LEVESON INQUIRY:CULTURE, PRACTICE AND ETHICS OF THE PRESS

"I want this inquiry to mean something", not end up as "footnote in some professor of journalism's analysis of 21 century history." LJ Leveson in reply to A Rusbridger's submission to Inquiry.


Lord Justice Leveson

From Guardian:

Here's a quick reminder of the four modules within this first year of the inquiry.

Module 1: The relationship between the press and the public and looks at phone-hacking and other potentially illegal behaviour

Module 2: The relationships between the press and police and the extent to which that has operated in the public interest

Module 3: The relationship between press and politicians
Module 4: Recommendations for a more effective policy and regulation that supports the integrity and freedom of the press while encouraging the highest ethical standards.

Witness list for this week (9th - 12th January) to be found HERE
Video Recordings of each day's proceedings HERE
Live Feed From Leveson Inquiry Site HERE
BBC Democracy Live Feed HERE

Leveson Inquiry Blog From Hackinginquiry - Hacked Off

Guardian Live Blog
Telegraph Live Blog
BBC News Leveson Inquiry Page
#Leveson Twitter Feed

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Links gathered throughout the day:

Mail on Sunday Used Investigator After he Was Charged, Editor Admits - Guardian
Express Editor: We Left PCC Because it Failed to Stop Us Lying - Left Foot Forward
Daily Star Editor Admits Headlines Can 'Go Too Far' - HackingInquiry - Hacked Off
Video - BBC News - Editor 'Sorry' For McCann Distress
Daily Star Editor Endures Leveson Grilling for Anti-Islam' Coverage - Politics.co.uk
Daily Star Editor Denies Paper Has Anti-Islamic Agenda - Journalism.co.uk
British Newspaper Editor Tells of Tabloid Antics - AP

@JonathanHaynes Jonathan Haynes

Great Daily Star splash on a day when your editor and owner are in front of #Leveson http://bit.ly/y51vjH

Sherlock Star in Kidnap Terror - Daily Star's Not Quite so Exclusive Exclusive - Guardian Media

News Corp Tell Judge of Tabloid Editor's Prison Guard Bribe - Bloomberg
Daily Star reports on Sister Paper's Use of Convicted Private Detective - via @michaelpcurran
Arrested Detective Asks to Appear as Leveson Inquiry Witness - Telegraph
Express Owner: 'Mail is Britain's Worst Enemy' - Left Foot Forward

Zelo Street: the Shambling Des
Richard Peppiatt's Comment for the Guardian Live Blog following Richard Desmond's Evidence
(backstory for Richard Peppiatt)

Desmond: Leveson Inquiry is the 'Worst Thing' For Press - Press Gazette
38 Bad, 68 Good: Richard Desmond's Defence of Express' McCann Coverage - Free Speech Blog

Audioboo - 'Leveson Worst thing Ever Happened to Newspapers' - Richard Desmond - via Peter Hunt BBC
Grandstanding Desmond Plays Down Mistakes - Guardian
Dawn Neesom at the Leveson Inquiry: An Editor Trapped in the Headlights - Richard Peppiatt - Guardian

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Thursday 12th January

Appearing in person:

Paul Ashford (Northern and Shell)

Richard Desmond (Northern and Shell)

Peter Hill (Northern and Shell)

Dawn Neesom (Northern and Shell)

Nicole Patterson (Northern and Shell)

Hugh Whittow (Northern and Shell)

Witnesses whose evidence statements will be read:

Martin Ellice (Northern and Shell) Witness Statement

Gareth Morgan (Northern and Shell) Witness Statement

Martin Townsend (Northern and Shell) Witness Statement
Robert Sanderson (Northern and Shell) Witness Statement

Paul Ashford

Northern and Shell Board

Profile of Paul Ashford from NS Website

Northern and Shell's Paul Ashford to Oversee Channel 5 Programming - Guardian Media

More Hints That the Daily Express and The Star May Rejoin the PCC - PressInquiry

Transcript of Evidence Given to Joint Select Committee for Privacy and Injunctions HoC, November 2011

Witness Statement in Full

@highamnews Nick Higham

Ashford: Concerned about Info Comm's report: seemed we using search agencies as address books, low level stuff, not over concerned #leveson

Guardian Live Blog:

Ashford says he is not sure whether he was aware of the ICO reports in 2006 but has been made aware "last year and the year before" in connection with the phone-hacking scandal at News of the World.He says he was concerned to find out whether "anything inappropriate had been done".
Asked whether he was told that the group used Steve Whittamore as recently as 2010, Ashford says: "I don't think it was brought to my attention."

