11 Jan 2012 | Leveson Inquiry
The picture editor of the Daily Mail faced a tough grilling over the paper’s policy of photographing celebrities and their families at the Leveson Inquiry.
Pressed on the the paper’s seeking a photo Hugh Grant and the mother of his child soon after the baby’s birth, Paul Silva said there was no suggestion from the press release at the time that there was a privacy issue.
“It was a major showbiz story of great interest to our readers,” Silva said, adding that the paper sought a posed photo of the new family, as it had done with David Cameron after the birth of his daughter.
When asked by Robert Jay QC whether or not he should have sought Grant’s permission beforehand, Silva defended his paper’s policy. “A story breaks, we then go to their home, we ask them to pose up, if they say no we’ll move on and go away.”
Silva agreed with a celebrity asking for privacy for their children, and that he “would go along with whatever they ask”. He said it was the paper’s policy that images of children would be pixellated, and when asked by Lord Justice Leveson whether it was questionable that photographers should be taking such pictures in the first place, he responded, “possibly, yes.”
Asked why he used unblurred pictures of the McCanns’ children, Silva responded that there was no objection at the time. “It was the most intense story I’ve ever worked on,” he said, adding that in hindsight he “possibly” should not have used the pictures.
Gerry and Kate McCann, whose daughter Madeleine went missing in Portugal in May 2007, gave their testimony of alleged press intrusion to the Inquiry in November, detailing how journalists had camped outside their Leicestershire home upon their return to the UK.
Silva also clarified that he only deals with pictures for the newspaper, not for its website, Mail Online. Asked about photos on the website of actress Sandra Bullock trying to shield her child from photographers, he conceded, “if that was a British celebrity taken in a British park we’d be asking a lot of questions.”
He added that the Mail’s picture desk receives 300-400 photographs daily of the Duchess of Cambridge’s sister Pippa Middleton, but there was “no justification” in using them.
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10 Jan 2012 | Leveson Inquiry
The former editor-in-chief of the Telegraph told the Leveson Inquiry he felt it was his duty, not a choice, to publish the paper’s revelations about MPs’ expenses in 2009.
Will Lewis said it was his “ethical obligation to bring this profound wrongdoing at heart of House of Commons into public domain.”
Lewis said it was a topic that was “laced with risk all round”. Having worked for the Sunday Times when it printed the fake Hitler diaries in 1983, Lewis also said he was concerned the expenses story was a hoax.
He described the steps leading to publication, an initial £10,000 for a sample disc was paid to an intermediary, with a further £140,000 once it was verified that the leaked documents were genuine. Lewis said it was only when Jack Straw had confirmed the details of his expenses that he gave the green light to publish.
Lewis described the role of an editor as risk mitigation. “At the end of the day you have to ask yourself, ‘does it feel right?'” he said, adding that mistakes he had made in his career came about because he had not followed his instincts.
He urged for a greater focus on a more transparent newsroom culture, noting that “sunlight is a fantastic disinfectant.”
The paper’s current editor, Tony Gallagher, also testified today, arguing that the best outcome of the Inquiry would be an arbitration system for resolving legal disputes and complaints. “The chilling effect of libel on small media organisations has to be seen to be believed,” he said.
Earlier in the day Lord Justice Leveson also spoke in favour of a low-cost libel mediation system. He cautioned against government involvement, telling Telegraph Media Group CEO chief executive Murdoch MacLennan, “I would be surprised if government regulation ever even entered my mind.
The Inquiry continues tomorrow, with evidence from Associated Newspapers.
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10 Jan 2012 | Egypt, Middle East and North Africa
An image of Mickey and Minnie Mouse in Islamic gear might land one of Egypt’s wealthiest men in prison. Business tycoon and politician Naguib Sawiris tweeted the picture mocking the rise of Islam in the country last June. Later after the backlash began in the Muslim-majority nation, Sawiris said he did not intend to offend with the image, which he later took down. Sawiris will now be tried for “insulting Islam” on 14 January and could face up to a year in prison after a complaint was filed against him by a lawyer for the ultraconservative Salafis, who have been bouyed by success in Egypt’s recent parliamentary elections.
Mina Mamdouh of the Cairo-based Arab Network for Human Rights and Information (ANHRI, cast the move as an attempt to manipulate religious differences in the country. In recent months tensions have risen between Egypt’s religious groups. Mamdouh said that Salafis are pandering to the religious sentiments of Egypt’s poor by targeting the Coptic Christian. Mamdouh noted that it was telling that the party went after the powerful businessman, a symbol of liberal power.
Sawiris founded the liberal Free Egyptians Party (FEP), which has threatened to boycott the next round of elections, which will determine the members of Egypt’s advisory upper chamber or Shura Council, in protest of “hundreds” of violations from Islamist parties. The business mogul has been openly critical of Islamists and has expressed concern about the suggestion that in the future Egyptian laws should be based on Shari’ah, or Islamic law. The Muslim Brotherhood claim that Sawiris, owner the largest media channels and mobile networks in Egypt, has used his media empire to spread misinformation about the party during the three rounds of Egypt’s lower house elections.While Sawiris’ FEP party is expected to win 10 per cent of the vote, the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party is expected to win 41 per cent of the vote, and the Salafist Al-Nour party is expected to garner 20 per cent of the votes.
Secular figures have expressed concern about the impact of an Islamist majority, as the lower house will be responsible for creating laws and drafting its new constitution.
10 Jan 2012 | Europe and Central Asia, Index Index, minipost
A freelance reporter was sentenced to 11 days in prison following his coverage of an unsanctioned protest in Belarus. Aleksandr Borozenko, who was working for Poland-based satellite broadcaster Belsat at the time, was detained on 8 January, along with human rights activist Nikolai Kovalenko. Borozenko was reporting on a one-person vigil which was being staged by Kovalenko. The journalist was arrested by KGB security forces minutes after he began filming the activist’s protest, which took place in front of the KGB headquarters in Minsk. Borozenko reportedly began a hunger strike after hearing the verdict.
