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| Britain Awaits Major Report on Press Responsibility | Britain Awaits Major Report on Press Responsibility |
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| LONDON — After interviewing scores of witnesses in many hours of sworn public testimony, a major inquiry into the standards of the rambunctious British press triggered by the phone hacking scandal was preparing to release its final report on Thursday — a hefty document that editors fear could lead to new legal curbs on their cherished freedoms and which is supposed to illuminate one of the murkiest eras of British journalism. | LONDON — After interviewing scores of witnesses in many hours of sworn public testimony, a major inquiry into the standards of the rambunctious British press triggered by the phone hacking scandal was preparing to release its final report on Thursday — a hefty document that editors fear could lead to new legal curbs on their cherished freedoms and which is supposed to illuminate one of the murkiest eras of British journalism. |
| The findings of the inquiry, named for Lord Justice Sir Brian Leveson, the judge who conducted it, is also depicted by victims of phone hacking and intrusive reporting, particularly by tabloid newspapers, as the potential herald of a new era of press responsibility enforced by statute. | The findings of the inquiry, named for Lord Justice Sir Brian Leveson, the judge who conducted it, is also depicted by victims of phone hacking and intrusive reporting, particularly by tabloid newspapers, as the potential herald of a new era of press responsibility enforced by statute. |
| The inquiry, which was established as the phone hacking scandal exploded with full force within Rupert Murdoch’s British newspaper holdings in July 2011, ran in parallel with police investigations and parliamentary hearings that have riveted Britons, offering a sleazy picture of illicit phone interceptions and cozy relations between the police, private detectives, politicians and the press. | |
| The content of the Leveson inquiry’s report has been kept a closely guarded secret. Sir Brian held the first sessions of testimony in November2011 and completed them in July. The cost so far has been put by the inquiry at around $6.4 million. | The content of the Leveson inquiry’s report has been kept a closely guarded secret. Sir Brian held the first sessions of testimony in November2011 and completed them in July. The cost so far has been put by the inquiry at around $6.4 million. |
| Seen by many as having all the makings of a political bombshell for Prime Minister David Cameron, copies of the report were delivered to his office and official residence at 10 Downing Street on Wednesday. | Seen by many as having all the makings of a political bombshell for Prime Minister David Cameron, copies of the report were delivered to his office and official residence at 10 Downing Street on Wednesday. |
| Attitudes toward the fraught question of statutory regulation of the press vary sharply among his dominant Conservative Party, its Liberal Democrat junior coalition and the opposition Labour Party. But the divisions also cross party lines. | Attitudes toward the fraught question of statutory regulation of the press vary sharply among his dominant Conservative Party, its Liberal Democrat junior coalition and the opposition Labour Party. But the divisions also cross party lines. |
| A group of 86 lawmakers from both houses of Parliament and all three leading political parties used a letter published in two British newspapers on Wednesday to argue against statutory regulation, saying it would lead to the licensing of newspapers for the first time since the 17th century. | A group of 86 lawmakers from both houses of Parliament and all three leading political parties used a letter published in two British newspapers on Wednesday to argue against statutory regulation, saying it would lead to the licensing of newspapers for the first time since the 17th century. |
| The British newspaper industry currently is self-regulating. | The British newspaper industry currently is self-regulating. |
| The various inquiries into the scandal have focused on Murdoch-owned tabloids, particularly The News of the World, which Mr. Murdoch ordered closed in July 2011 after reports that it had ordered illegal intercepts of voice mail messages in 2002 left for an abducted teenager, Milly Dowler, who was later found to have been murdered. | The various inquiries into the scandal have focused on Murdoch-owned tabloids, particularly The News of the World, which Mr. Murdoch ordered closed in July 2011 after reports that it had ordered illegal intercepts of voice mail messages in 2002 left for an abducted teenager, Milly Dowler, who was later found to have been murdered. |
| While News International, Mr. Murdoch’a British newspaper subsidiary, long argued that phone hacking had been the work of a single rogue reporter who was briefly jailed in 2007, the inquiries have broadened that cast of players exponentially. | While News International, Mr. Murdoch’a British newspaper subsidiary, long argued that phone hacking had been the work of a single rogue reporter who was briefly jailed in 2007, the inquiries have broadened that cast of players exponentially. |
| In the separate police inquiries into phone hacking, more than 90 news executives, journalists, private investigators and public officials and have been arrested for questioning about phone hacking, corruption and computer hacking. Prosecutors have announced hacking charges against eight people and corruption charges against five more. Those charged on both counts include two top former News International executives, Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson, who are contesting the charges. | |
| Ms. Brooks, Mr. Coulson and three other people are both due in court on Thursday for a procedural hearing relating to the corruption charges, Britain’s Press Association news agency said. | |
| The personalities involved in the separate police, parliamentary and judicial inquiries overlap. | The personalities involved in the separate police, parliamentary and judicial inquiries overlap. |
| Mr. Murdoch and his son James both appeared before the Leveson inquiry. | Mr. Murdoch and his son James both appeared before the Leveson inquiry. |
Lark Turner contributed reporting. | Lark Turner contributed reporting. |