2.52pm: Ashford says he has some influence about what goes into the papers "but the editors have the ultimate word."
He says he visits editors most evenings, sees the front page and "will be interested in how we got a story if it comes as a surprise to me".

Ashford says he saw invoices, usually under £100 but sometimes for £1,000, but "there wasn't really anything to raise our concerns [with] the amounts".Northern & Shell always thought its systems were good but will now review them in light of this inquiry, Ashford says.

@benfenton Ben Fenton

N&S were outsiders and other press looked down nose at us.Fleet Street colluded in culture of being "in a special place" #leveson

@benfenton Ben Fenton

Paul Ashford group editorial director of Express Newspapers, says Richard Desmond's Northern & Shell were mag publishers #leveson

@benfenton Ben Fenton

Established papers almost felt they were above the law. We didn't go into it with any such feeling. Just to make decent product #leveson

@rosschawkins Ross Hawkins

Ashford at #leveson : found PCC over McCanns to be "wholly hypocritical and unhelpful", they didn't raise the coverage for discussion

@gordonrayner Gordon Rayner

Ashford: Daily Mail carried out 'personal' attacks and sent mailshots to Express readers rubbishing Desmond #Leveson

Guardian Live Blog:

Ashford says the PCC "was an industry body, it was a club".He says "we were not entirely comfortable with our reception in the newspaper world by our rivals" and so joined the PCC because "we didn't see the sense in rocking the boat".
In his written statement, Ashford says the Daily Mail "demonised" Express newspapers "in a very personal way". He references personal attacks "not just in the papers, but in mailshots to readers' homes".
The Daily Mail wrote to its list of Express readers noting that the paper had a new proprietor "naming him, and saying what they considered to be the worst things about him".

@gordonrayner Gordon Rayner

PCC chairman Christopher Meyer's criticism of Hill in BBC interview was 'unacceptable' says Ashford #Leveson

@benfenton Ben Fenton

N&S will not sign up to PCC as presently constituted, Ashford tells #leveson

Guardian Live Blog:

A new regulator would be "separated from the politics and personalities of the industry … and serving editors between whom there is a lot of rivalry," Ashford says.
"A musician does not necessarily make a good music critic," says Ashford, of editors serving on the press regulator.
Leveson continues the analogy, suggesting that it is important that the body "has people who know how the music works".

Ashford says there's a "very large constraint" on newspapers in terms of the law.
He adds: "There is an area also where you're getting a lot of commercial rivals in issues that aren't severe to be breaches of law … but if you have a body to oversee fairplay, to ensure we all live to the same guidelines, that can have a role."

@highamnews Nick Higham

Jay summarises: Ashford would like retired editors and a lawyer or two on a PCC successor plus lay people #leveson

Richard Desmond

Richard Desmond page in Guardian Media
Richard Desmond Puts the Boot Into Paul Dacre - Guardian
Porn Baron Richard Desmond is David Cameron's Guest at Chequers - Telegraph

Daily Star Reporter Quits in Protest at Tabloid's 'Anti-Muslim' Coverage - Guardian Media
Audioboo - 'Leveson Worst thing Ever Happened to Newspapers' - Richard Desmond - via Peter Hunt BBC

Witness Statement in Full

Transcript of Evidence Given to Joint Select Committee for Privacy and Injunctions HoC, November 2011

Richard Desmond 'I've Got so Much Money It's Ridiculous' Profiles - People - Independent

In his opening preamble, Desmond refers to the Daily Mail as 'the Daily Malicious'

@highamnews Nick Higham

Desmond: When we bought Express only other people in there were the "malicious, sorry, Mail" group #leveson

From Telegraph Live Blog:

15:40 Desmond adds that the key to his aim to transform the Express papers was to use better photographs and better relationships with advertisers.

15:37 He says he bought the newspapers when the only other people "that were going to buy it were the Daily Malicious, sorry, Daily Mail... and the only other person was the disgraced Conrad Black".
He said we had to get rid of people who "as Jethro Tull would put it, were living in the past".
Gordon Rayner - Richard Desmond refers to Daily Mail as 'Daily Malicious'. Fasten your seatbelts... #Leveson
15:36 He says the point of his publications is to "provide a great product that you want to buy every week".

