Hacked Off
The phone hacking trial of the former News of the World (NOTW) editors, Andy Coulson and Rebekah Brooks, has heard evidence from another journalist, Dan Evans, who told the court that he had admitted conspiring to intercept communications over a seven-year for the Sunday Mirror and the NOTW.
Dan Evans explained that he had been shown how to hack mobile phone messages by a fellow journalist on the Sunday Mirror and had continued to hack phones in search of stories "on a fairly grand scale" - which I would interpret to mean that this was a widespread practice within the industry.
So, if readers will allow me to be a little smug and self-satisfied for a while, here's what I wrote about all this phone hacking business back in 2010 and 2011.
Phone Hacking (1 August 2011)
I wrote a piece for the blog site on phone hacking last year - which said basically that there's a lot of it about - and not just at the News of the World either.
So here's the original post from 8 September 2010 - which doesn't make me clairvoyant of course - quite the opposite.
Simply means that I've been round the track once or twice - and learned to take what some people say - with a great big pinch of salt.
Maybe I should offer to give evidence to the forthcoming Leveson public inquiry.
Now that would be interesting - fun even - because I imagine it will be full of the great and the good - from right across the political spectrum - trying to re-write their part in history.
Turning a Blind Eye (8 September 2010)
What I know about phone hacking you could write on the back of a postage stamp.
But what I also know about phone hacking is that it's more common than you think - allegedly.
Journalists I've met in the past have been happy to share the darker secrets of their trade - the argument goes that the ends justify the means - if you're trying to expose some real wrongdoing.
The counter argument is - of course - that two wrongs don't make a right - so you pay your money and take your choice.
But there is always an unwritten rule - if you get caught, you're on your own - because no editor or newspaper would ever take the rap.
While those at the top might be well aware of what's going on - they would never accept any responsibility for encouraging such practices.
Goes on in all walks of life I suppose - people turning a blind eye to something they know to be wrong - but who take the easy option and just walk on.
Pay discrimination springs to mind - treating some jobs or people more favourably than others.
Now that's unlawful - but it's amazing how many people have been prepared to turn a blind eye to that issue - for the past 10 years and more.
So here's the original post from 8 September 2010 - which doesn't make me clairvoyant of course - quite the opposite.
Simply means that I've been round the track once or twice - and learned to take what some people say - with a great big pinch of salt.
Maybe I should offer to give evidence to the forthcoming Leveson public inquiry.
Now that would be interesting - fun even - because I imagine it will be full of the great and the good - from right across the political spectrum - trying to re-write their part in history.
Turning a Blind Eye (8 September 2010)
What I know about phone hacking you could write on the back of a postage stamp.
But what I also know about phone hacking is that it's more common than you think - allegedly.
Journalists I've met in the past have been happy to share the darker secrets of their trade - the argument goes that the ends justify the means - if you're trying to expose some real wrongdoing.
The counter argument is - of course - that two wrongs don't make a right - so you pay your money and take your choice.
But there is always an unwritten rule - if you get caught, you're on your own - because no editor or newspaper would ever take the rap.
While those at the top might be well aware of what's going on - they would never accept any responsibility for encouraging such practices.
Goes on in all walks of life I suppose - people turning a blind eye to something they know to be wrong - but who take the easy option and just walk on.
Pay discrimination springs to mind - treating some jobs or people more favourably than others.
Now that's unlawful - but it's amazing how many people have been prepared to turn a blind eye to that issue - for the past 10 years and more.
