Leveson inquiry: Dominic Mohan and Kelvin MacKenzie to appear next week

Leveson inquiry: Dominic Mohan and Kelvin MacKenzie to appear next week

Lord Justice Leveson will focus on former and current editors from the Sun, Telegraph, Mail, Indy, FT and Express

Lisa O'Carroll
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 5 January 2012 18.21 GMT

Image
Kelvin MacKenzie will be one of the star witnesses at the Leveson inquiry when it resumes on Monday. Photograph: Rex Features

The editor of the Sun, Dominic Mohan, and his best-known predecessor, Kelvin MacKenzie, will be the star witnesses at the Leveson inquiry when it resumes on Monday.

Turning his focus on newspaper editors for the first time, Lord Justice Leveson will also hear testimony from the editors of the Daily Telegraph, the Financial Times, the Independent, the Mail on Sunday and the Daily Express next week.

Two other former editors of the Sun – David Yelland and Stuart Higgins – have submitted witness statements to the inquiry.

Monday will be dedicated to the Sun with the editor of the paper's Bizarre showbusiness column, Gordon Smart, royal editor Duncan Larcombe and lawyer Justin Walford giving evidence.

Executives and journalists from three other newspaper publishers – the Financial Times, Telegraph Media Group and Independent – will give evidence on Tuesday.

Lionel Barber, the FT's editor is the sole representative for the pink paper, while nine representatives of the Telegraph Media Group, including Daily Telegraph editor Tony Gallagher are listed to give evidence along with the company's chief executive, Murdoch MacLennan, and its financial director Finbarr Ronayne.

Peter Oborne, Telegraph political commentator and author of a Channel 4 investigation into phone hacking, has submitted evidence as has editor of the Sunday Telegraph, Ian MacGregor.

Will Lewis, currently an executive at News Corporation's management and standards committee, set up to conduct an internal investigation into the phone-hacking affair, will also give evidence on behalf of the Telegraph where he was once editor-in-chief.

He is expected to be asked about the MPs' expenses scandal story, which the Daily Telegraph broke, and the restructuring of its newsroom for the digital era.

Like the Sun, Associated Newspapers, owner of the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday, has been given an entire day to itself although there is no slot for the editor in chief, Paul Dacre, who is understood to be pencilled in to give evidence in February.

Peter Wright, the editor of the Mail on Sunday, will by the main witness for the newspaper group alongside in-house lawyer Liz Hartley.

Associated's managing director Kevin Beatty and its financial director James Welsh will have written evidence submitted to the court.

Thursday is Northern & Shell day with proprietor Richard Desmond and his editorial director Paul Ashford lined up alongside Daily Express editor Hugh Whittow and the paper's former editor Peter Hill.

Hill will be quizzed on allegations from a former Daily Express reporter that he was to blame for the slew of false stories about Madeleine McCann. Express Newspapers paid out £550,000 in 2008 to the McCanns for libellous coverage in its four titles, including the Daily Express.

Last month the inquiry was told that Hill was "obsessed" with the McCann story and put it on its front page repeatedly just to sell newspapers. Leveson put it to reporters that the stories were "piffle" and "tittle tattle".

5:10am UK, Monday January 09, 2012





The editor of The Sun, Dominic Mohan, and predecessor Kelvin
MacKenzie will be given a chance to defend their industry later as the
Leveson inquiry turns its attention to newspaper bosses past and
present.


Lord Justice Leveson will also hear testimony from the editors of the
Daily Telegraph, the Financial Times, the Independent the Mail on
Sunday and the Daily Express this week as the investigation into the
culture and ethics of journalism continues.


Mr Mohan and Mr MacKenzie,
who edited The Sun from 1981 to 1994 and oversaw some its most famous
front pages - including one headlined Freddie Star Ate My Hamster - will
be giving evidence alongside the tabloid's royal editor Duncan Larcombe
and Gordon Smart, editor of its Bizarre showbusiness column.


Two other former editors of The Sun, David Yelland and Stuart Higgins, have provided witness statements to the inquiry.


:: Read more on Sky News' dedicated Leveson inquiry page


Another key figure in the British media, Richard Desmond,
owner of the Daily Express and Daily Star newspapers, as well as
Channel 5, will give evidence on Thursday alongside current Daily
Express editor Hugh Whittow and former editor Peter Hill.










Richard Desmond, of Express Newspapers, gives evidence this week





Mr Hill is expected to be quizzed on claims by a former Express
reporter that he was to blame for a series of false stories about
Madeleine McCann.


Express Newspapers paid out more than half-a-million pounds to the
McCanns in 2008 for libellous coverage in its four titles following the
Leicestershire girl's disappearance.