@BBCPeterHunt Peter Hunt

Desmond: there's more to life than the chess correspondent based in Latin America. #Leveson #hacking

@benfenton Ben Fenton

We turned profit in a month.Not because RTL weren't good but because they weren't in this country.[as a media corr, I am sceptical] #leveson

@rosschawkins Ross Hawkins

Desmond at #leveson : paper had room of "scruffy geezers", turned out to be "investigative dept", they wanted cash; cut it, seemed dodgy

@benfenton Ben Fenton

They demanded £5,000 or £10K to do their investigations. We decided we didn't like it so we closed the whole area. #leveson

Guardian Live Blog:

Desmond says "we like to work with advertisers instead of being arrogant and stiff-necked with these people."He is describing examples of Express extravagance, including a "chess correspondent who lived in Latin America". That, presumably, is a joke.
"The trouble is with media, they are living things – if you're a baked bean manufacturer, I'm sure it is the same – you have to love these things," he says. "It's the same with Channel 5. We bought that … they had managed to use £40m a year, we were able to turn that into a profit just through simple housekeeping."
He says a lot of media groups don't understand it's a business. "They don't understand there's more to life than the chess correspondent based in Latin America," he adds.

@rosschawkins Ross Hawkins

Desmond at #leveson : doesn't accept he's cut corners. Star is fantastic and sales up

@BBCPeterHunt Peter Hunt

Desmond: cut out investigation dept in first few weeks of taking over at Express/Star. #Leveson #hacking

Telegraph Live Blog:

15:48 Asked about ethics, Desmond says:
Ethics. I don't know what the word means.
He said we do not talk about morals or ethics because there is a very fine line.
15:47 He says that seven years ago they were selling 400,000 copies a day and now it's more like 700,000 because "the readers have decided... they can't get enough of it".

@benfenton Ben Fenton

Remember meeting Blair.We talked about music & drums,which are my passion.Last thing he sd was asking me what I was left or right #leveson

@IndexLeveson IndexLeveson

Desmond: When we went back to Tories, felt bad on a personal level that I'd betrayed Tony. He was a great bloke, doing a good job #leveson

@benfenton Ben Fenton

Circ'n figures of newspapers are pretty static.They're only going one way. [ie down - altho Star has fluctuated recently] #leveson

@rosschawkins Ross Hawkins

Desmond at #leveson : haven't increased circulation of Express, but Star circ up and Sunday Star launched

@Selkie T Portilho-Shrimpton

Desmond: with respect to journalists in this country (sticking a £5 note in the paper) it's the way you increase circulation #leveson

@rosschawkins Ross Hawkins

Desmond at #leveson : we were vilified, attacked by rival papers when took over Express. Mail were the worst. Telegraph were upset.

Guardian Live Blog:

Daily Express editor Peter Hill was right to suggest a switch of political allegiances for the paper, says Desmond."My mother and father bought the Daily Express, who were middle-market Conservatives. I knew he [Hill] was right to do that," he says.

@Selkie T Portilho-Shrimpton

Jay: you mde it clear Daily Mail is your worst enemy. Desmond: I think it's Britain's worst enemy #leveson

Telegraph Live Blog:

He adds that the ranks of Fleet Street were almost united in opposition against him and agrees with Jay that there is no such thing as a "non-aggression pact" as far as he is concerned. He adds:

I think it's Britain's worst enemy, the Daily Mail.
Leveson interjects to stop him continuing. Jay then makes a mistake and calls him Paul Dacre (the Mail's editor) by accident. Desmond replies that: "Dacre's the fat butcher."

@highamnews Nick Higham

Desmond: We call the Newspaper Pubs Association the tea and biscuits brigade #leveson

@highamnews Nick Higham

Desmond: Re PCC. Objected to way they strung out poor old Peter Hill. Everyone else doing the same. #leveson

@arusbridger alan rusbridger

Desmond on the PCC: "A useless organisation run by people who wanted tea & biscuits and by phone hackers" #Leveson

Guardian Live Blog:

Asked about the PCC, Desmond says: "This is an association where our competitors - or our idiots, shall we say … At the end of the day all newspapers were doing the same thing. I saw it that we were the only one who was honest and apologised properly …"Then to see the chairman of the PCC on BBC TV and vilify Peter Hill and Express Newspapers, that was the final straw. I felt it was a useless organisation who wanted tea and buscuits, and phone hackers, was run by people who wanted to destroy us."

