It is important that there is not a groundswell of elitism, where the minority dictate what the majority can read,’ he said. He added that newspapers accepted the need for a new and strengthened regulatory system – but it must be self-regulation.

‘It may be perfectly appropriate to impose statutory controls on lawyers, dentists, chiropodists and the like, but none of those people seek to hold politicians and public servants to account. The Press cannot hold politicians to account if it is simultaneously to be held to account itself by those same politicians or by those who depend on those politicians for their appointment and funding.

Sorry - does 'liars' refer to Blair? Or to all the politicians who couldn't remember?

You may have thought that Sherborne's summation was the key point of yesterday's last-day hearings.

Not according to Dacre.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... -ends.html

All about his brief, Caplan, who actuallly did a pretty shoddy job, truth to be told, taking on the might od=f - well, something, and triumphing by - well, somehow.

This sums it up:



The comments are carefully selected to follow Dacre's line, too.

I see there's an article in today's online version about the daughter of someone who was once famous. She is on holiday and is bathing topless. There are a number of photos of this person who is acting legally. Where is the 'public interest' excuse for this gross invasion of her privacy.

...Phonehackgate, and all that has come since, has shown not that individual hacks are poor journalists or bad people, but rather that owners, editors and managers have turned their papers increasingly into corrupt vehicles for vicious agenda driven copy, backed up by whatever it takes to stand up whatever proposition is being advanced on any particular day.

Sorry - those who couldn't remember, Cameron winning that one.

Sums it up perfectly. Money for the lawyers and a chance to destroy the right wing press. I expect there's plenty of champagne being drunk by the left wing media right now and empty champagne bottles will be strewn all around the corridors.

- Some truth not wally bitty guardy or mooney, The interweb net, 25/7/2012 8:04 12

Hacking police arrest journalist

Met Police investigating alleged privacy breaches related to the phone-hacking inquiry have arrested a man on suspicion of handling stolen goods

Rebekah Brooks formally charged over phone hacking tonight by Met. Bailed to appear Sept 3 at Westminster mags court

Video footage of Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt smiling and shaking hands with Rupert Murdoch at the Olympics on Friday suggests the pair are "as close as ever," a Labour MP has said.

ITN filmed Mr Hunt talking to the News Corp boss near the Aquatics Centre.

Labour's Jim Sheridan said the film suggested "no contrition" for mistakes since Mr Hunt faced questions over his handling of News Corp's BSkyB bid.

But Mr Hunt's office said the meeting was an "exchange in passing".

News Corp said it had "no comment" to make on the affair.

Operation Elveden: Journalist and police officer arrested

Now we are entering a third phase in which we will try to influence the decision over whether – after all that has happened – anything will really change. Hacked Off wants significant reforms, delivering a better press that is answerable to the public it is supposed to serve.

But we are very aware that the editors and owners of most of the national papers have set their faces against change and are determined to carry on as before. So we have a battle on our hands.

We will campaign and lobby as hard as we can to make the case for effective regulation of the press that is independent of both the government and the industry. We plan to lobby MPs and peers. We will have a presence at all the big party conferences. We will also try to rally together all of those hundreds of groups and individuals who gave evidence at Leveson about the need for change, and hundreds more who could have, in a coalition for change. We will take our case to the media, even where they don’t want to hear it (the papers say, after all, that they believe in free speech). And we will petition and blog and tweet and organise meetings and rallies and do whatever else it takes to get the message out.