Lionel Barber, editor of the Financial Times, and Independent editor
Chris Blackhurst have been called to appear on Tuesday, along with
William Lewis, who is now general manager for News International's
titles but was formerly editor-in-chief of The Daily Telegraph.


Current Daily Telegraph editor Tony Gallagher will also give evidence
on Tuesday, while the editor of the Mail on Sunday, Peter Wright, will
appear on Wednesday. Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre is not expected to
give evidence until February.


The Leveson inquiry was set up by the Government last summer
following revelations that the News Of The World commissioned a private
detective to hack murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler's mobile phone after
she went missing in 2002.


The first part of the inquiry, sitting at the Royal Courts of Justice
in London, is looking at the culture, practices and ethics of the Press
in general and is due to produce a report by next September.


The second part, examining the extent of unlawful activities by
journalists, will not begin until detectives have completed their
investigation into alleged phone hacking and corrupt payments to police,
and any prosecutions have been concluded.

[quote="Annabel"][/quote}


Thanks for showing the photos Annabel.......much better than the empty spaces I get when I paste.....only with skye though/.

"number of false stories"? Didn't Pilditch of the Express say all his stories were proved true when the files were released?

gillyspot wrote:"number of false stories"? Didn't Pilditch of the Express say all his stories were proved true when the files were released?

Morning gillyspot,

The majority of the British Press should be ashamed to call themselves Journalists......where do they go to substantiate a claim, or
investigate a potential crime? No, they wait for CM to tell them what to print.

I have always maintained Britain has too many Dailies for such a small Country and with the Internet affecting sales the standard of reporting has dropped and sleaze sells.

Well it appears I'm not allowed to watch this . I got an error notice saying... FORBIDDEN.
How do they do it??!!!

Hi Panda

As far as I can see sleaze sells as it always has in trash like the Sun & Daily Star. The problem we have now is that companies like Carter-Ruck can stop the truth from coming out about so called "celebrities" just because our UK libel laws are skewed towards the plaintiff - The Ryan Giggs story is a case in point. I honestly believe that the papers had a right to print the truth about his daliances with Imogen Thomas as he was making millions from his "family man image".

the slave wrote:Well it appears I'm not allowed to watch this . I got an error notice saying... FORBIDDEN.
How do they do it??!!!

Morning the slave, you mean you cannot watch the enquiry???? Can you give me the link and I"ll try.

gillyspot wrote:Hi Panda

As far as I can see sleaze sells as it always has in trash like the Sun & Daily Star. The problem we have now is that companies like Carter-Ruck can stop the truth from coming out about so called "celebrities" just because our UK libel laws are skewed towards the plaintiff - The Ryan Giggs story is a case in point. I honestly believe that the papers had a right to print the truth about his daliances with Imogen Thomas as he was making millions from his "family man image".

Britain has the highest compensation for libel which is why American Celebrities want their cases tried in the U.K..
I happen to think that however a person behaves in their Private life is nobody"s else"s business . In the case of Max Moseley and Ryan Giggs, the publicity affected their Families which is traumatic for them having to face friends and neighbours.

Anything else, Crime, Politics, Celebrities (within reason) World affairs etc should be enough to satisfy Readers.

the slave wrote:Well it appears I'm not allowed to watch this . I got an error notice saying... FORBIDDEN.
How do they do it??!!!

It's on Sky news website, and you can also view a live blog if you click on the cheesy picture of McKenzie to the right.

Panda wrote:

gillyspot wrote:Hi Panda

As far as I can see sleaze sells as it always has in trash like the Sun & Daily Star. The problem we have now is that companies like Carter-Ruck can stop the truth from coming out about so called "celebrities" just because our UK libel laws are skewed towards the plaintiff - The Ryan Giggs story is a case in point. I honestly believe that the papers had a right to print the truth about his daliances with Imogen Thomas as he was making millions from his "family man image".

Britain has the highest compensation for libel which is why American Celebrities want their cases tried in the U.K..
I happen to think that however a person behaves in their Private life is nobody"s else"s business . In the case of Max Moseley and Ryan Giggs, the publicity affected their Families which is traumatic for them having to face friends and neighbours.

Anything else, Crime, Politics, Celebrities (within reason) World affairs etc should be enough to satisfy Readers.

I understand your point Panda but if a celebrity and I count Ryan Giggs in this makes serious money for his image as a family man then I don't think he has the right to keep indiscressions silent. I appreciate that it will affect the family but where would you draw the line? It is estimated that Giggs made around 70% of his income through sponsorship last year and that being based on his image as a family man.

