Morgan testifies in UK inquiry
Source: Agencies |
December 21, 2011, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
CNN star interviewer Piers Morgan was answering questions yesterday about his time at the top of Britain's tabloid industry - widely anticipated testimony that may dredge up allegations his British newspaper career was colored by wrongdoing.
Morgan ran two British tabloids - the News of the World and the Daily Mirror - before his editorship was cut short by scandal in 2004. He's was giving evidence to Britain's media ethics inquiry by video link from the United States - one of a host of tabloid newspaper executives to face the inquiry, set up in the wake of the News of the World phone hacking scandal.
More than a dozen journalists have been arrested, senior executives with Rupert Murdoch's News Corp media empire have lost their jobs, and top United Kingdom police officers have resigned over their failure to tackle the scandal. Witnesses at the inquiry have exposed the seamy side of British journalism, with reporters accused of cooking up stories, blackmailing subjects, hacking phones and paying bribes to police officers to secure tips.
Morgan may have more juicy details to add. His memoirs contain tantalizing references to questionably obtained material, and the 46-year-old has acknowledged condoning unethical behavior - including overseeing payoffs to spies on rival newspapers.
Morgan denies having ever hacked a phone or knowingly run a story based on hacked information.
But he's expected to be quizzed on statements that appear to refer to the practice - in particular a 2006 article in which he says he was played a phone message left by former Beatle Paul McCartney on the answering machine of his now ex-wife Heather Mills. Mills has said there's no way Morgan could have gotten hold of the message honestly.
The inquiry, led by Lord Justice Brian Leveson, heard yesterday about the culture in tabloid newsrooms - one described by some witnesses as being scarred by bullying.
Steve Turner, general secretary of the British Association of Journalists, said he had dealt with more than a dozen cases of newsroom bullying in recent years.
Morgan ran two British tabloids - the News of the World and the Daily Mirror - before his editorship was cut short by scandal in 2004. He's was giving evidence to Britain's media ethics inquiry by video link from the United States - one of a host of tabloid newspaper executives to face the inquiry, set up in the wake of the News of the World phone hacking scandal.
More than a dozen journalists have been arrested, senior executives with Rupert Murdoch's News Corp media empire have lost their jobs, and top United Kingdom police officers have resigned over their failure to tackle the scandal. Witnesses at the inquiry have exposed the seamy side of British journalism, with reporters accused of cooking up stories, blackmailing subjects, hacking phones and paying bribes to police officers to secure tips.
Morgan may have more juicy details to add. His memoirs contain tantalizing references to questionably obtained material, and the 46-year-old has acknowledged condoning unethical behavior - including overseeing payoffs to spies on rival newspapers.
Morgan denies having ever hacked a phone or knowingly run a story based on hacked information.
But he's expected to be quizzed on statements that appear to refer to the practice - in particular a 2006 article in which he says he was played a phone message left by former Beatle Paul McCartney on the answering machine of his now ex-wife Heather Mills. Mills has said there's no way Morgan could have gotten hold of the message honestly.
The inquiry, led by Lord Justice Brian Leveson, heard yesterday about the culture in tabloid newsrooms - one described by some witnesses as being scarred by bullying.
Steve Turner, general secretary of the British Association of Journalists, said he had dealt with more than a dozen cases of newsroom bullying in recent years.
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