Desmond defends Express editor Peter Hill over the paper's Madeleine McCann coverage.

Every paper, every day, for that amount of time, was talking about that story. Poor old Peter Hill … I remember calling him that night, I spoke to him for about two hours, because he'd done it to the best ability, reported the facts. Unfortunately, it was fair to assume that the Portuguese police were a reliable source.
Desmond says he didn't think the stories boosted circulation.

Telegraph Live Blog:
He adds:

Unfortunately, we are in a non-growth business... this inquiry is probably the worst thing that's happened to newspapers in my lifetime... the banks are very hard on business, it's very hard to get money... and therefore people are looking at every penny they're spending and if they believe that newspapers are basically hacking low-lifes then they are not going to buy papers and in the last few months sales have never been so bad. I'm not blaming the inquiry I'm blaming the hacking thing.
He goes on to urge prosecution for those companies and individuals guilty of phone hacking who are still "walking the streets".
16:24 Desmond on sales and good journalism:

@highamnews Nick Higham

Desmond: There's been speculation Diana was killed by Royal Family and there are views on the McCanns #leveson

@richpeppiatt Richard Peppiatt

There goes Desmond's knighthood. #Leveson

Guardian Live Blog:

Desmond apologises to the McCanns over his papers' coverage."I don't wish to minimise it … and I'm not trying to win points here, but if there were 102 articles on the McCanns, and 38 bad ones … you could argue there were 68 or 70 good ones."
Desmond emphasises again that he isn't wishing to play down the effect of the bad stories.

Telegraph Live Blog:

16:28 He says the McCanns were happy to have the articles printed about Maddie but says that it was only when "new lawyers" came along that the situation changed. Jay is angrier than I've seen him appear.

16:30 To summarise, Desmond has just claimed that the McCanns must have been happy about coverage in the Daily Express because they did not complain for weeks, then only decided to sue when they got a new team of lawyers.

@ExBankerLovinIt Peter Howells

"That is a *grotesque* characterisation ! ! " says Jay when Desmond suggests that the McCanns sat back and let the stories run #leveson

@benfenton Ben Fenton

Desmond says he wd "definitely not" expand his stake in other newspapers if the opportunity arose.[Had sd before he wd buy the Sun] #leveson

Guardian Live Blog:

Desmond continues with his view on the future of press regulation: "Lord Hunt of Wirral, surrounded by a couple of lawyers, a couple of grandees, not malicious people – we'd all be very happy. You've got to have people you respect. You can't have people you don't respect."He adds: "I think RCD is a good name, isn't?"
Jay gives an audible sigh.

Peter Hill

Daily Express Editor Peter Hill to Step Down - Guardian Media
Peter Hill's page in Guardian Media
Peter Hill: 'I Did Too Much on the Madeleine McCann Story' - Guardian Media
Articles archive for Peter Hill in the Express

Witness Statement in Full

Guardian Live Blog:

Hill is asked about his time at the Daily Star. He won the What the Papers Say editor of the year award in January 2003.He says the paper recognised the popularity of reality TV, still relatively new at the time, and won more readers because of this.
People were surprised that he splashed the paper on it 28 days in a row. "But that was right because that's what people wanted to read," he says.

@BBCPeterHunt Peter Hunt

Peter Hill ex editor Express: we've got a great press, great newspapers. #Leveson #hacking

@highamnews Nick Higham

Hill: People in biz asontished when splashed with Big Bro 28 days in a row but right to do it because what readers wanted #leveson

@highamnews Nick Higham

Hill: PCC rulings being used as ammunition in legal cases. And not happy with way PCC at time run. Won't elaborate on that #leveson

@hackinginquiry Hacked off

Hill: we did not like the way the PCC was being run at the time (before they left it) by various indivduals #leveson

Private Investigators:

@rosschawkins Ross Hawkins

Hill (fmr Express ed) at #leveson : says he's not aware of info commissioner's reports - (pretty central to the Inquiry)

Changing Allegiance of Daily Express to the Conservative Party:

@hackinginquiry Hacked off

Hill: I made the decision (to switch allegiance from Labour to Tories some time before 2005) #leveson

Guardian Live Blog:

Hill is asked about the Daily Express's switch of allegiances from Labour to Tories.He says he made the decision and that the "entire history" of the Express has been as a rightwing paper. "I considered it absolutely vital to return to its natural constituency," he says.

