Born 1957. Journalist and author and former press secretary to Tony Blair as Leader of the Opposition (1994-97) and as Prime minister (1997-2000). From 2000-2003, he was director of communications for the Labour Party (2000-03). Before 1994, he had been political editor of Today newspaper and the Daily Mirror. Campbell gave detailed testimony on the political media and what he saw as the decline of genuine investigative journalism and the increasing tendency of owners, editors and senior journalists to wish to be political players. Embellishment and pure invention were tolerated and encouraged by some editors and owners, he said.
Public policy and communications expert and at the time of the Inquiry Vice-President of Global Communications and Public Affairs for Google. Collins gave evidence on Google’s privacy policy, its removal policy on the UK (as opposed to US) site and its continuing evolution.
Conservative MP for Surrey Heath and Education Secretary at the time of the Inquiry. A former journalist at the Aberdeen Press and Journal, the Times, the BBC and the Spectator. Told the Inquiry that sometimes "individuals reach for regulation in order to deal with failures of character or morality, and sometimes that regulation is right and appropriate but some of us believe that before the case for regulation is made, the case for liberty needs to be asserted as well".
A Core Participant in the Inquiry and the former president of the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (1993-2009). In 2008, he won a privacy case against the News of the World after it accused him of participating in Nazi-themed orgies. He gave the Leveson Inquiry a full account of his claim against the News of the World and of that paper's continued use of snatched images and its attempt to gather false witness statements. Despite sensationalist reporting, Mosley persisted in his claim, ultimately retaining the confidence of the FIA and being awarded £60,000 for invasion of privacy.
Private investigator and Director of Operations at Insight Investigations, overseeing the day to day work of more than 20 investigators operating throughout the UK, Europe and around the world for Insight clients. Also gave evidence on the workings of the World Association of Private Investigators.
British journalist and co-founder of pop-culture publication, Popbitch. Despite describing the website and weekly newsletter as “tongue in cheek”, Popbitch found itself issuing a number of public apologies and paying damages to actor Max Beesley in 2008.
Australian computer programmer and director, founder and editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks, an organisation he formed in 2006, dedicated to leaking hitherto secret information. Assange gave evidence of his dealings with the Press Complaints Commission and his complaints about the many false statements and libels of him in the press.
Editor of RebeccaTelevision.com, an investigative website based in Wales, which aimed to combine television programmes with journalism. Approached the Leveson Inquiry because he believed the News of the World reporter Mazher Mahmood had exaggerated the number of prosecutions arising from his exposures in his book Confessions of a Fake Sheikh.
Chief Executive Officer of ITN at time of Inquiry. Asked to provide comprehensive details of corporate governance and editorial practice at ITN.
Managing Editor at the Financial Times at the time of giving evidence. Provided a voluntary statement on the editorial code of practice and the FT's investment register. Reported that the FT had decided in 2010 to remind all staff of their obligations under the paper's code of practice with specific reference to the Investment Register.
Formerly known as UK Press Gazette, Press Gazette was first issued in 1965. A trade magazine dedicated to journalism and the press, it had a circulation of about 2,500, before becoming online-only in 2010. Dominic Ponsford, editor at the time of the Inquiry, gave evidence from journalists' tweets on "Why I am proud to be a journalist".
CEO of the Financial Times Group. At the time of giving evidence, he had been with the FT for 25 years in both editorial and executive positions. Ethical journalism was central to the FT's strategy and success and had been for 120 years, he told the Inquiry. A founding and current principle of the newspaper was, he said, that it would report "without fear and without favour".
British mobile network operator, internet service provider and owner of former telephone operating companies T-Mobile and Orange. Gave evidence to the Inquiry on how the phones of the former companies could have been hacked.
As well as individual evidence, Alan Rusbridger, editor at the time of the Inquiry, and other Guardian staff gave submissions on plurality of the press. A Core Participant in the Inquiry, GNM was in addition asked by the Inquiry to identify five recently published investigations which it considered to be particularly illustrative both of the value of public-interest journalism and the difficulties it can face. GNM told the Inquiry that any new system of press regulation had to consider the impact of ownership and plurality, arguing that regulation which allowed the continuing concentration of ownership in the hands of billionaire proprietors would impoverish society.
Founded 1998. American multinational technology company that specialises in internet-related services and products, including online advertising technologies, search engine, cloud computing, software, and hardware. John Collins, vice-president of global communications for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, told the Inquiry self-regulation was important, but could be aided by a legal backstop. Google's legal director Daphne Keller also gave evidence and was asked about Max Mosley's privacy case against News of the World. She said he had done the right thing in approaching individual websites to have invasive material removed. Google had removed hundreds of links from search results but that didn't make such material "disappear".
Liberal American opinion news and website and blog, with international editions. Carla Buzasi, editor-in-chief of Huffington Post UK at the time of the Inquiry, gave evidence concerning her personal involvement in drawing up proposals for a new system of self-regulation based on contractual obligation.
First issued in 1986. From 2010 owned by Alexander Lebedev and from 2016 ceased print editions and became online only. Nicknamed the Indy, it began life as a broadsheet, but changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition of The Independent was published Saturday 26 March 2016, leaving only its digital editions. Manish Malhotra, employed by parent company IPL, gave evidence in his capacity as Finance Director, telling the Inquiry of anti-bribery measures at the papers. Chris Blackhurst, editor at the time of giving evidence, told the Inquiry that he and The Independent were broadly in support of the Lord Black proposals but had some areas of concern. See also Andrew Grice, Andrew Mullins and Paul Peachey, who all gave evidence, and Independent on Sunday.
Founded 1955. Independent Television News is a London-based news and content provider. Produces content for ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, UK mobile-phone operators, online outlets such as YouTube, MSN, Telegraph Media Group and Yahoo!. John Hardie, CEO at the time of the Inquiry, gave evidence on news policies, ethics and regulation.
Blog written by David Allen Green, providing a liberal and critical perspective on legal and policy matters. Allen Green gave views to the Inquiry on regulation and self-regulation.
Twitter UK is the wholly owned subsidiary of Twitter International Company, an affiliate company of Twitter, Inc. Twitter UK provides marketing and sales support services to Twitter International in connection with sales of advertising to customers in the UK. In a voluntary statement, it made clear that Twitter UK had no control over the Twitter service. At the time of giving evidence, Twitter had not blocked content to users in the UK which people in other countries could see. Twitter would consider whether such an action was necessary on a case-by-case basis.
