Journalist and Director of the English Centre of International PEN at the time of the Inquiry, who presented evidence on PEN's behalf. In the wake of the Leveson hearings, he was a major force behind setting up IMPRESS as an independent press regulator and became its first CEO.
Author, journalist, broadcaster. Gave evidence as Chief Executive of Index on Censorship at the time of the Inquiry. Freedom of expression was as important as press freedom, he said. "Reporting is no longer the exclusive reserve of the mainstream but also of independent bloggers and whistleblowing sites."
MP for West Bromwich East and a member of the House of Commons Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Select Committee. He told the Inquiry that he stepped down as a minister in 2009 due to "unwarranted media intrusion" into his family life that year. The Inquiry acknowledged that he had taken an active role in monitoring the culture, practices and ethics of the Press since then. Told the Inquiry that News International commissioned a private investigator to trail him in 2009 over false claims of an affair, for which James Murdoch had apologised in evidence to the DCMS Select Committee. Watson described a "craven" relationship between the highest levels of government and News International. Played a robust role in the DCMS Select Committee investigation into phone hacking and subsequent report (2012), which stated that parliament had been misled by News International employees.
Group general counsel and company secretary of the BBC and, at the time of the Inquiry, the BBC's most senior lawyer.
Founded 1946. Organisation established to promote the interests of Poles living in the UK and to promote the history and culture of Poland among British people. Submitted evidence to the Inquiry of more than 50 incidents of hate crime around the country and their subsequent reporting in the local press.
Appointed professor of Criminology at City, University of London in 2013 and Dean of Arts and Social Sciences in 2017. At the time of the Inquiry, he worked in the Department of Sociology and Centre for Law, Justice and Journalism at City University London. Gave extensive evidence with Professor Eugene McLaughlin on the changing nature of relations between the news media and police chiefs, with particular reference to the "trial by media" of former Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair.
Established in 2009 as a campaign to boost public support for a change in how Britain deals with lower-level offenders, Make Justice Work urges a switch from expensive and futile short prison terms to intensive and effective sanctions. Told the Inquiry that the tabloid press too often represented community solutions as "soft options".
Unitas is a cross-cultural communications agency working to strengthen relations between communities and cultures. Its Chief Research Officer Dr Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed submitted a study entitled "Race and Reform: Islam and Muslims in the British Media".
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is the UK Government department responsible for aspects of the media throughout the UK, including broadcasting and internet. Jonathan Stephens, Permanent Secretary at the time of the Inquiry, gave evidence on how the DCMS operated, the role of special advisers and how this worked at the time of the bid by News Corporation to increase its holdings in BskyB, responsibility for which had been unexpectedly transferred to the DCMS. Stephens spoke of his regret that one special adviser, Adam Smith, had to resign when it emerged he had had extensive communications with a News Corporation lobbyist while the deal was under discussion.