@ExBankerLovinIt Peter Howells

Hill made initiative to move supprt back to the Tories. It had qualified supprt from the board because Desmond was Labour supporter #leveson

@BBCPeterHunt Peter Hunt

Former Express editor Peter Hill met Blair, Brown and Cameron couple of times a year. #Leveson #hacking

@benfenton Ben Fenton

Hill:Decision to back Labour before I took over cost Express enormous number of readers who left in despair. #leveson

McCann Coverage:

@highamnews Nick Higham

Hill: Thinks circulation did go up with McCann stories. Jay: Incentive to go on with stories? Hill: Yes #leveson

@benfenton Ben Fenton

Jay now linking circ'n figures to McCann stories.Hill admits he looked at the numbers when deciding what Maddie stories to use. #leveson

@tabloidwatch Tabloid Watch

Former Express editor Peter Hill justifies McCann stories at #Leveson, says: "there was reason to believe they might possibly be true".

@rosschawkins Ross Hawkins

Hill (fmr Express ed) at #leveson : readers continued to be interested in some stories far longer than journalists (cites Big Bro, Diana)

@highamnews Nick Higham

Hill: Disagrees obsessed with McCann story. Misunderstand his reasons: realised readers int in stories far longer than journalists #leveson

Hugh Whittow

Hugh Whittow Rides to Express Top Job Despite Blackie the Donkey - Guardian Media
Transcript of Evidence Given to Joint Select Committee for Privacy and Injunctions HoC, November 2011

Witness Statement in Full

Express Editor: We Left PCC Because it Failed to Stop Us Lying - Left Foot Forward

@highamnews Nick Higham

Whittow: Sees no diff in difft newspapers culture. #Leveson asks if not a diff between Express now and Sun under Mackenzie. Says yes

@rosschawkins Ross Hawkins

Whittow at #leveson : can't remember Sun under Kelvin MacKenzie being a lob it in operation

@hackinginquiry Hacked off

Neesom: everything has been tightened up since computers started hitting newsrooms. There's more discipline... #leveson

Small selection Daily Express Immigration Front Pages


Daily Express Health Front Page Headlines

House Price Headlines in Daily Express

Guardian Live Blog:

Whittow says he has control over the front page, which is the main focus of the day.Jay makes the point that angle you put on a story and the headline defines the tone and direction of paper and creates impact.
Whittow says: "I accept that, yes."

Whittow says journalists are told to get a reaction or comment from the subject of the story. "It's a necessity, I insist on it. If in doubt check it out; if in doubt, throw it out," he says.Whittow says nothing happens to journalists who don't bring in stories. "Most stories these days are not brought in by journalists. We hear a lot of stories just on the wires, on the TV, on the radio," he tells Leveson.

12.26pm: Whittow is asked if there is an editorial line, or whether journalists just "absorb" it. "They absorb it," he says.
He tells the inquiry:

We don't twist anything. We just present the news of the day.

@highamnews Nick Higham

Jay: Your intention is to put forward one version of the truth? Whittow doesn't answer #leveson

@journalismnews Journalism.co.uk

Hugh Whittow, editor of Daily Express at #Leveson: "Don't always write to please the readers, we present the truth, hopefully."

Guardian Live Blog:

Whittow is asked about the Daily Express's decision to withdraw from the PCC. He points out that he was deputy editor, not editor, at the time.But he says he agrees with the decision. He says one of the reasons for withdrawing was because it failed to stop the paper publishing defamatory articles about the McCanns.
"Because of the McCanns I think that was a huge problem for us and I think they should have intervened … no one was intervening at all. Everybody had too much leeway, it just went on and on," he says.
Jay asks Whittow if he is seriously putting that forward as a reason for leaving the PCC.
"I don't blame the PCC," Whittow says. "I just think in hindsight they might have been able to intervene and perhaps this will reflect in the body that you set up."