John Edwards at Leveson said his photographer had a great relationship with the McCanns while in Portugal. They would arrange to take pics at a certain time and then leave them alone the rest of the day. Often his photos were used by several other publications so the McCanns weren't harrassed by large numbers of media photographing them.

quickfingers wrote:John Edwards at Leveson said his photographer had a great relationship with the McCanns while in Portugal. They would arrange to take pics at a certain time and then leave them alone the rest of the day. Often his photos were used by several other publications so the McCanns weren't harrassed by large numbers of media photographing them.

That is interesting as according to K & G they were never left alone so couldn't have moved a body.

Edit: John Edwards statement can be found here

http://www.levesoninquiry.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Witness-Statement-of-John-Edwards.pdf

Here is the link - perfect quality

http://news.bbc.co.uk/democracylive/hi/house_of_commons/newsid_8167000/8167512.stm

PM May Be Quizzed On Links To Murdoch Empire





David Cameron may face questions about his relationship
with Rupert Murdoch and other top media executives


2:30am UK, Tuesday January 10, 2012


David Cameron will attend the Leveson Inquiry into press standards if
summoned to give evidence, Downing Street has said, as more national newspaper
editors prepare to face questioning.


The official probe, which was ordered by the Prime Minister after revelations about illegal phone
hacking at the News Of The World (NOTW), is this week turning its attention to
newspaper bosses for the first time.

:: Read more on the Leveson Inquiry

Responding to reports that Lord Justice Leveson is "99.9%" certain to call Mr
Cameron for questioning under oath about his dealings with senior media
executives and press baron Rupert Murdoch, a Number 10 spokeswoman said: "A
request has not yet been received. If asked, the Prime Minister would of course
attend."

Senior politicians from both the Conservative and Labour parties have been
criticised in the past for courting the Murdoch press.


Ex-editor Andy Coulson quit as Downing Street director of
communications



Last year Rebekah Brooks, the former chief executive of Mr
Murdoch's News International and a former editor of The Sun and NOTW, defended
her relationship with Mr Cameron - who she described as a neighbour and a friend
- as "wholly appropriate".

Former PM Gordon Brown and Labour's current leader
Ed Miliband are expected to appear when the inquiry moves
on to focus on relations between the media and politicians, The Times said.

A Leveson Inquiry source told the newspaper the final decision on which
politicians to invite had not yet been made.

The newspaper suggests Mr Cameron is likely to be called after the local
elections in May.

Questioning would probably focus on his decision to employ Andy Coulson, the
former editor of the defunct NOTW, who quit as Downing Street's director of
communications amid continued pressure about phone hacking.

Today the Daily Telegraph's Tony Gallagher, Lionel Barber of the Financial
Times and the Independent's Chris Blackhurst are expected to be asked about
their papers' approaches to ethics, fact-checking and complaints.

Further testimony will come from former Daily Telegraph editor Will Lewis,
who joined News International in September 2010, and Telegraph Media Group chief
executive Murdoch MacLennan.

The inquiry heard on Monday from executives at The Sun, whose editor Dominic
Mohan said the paper could be a "powerful force for good" through its campaigns,
support for charities and ability to explain complicated stories in a clear
way.

And Mr Mohan's most famous predecessor, Kelvin MacKenzie,
defended his "bullish" approach to running the paper between 1981 and 1994,
telling the inquiry he did not spend much time worrying about journalistic
ethics.

Morning, Panda

I'd be more interested in what Dave has to say than some of the hacks.

At least Kelvin McKenzie was true to character, though.

The End Is Nigh wrote:Morning, Panda

I'd be more interested in what Dave has to say than some of the hacks.

At least Kelvin McKenzie was true to character, though.

Morning The End is Nigh,

As I understood, Levison is pally with Murdoch and Cameron so he is hardly likely to ask any searching questions, In fact this is a deviation
surely from his remit? One thing for sure, Newscorp will ask for Murdoch to step down after yet another scandal involving him. It cost
Newscorp a small fortune in payouts to those who were hacked.

I accept that some of the relationships between key participants are perhaps too close, but I'm not (yet!) too cynical about what they will be asked and how they'll reply.

But what has been clear is that it seems we are trying to do "proof by induction" where the result is known so the Enquiry has merely to fill in the blanks in order to adduce "proof".

And it seems to have been a soapbox for some witnesses, and a distraction from some who really have been hurt.

I don"t know how the McCanns managed to have their say because this was supposed to be an inqury about phone hacking, not libel.
No searching questions were asked about accepting £125,000 from the NOTW which , had Kate been as aggrieved as much as she said,
why she did not sue for more money, after all the Express paid £550,000 for far less "invasion". As they say, it"s not what you know, it"s
who you know.