggested that over the four years the notebooks covered, each edition of the tabloid could have had around 10 stories a day based on phone hacking "even leaving aside the other dark arts practiced by the newspaper".
He said the newspaper's stories were built on "manifestly unholy and indefensible ground" and the number of stories "must surely raise questions about who knew what and what level".
He said regardless of what those in senior posts knew at the time, there was a concerted attempt later "to conceal the ugly truth from ever surfacing".
'Tangled web'
Mr Sherborne said what had since unfolded had little to do with News Corporation newspapers "coming clean of their own accord".
The "tangled web" that had subsequently been spun, he said, had "revealed at the very least that someone somewhere is not telling the truth".
Hacking victims were not always well-known people, he said, but were sometimes just involved with or friends of those in the public eye.
Such victims were "the collateral damage in a war where every means - fair or foul - has been employed".
Mr Sherborne alleged the NoW had also targeted other journalists "albeit broadsheet ones". "The press are even prepared to turn on their own."
Mr Sherborne said that Sara Payne, mother of murdered girl Sarah Payne, had been told her phone - given to her by the NoW - was probably hacked by Mulcaire.
That alleged hacking was "a sickening postscript, perhaps a new low" for the newspaper, he said.
Mr Sherborne added that the parents of murder victim Milly Dowler - whose phone was allegedly hacked by the NoW - would both give evidence to the inquiry.
Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger told the inquiry it was important it looked at the 18 months after News International's "so-called rotten apple excuse" had exploded.
Mr Rusbridger referred to "dogs that didn't bark", asking why it took four inquiries before phone-hacking allegations were taken seriously.Mr Rusbridger referred to "dogs that didn't bark", asking why it took four inquiries before phone-hacking allegations were taken seriously.
He said the events leading up to Lord Justice Leveson's inquiry had been "shocking and immensely damaging": He said the events leading up to Lord Justice Leveson's inquiry had been "shocking and immensely damaging".
"Damaging because they impacted on the trust in all journalists. Shocking for what they revealed about one powerful and dominant company, about the responses of the police and the flawed nature of regulation, about the limitations of parliament and the initial unwillingness of much of the press to write about what had been going on at the News of the World.
"There was, in short, a failure of the normal checks and balances in society to hold power to account.""There was, in short, a failure of the normal checks and balances in society to hold power to account."
Mr Rusbridger asked whether News International's influence had been too dominant: "Did people both internally and externally feel a fear of News International?"Mr Rusbridger asked whether News International's influence had been too dominant: "Did people both internally and externally feel a fear of News International?"
He told Lord Justice Leveson: "If you find there was fear of News International, it's important you come up with recommendations on media ownership." 'Relentless' pressure
Mr Rusbridger said there was "a pressing need" to examine the issue of plurality and competition in the media. Earlier, National Union of Journalists head Michelle Stanistreet said journalists face relentless pressure to deliver stories but that cutbacks diminished the ability to generate quality journalism.
He said before it emerged phone hacking appeared to be more widespread than one rogue reporter, there seemed to have been nothing anyone could have done to stop News Corporation doubling its stake in the British media by taking over BSkyB. She described the pressure on journalists to deliver stories as "relentless", saying: "Such pressures lead to shortcuts and can result in the abandoning of fundamental principles."
Mr Rusbridger said today's citizens were more conscious of their right to privacy and how organisations handled it. She added that editors "ruled the roost" in newsrooms and imagining them as "mere bystanders" was "fanciful to say the least".
He suggested making the Press Complaints Commission a "quick, responsive and cheap" one-stop shop for complaints resolution. It could become a mediation and arbitration service covering libel and privacy, he said. Lord Justice Leveson told the hearing he was "starting to get to grip with solutions that work for everybody".
'Fast and loose' He said he would like to see some sort of mediation system that ran in parallel to the courts.
National Union of Journalists head Michelle Stanistreet has told the inquiry in London that journalists face relentless pressure to deliver stories. Prime Minister David Cameron established Lord Justice Leveson's inquiry after revelations that the voicemail of Milly Dowler may have been hacked by the NoW while the schoolgirl was missing.
Ms Stanistreet said that "dogged" journalism brought the phone-hacking scandal at the News of the World newspaper to light.
But she said cutbacks in journalism had diminished the ability to generate quality journalism, accusing newspaper owners of "playing fast and loose with our industry".
Ms Stanistreet described the pressure on journalists to deliver stories as "relentless".
"Such pressures lead to shortcuts and can result in the abandoning of fundamental principles."
She said editors "ruled the roost" in newsrooms and imagining them as "mere bystanders" was "fanciful to say the least".
Ms Stanistreet said there was a "genuine climate of fear" among journalists about speaking out in newsrooms and that they were concerned about not just immediate punishment but later redundancy.
She said unions could help protect their members from "pressure on them to engage in unethical practices" but stressed that collective bargaining was essential to this.
Ms Stanistreet said the NUJ believed there was a correlation between a "strong trade union presence in a workplace and a strong ethical awareness". But she said the current model of self-regulation in Britain had failed.
"It's the view of the NUJ and its members that the PCC (Press Complaints Commission) has failed - and abysmally so."
She said for years media owners had controlled media regulation, creating a "self-serving gentlemen's club" but there were regulation models overseas that worked.
After Mr Rusbridger finished submitting his evidence, Lord Justice Leveson told the hearing he was "starting to get to grip with solutions that work for everybody".
Lord Justice Leveson said he would like to see some sort of mediation system that ran in parallel to the courts.
He said it was important that his inquiry meant something and did not just become a footnote, gathering dust.
Prime Minister David Cameron established Lord Justice Leveson's inquiry after revelations that the voicemail of murder victim Milly Dowler may have been hacked by News of the World while the schoolgirl was missing.
Her family is among those expected to give evidence to the hearing.
Live video of all the inquiry sessions is being streamed on the inquiry's website.Live video of all the inquiry sessions is being streamed on the inquiry's website.
After the conclusion of the police investigation into NoW phone hacking, and any resultant prosecutions, a second phase of the inquiry will examine the extent of unlawful conduct by the press, and the police's initial hacking investigation.After the conclusion of the police investigation into NoW phone hacking, and any resultant prosecutions, a second phase of the inquiry will examine the extent of unlawful conduct by the press, and the police's initial hacking investigation.