Use of Private Detectives/Search Agencies to gather information:

@rosschawkins Ross Hawkins

Whittow at #leveson : news desk assure me they don't use PIs mentioned this morning, and haven't been using them

Guardian Live Blog:

Whittow says that the Daily Express newsdesk has assured him that it doesn't use search agents or private investigators."They assure me that they do not use the people you've been talking about this morning, and they have not been using them," he tells the inquiry.

@benfenton Ben Fenton

Whittow also didn't know about use of private investigators until four or five years ago. It really surprised me. #leveson

@benfenton Ben Fenton

Whittow: use of private investigators not drawn to my attention until recently. Draws distinction between them and search agencies #leveson

@benfenton Ben Fenton

[Pretty sure that head of legal sd earlier that Whittamore was used until late 2010 at least when Whittow was dep editor] #leveson

@highamnews Nick Higham

Whittow: Express doesn't make cash payments. Jay: Wd you turn down story if someone demanded cash? Whittow: Not drawn to my attn #leveson

Misleading Headlines in the Express:

Tabloid Watch: Express Misleads on EU Poll Results

Break for lunch

@nataliepeck Natalie Peck

#Leveson tells Whittow not to "read too much" into statements he has made regarding regulation in previous hearings.

@Selkie T Portilho-Shrimpton

Whittow: I think we're probably more than capable to sort our own business #leveson

@gordonrayner Gordon Rayner

Whittow: more powerful watchdog needed, with lay people and journalists #Leveson

@benfenton Ben Fenton

The internet is not part of my life says Hugh Whittow, who admits he is not down with the kids. "I am aware that it is there." #leveson

Dawn Neesom

Dawn Neesom's page in Guardian Media
Dawn Neesom's Wikipedia page
Daily Star Reporter Quits in Protest at Tabloid's 'Anti-Muslim' Coverage - Guardian Media
Press Complaints Commission - Daily Star Ruling

Witness Statement in Full

Lessons from the Daily Star Hoodwinking Its Readers Over Ash Cloud Terror at PCC Watch

@IndexLeveson IndexLeveson

Neesom on the Star: we're a tabloid newspaper and we're not the Guardian #leveson

@gordonrayner Gordon Rayner

Daily Star editor Dawn Neesom describes her former employer The Sun as "quite a scary place to work" #Leveson #hacking

Guardian Live Blog:

Neesom describes the Sun as a "fantastic paper" with a more "full-on environment, with more staff, it's quite a scary place to work, I thought".Neesom says she has attempted to "tone down some of the more masculine, laddish" elements of the Star, without losing its core readership.
Asked if the Star could be described as a rightwing tabloid, Neesom says: "We are a tabloid newspaper. We're not the Guardian, that's for sure."

@benfenton Ben Fenton

We try to employ people who prize accuracy above all else, Neesom, editor of the Daily Star, tells #leveson

@Selkie T Portilho-Shrimpton

Neesom: reporters at Star half staff and half casuals #leveson

@BBCPeterHunt Peter Hunt

Dawn Neesom on Daily Star: it's there to put a smile on people's faces. #Leveson #hacking

@benfenton Ben Fenton

Dawn Neesom joins list of editors telling #leveson she didn't know her reporters were using "search agencies" or PIs.

Guardian Live Blog:

"We are looking at how we can tighten up how our journalists work … because I think there have been mistakes in the past," Neesom says.She adds that in future junior reporters will be given a seminar about standards and ethics on the title.
"That's one thing we are going to put in process quite soon," she says.

@highamnews Nick Higham

Neesom: "Dead" a quote from Gary Barlow: it is explained in subhead and story. Was designed to be eye-catching #leveson

Star headline mentioned by Jay

Guardian Live Blog:

Now on to a Daily Star story headlined, "English Defence League to become a political party".
Neesom says it was not fabricated, and that it was published after a member of the EDL went on a TV programme and said that the long-term ambition was to become a political party.
"We are a Jewish company and we were quite concerned about that," Neesom says. "We were worried by this development and we still are."

Richard Peppiatt, a former Daily Star reporter who gave evidence to the inquiry in November, is contesting Neesom's evidence on the EDL story. He has just tweeted:

Day before EDL headline 98% of readers agreed with EDL policies. Dawn wanted more stories on them. #Leveson

Peppiatt says the leader column published alongside the EDL story was "hardly condemnation".

