HEAR NO EVIL SEE NO EVIL……! by Michael Mansfield QC

The most shocking revelation to rise rapidly to the surface in the Culture, Media and Sports Select Committee hearings this afternoon with the two Murdochs is the extent to which Rupert purportedly knew nothing. Either he was not told or he chose not to enquire. Neither response is remotely satisfactory from a person who has to demonstrate he is a fit and proper person to be in charge of large multinational news corporations. The fact that the News of the World enterprise only comprises one per cent of his so called empire, as he emphasised, is irrelevant and demonstrates the dismissive arrogance that has corrupted crucial areas of our political and journalistic system.

Tom Watson asked a series of focused and penetrating questions about which Rupert Murdoch appeared bemused and ignorant. Repeatedly he turned to his son for help. This was a poor repetition of exactly what happened in 2009 when his executives were before the same committee. Then they knew nothing, could remember nothing and did not know anyone else who knew or could remember anything. The committee then concluded that that the hacking allegations could not possibly be confined to one or two rogue reporters.

It would have been even more devastating if father and son had been questioned separately as was the procedure for senior police officers. James was continually allowed to step in to attempt a rescue or damage limitation exercise. He was clearly anxious to resurrect the prepared script he not been allowed to read at the commencement of the afternoon.

The warning signs of wrongdoing had been clearly sign posted over the years but Rupert Murdoch claimed to have been astonishingly unaware at the time. These particularly revolved around Rebecca Brooks’s public admission about payments to the police in 2003 and the investigation that led to the convictions of News of the World (NoW) journalists in 2007. Leaving aside the 11,000 pages of documents lying within the News Corps premises, how can it possibly be that no one within the organisation commenced a proper and thorough investigation? Given its widespread nature it could not have been missed.

The core issues which had not been canvassed up to about 4 pm today relate to the underlying and systemic culture of journalistic investigation. Everyone has known for years that undercover methods must have been employed to acquire some of the salacious stories put out under the guise of news. What codes of conduct were in place? What ethical principles were enshrined in protocols and guidelines? Where are they? Scant reference was made to these in evidence. Who ensured their implementation? Who took responsibility for oversight? Who monitored and who authorised any particular form of activity? What records were kept and where are they now? Was there any reporting requirement to the chief executive? Were there any spot checks? I suspect a rather large hole underlies all this.

James Murdoch described the recent establishment of a Management and Standards Committee with an independent element. This begs the question as to what existed before. This is a rather late closing of the stable door. I can’t believe it has taken them over 150 years to work this one out! Rupert Murdoch’s humility in the face of all this was as thin as the paper he used for the NoW.