@gordonrayner Gordon Rayner

Neesom: Not aware until now that Northern & Shell used 5 search agencies. Didn't know until today paper used Steve Whittamore #Leveson

Guardian Live Blog:

We're back and Neesom is being asked about search agents.Neesom says the use of Steve Whittamore or other search agents has never been drawn to her attention.
She says she has never heard of JJ Services, Whittamore's company.
She says it does cause her concern and doesn't know why it hadn't been drawn to her attention.

@BBCPeterHunt Peter Hunt

Neesom: asked is there an anti-Islamic agenda at the Daily Star? No not at all #Leveson #hacking

@benfenton Ben Fenton

Jay asks about use of "Muslim thugs" and "British" victims [when the perpetrators themselves are also British] #leveson

Guardian Live Blog:

Neesom is asked again about Richard Peppiatt's evidence on the Daily Star's "agenda".Neesom says the Star writes stories "to be as accurate as possible, they're written in Daily Star style, certainly".
She denies that the Star has an anti-Islamic agenda.

@rosschawkins Ross Hawkins

#leveson says he's asked Daily Star ed to respond to @richpeppiatt 's evidence

Guardian Live Blog:

Neesom is asked about a front-page story headlined "Muslim thugs aged just 12 in knife attack on Brit schoolboy". Jay says it was a Facebook threat, not an actual attack.
Jay says: "You've got an uncomfortable juxtaposition and a tendencious message coming across".
Neesom says: "We are not biased against Muslims. This is not a story I was aware of. I didn't write the headline. I will address the story when I get back to the office."

A lawyer for Northern & Shell interjects to say that Neesom has not had "fair notice" of the stories she is being asked about.
Jay puts to Neesom that a blog called Tabloid Watch accuses the Daily Star of an anti-Islamic bias.
Jay asks Neesom to provide the inquiry with examples of the Star's "positive Islamic stories". She says she would be delighted to.

@richpeppiatt Richard Peppiatt

And another eg Daily Star's liberal attitude to Islam... http://twitpic.com/86bhs9

More from Guardian Live Blog of Neesom's evidence HERE

Tabloidwatch - Articles Demonising Christopher Jefferies
Daily Star Apology to Christopher Jefferies

From Guardian Live Blog:

Neesom is being asked about litigation brought by Christopher Jefferies, the Bristol landlord, against the Star and serveral other titles over its coverage of the murder of Joanna Yeates.Neesom says she was on holiday over the New Year period and did not know about the articles until she returned to work.
She says she personally agreed that the apology to Jefferies should be on page 2. "I was annoyed that we messed up … I discussed it with the people concerned," she says.
Asked about the nature of the discussions, Neesom says: "They weren't cuddly."

@highamnews Nick Higham

Neesom: Re McCanns, with hindisght deeply sorry for upset. Huge story, story everyone was talking abt, tht police reliable source #leveson

Guardian Live Blog:

Asked about whether it is true that the Daily Star is obsessed with the Daily Mail website, as Richard Peppiatt claimed, Neesom replies:

We don't just lift stories from the Mail website and put them in the Star without at least checking them.

Neesom is asked about the Daily Star's coverage of the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.She confirms that she was involved in some of the stories but "not necessarily all".
Asked how the libellous stories ever saw the light of day, Neesom says: "The source of the stories was entirely coming from Portugal … and we were being fed stories by the Portuguese police and press."
"It was a risk and to this day I regret what happened in the McCann case and all I can do is repeat the apology on page 1 for the hurt and distress we caused them."

@rosschawkins Ross Hawkins

Neesom at #leveson : I think self regulation can work, but dangerous to have editors on a self regulatory panel

@GreensladeR Roy Greenslade

Neesom #Leveson on PCC - agreed with board decision to withdraw - thought it had lost its way. Good meet with new PCC chair Hunt before Xmas

Guardian Live Blog:

Asked what she wants to achieve for the Daily Star, Neesom says: "There's a lot of work to be done … systems can always be improved."It's a very difficult time for the industry … I think the Leveson inquiry is a brilliant opportunity for us to move on.'
She says she has tried to make the Star less laddish, and is a "fair, accurate and entertaining" newspaper.
Her number one priority is to "stay in business" and "move on from where we are today in a positive way". The competition from the internet is huge, Neesom adds.

@dansabbagh Dan Sabbagh

Neesom can't get off the witness stand quickly enough. Says Leveson is "much cleverer than me" and he can think of what to do.

Guardian Live Blog added this at 1.47 p.m.:

In her witness statement, Patterson states that the publisher launched an internal investigation in July 2011 to see if any employees had carried out phone hacking, corruption, or used private investigators. The investigation is ongoing.
Patterson got her accounts department to provide a list of payments from search agents from the beginning of 2005 to date, with total spend per year for five agencies: Express Locate International, JJ Services (identified at the inquiry as Steve Whittamore's company), LongmereConsultants, Searchline and SystemsSearches.
The total spend in 2005 on the above five companies was £110,700.69 out of an annual editorial budget of approximately £55m, a little over 0.2% of the budget.
Patterson writes: "… At present I have found no evidence, nor do I have any knowledge of computer hacking, phone hacking or bribery having taken place at any of our newspapers. I have not come across any information that has led me to believe that any of our newspapers have engaged in such activity."

Nicole Patterson

Witness Statement in Full

@richpeppiatt Richard Peppiatt

Nicole Patterson up first, as head of legal at N&S holder of one of the least enviable jobs on Fleet Street. #Leveson

@rosschawkins Ross Hawkins

Patterson at #leveson : we haven't found any evidence to suggest anyone was doing phone hacking or anything of that nature

@benfenton Ben Fenton

Express lawyer says she does not know if Steve Whittamore (busted for data theft in 06) is still being used. #leveson

From Guardian Live Blog:

Patterson says journalists would use search agents to find contact details or addresses for people they wanted to get in touch with."Until we started looking at this I didn't even know we used search agencies," she says.
She says "you expect" when you employ a company they would carry out their work within the law.
The Express titles used Steve Whittamore about 65 times, she tells Leveson, and the Star only four times.

@rosschawkins Ross Hawkins

Patterson at #leveson : suggestion from Jay Express was still using Whittamore in 2010

Guardian Live Blog:

Reading from a "lineage sheet", Jay says that targets in 2005 included John Birt and Davina McCall.

10.30am: Robert Jay QC mentions that in a long list of invoices the name Jade Goody appears, along with Charlotte Church, listed next to the acronym "STR". Petterson says that could be New and Star magazine, not necessarily the Daily Star.
Jay says the earliest date of payments to Whittamore's firm is 31 January 2005 and he was still carrying out services for them in 2010.
Patterson says: "The last entry was 2010 … I don't know the answer to that."
Jay asks whether why she doesn't question the recent employment of Whittamore, given that there is a "cloud hanging over him".
"It's a matter for the news editor and the editor. It's not a matter within my remit, I'm afraid," she tells Leveson, adding that she has raised the issue with the news editor.

@benfenton Ben Fenton

The detailed entries on Whittamore's bill to the Express include £2,150 entry for work on a 2005 project described as "Rothermere" #leveson

@richpeppiatt Richard Peppiatt

Whittamore was being paid double an N&S shift reporter rate. He must have been doing something partic valued... #Leveson

@Selkie T Portilho-Shrimpton

More names appeared on our screen and a total value of approx £174k for Whittamore services #leveson

@Selkie T Portilho-Shrimpton

Although Patterson just said their total spend on search services was £115k #leveson

Guardian Live Blog:

More detail is filtering out of people named on Express Newspapers invoices in relation to searches by private investigators.

Ben Fenton, the FT's media correspondent, has just tweeted:
Few recognisable names, but one was in 2007 by SystemSearches for [Lt Col]Jorge Mendonca, frmr CO of Queens Lancs Regt #leveson
[Mendonca's soldiers were involved in the fake pictures row with DMirror in that year. We also saw ref to "girl in mask"] #leveson
Whittamore seems to have been paid £174K by Express News. One search (not sure by whom) was on subject of Mark Thompson DG of BBC #leveson

@rosschawkins Ross Hawkins

Patterson at #leveson : considers Express papers bound by PCC code (even though they're not part of PCC)

#pressreform

Pages

3 February 2012

Leveson Inquiry: Witness Lists - 6th - 9th February 2012

12 January 2012

Leveson Inquiry: Hearings - Day 25

LEVESON INQUIRY:CULTURE, PRACTICE AND ETHICS OF THE PRESS