At the time of giving evidence, Desmond was the owner of Express Newspapers and founder of Northern & Shell, which also published celebrity magazines such as OK! and New!. Desmond gave examples of how the group dealt with moral and ethical questions. He cited his decision not to run a false story about the parentage of a member of the Royal family. Desmond told the Inquiry he was not familiar with the Editors' Code of Practice and considered it something as a proprietor he did not need to know about. All editorial decisions were left to the Express's editors, he said, including the paper's decision to stop backing Tony Blair and return to backing the Conservative Party.
Editor of The Sunday Times from 1967 to 1981 and of The Times from 1981 to 1982, the period of the takeover of the papers by Rupert Murdoch's News International. Sir Harold resigned the editorship of The Times in 1982, claiming editorial interference from Murdoch, whom he described when editor as "evil incarnate". At the time of giving evidence, Sir Harold was continuing his career as a journalist and writer, primarily in North America. He said at the Inquiry that the political will for News International's takeover of the papers facilitated it happening, referencing a private meeting between then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Rupert Murdoch.
Australian-born American Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of News Corporation with an estimated net worth of $15.2 billion at the time of giving evidence. Gave a brief history of his organisation from the founding of the Adelaide News to date. Among other matters, was asked about the admission in the diaries of Woodrow Wyatt, a confidant of both Murdoch and Margaret Thatcher, that he "bent... all the rules" to enable acquisition of The Times and Sunday Times without the bid being referred to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission. Murdoch outlined his different understanding of the process. In lengthy evidence over several days, Murdoch admitted that the phone-hacking affair had left a serious blot on his reputation.
At the time of the Inquiry, Nigel Pickover was editor of the Evening Star, based in Ipswich. Pickover worked for publisher Archant for 23 years and held a number of senior editorial roles within the company, including as editor of three of Archant's daily papers: the Ipswich Star (as the Evening Star was renamed in 2012), the Norwich Evening News and the Eastern Daily Press.
Originally founded in 1905. National newspaper and website publisher, now known as DMG Media. Owners of titles such as the Daily Mail, MailOnline, the Mail on Sunday, Metro, Wowcher and Teletext Holidays, with an estimated annual revenue of £931m.
At the time of the Inquiry, Blott was Regional Managing Director of Herald and Times, which published The Herald, Sunday Herald and Evening Times papers in Scotland and was a division of the Newsquest Media Group. Blott told the Inquiry that he had been aware of a covert journalistic investigation into political lobbying where secret recording was undertaken. The recording, which was later destroyed, complied fully with Press Complaints Commission guidelines, he told the Inquiry.
Founded 2010. Non-profit news organisation based in London. It was established to pursue "public interest" investigations, funded through philanthropy. The Bureau works with publishers and broadcasters to maximise the impact of its investigations. Offered Inquiry evidence on the importance of high standards in investigative journalism.
At the time of the Inquiry, the Newspaper Society represented the regional media industry. The majority of regional newspaper publishers, whether large group or small family-run business, are members of the NS. Told the Inquiry that "self-regulation worked in the regional and local press". No regional title has ever refused to publish an adverse adjudication.
British publishing group founded in 1974 and owned by Richard Desmond. At the time of the Inquiry, it published the Daily Express, Sunday Express, Daily Star and Daily Star Sunday newspapers, and the magazines OK!, New! and Star.
Founded 1981. British newspaper publisher at the centre of the phone-hacking scandal. At the time of the Inquiry, NI was publisher of The Times, The Sunday Times and The Sun newspapers. Former publications included Today, News of the World and The London Paper. On 31 May 2011, the company name was changed from News International Limited to NI Group Limited, and on 26 June 2013 to News UK. In opening evidence, NI's counsel, Rhodri Davies, welcomed the Inquiry and apologised for the phone hacking. He said lessons had been learned. He also declared that NI was in favour of self-regulation and that the company believed the PCC could be improved.
A multimedia news agency operating in the UK and Ireland, PA Group is a private company with 26 shareholders, most of whom are national and regional newspaper publishers. Jonathan Grun, editor at the time of the Inquiry, gave evidence for PA and said the Association took its responsibilities very seriously indeed. PA had a reputation for speed, accuracy and flexibility and had no political views, he said, adding that all transactions adhere closely to the PCC code of conduct.
Evidence on behalf of the Cardiff-based regional paper, which is owned by the Trinity Mirror Group, was given by the editor, Tim Gordon. Asked about hospitality, he told the Inquiry that the average South Wales Echo reporter spent 71p a week on entertaining.
Trinity Mirror was one of Britain's biggest newspaper groups at the time of the Inquiry, publishing 240 regional papers as well as the national Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and People, and the Scottish Sunday Mail and Daily Record, all of which gave evidence to the Inquiry. Chief Executive at the time was Sly Bailey, who had been appointed in 2003, and who gave extensive evidence on hacking and the ethical practices and procedures in place. In 2012, following substantial drops in circulation and profits, Trinity Mirror asked her to resign. The use of private investigators was banned after the convictions of Clive Goodman and Glenn Mulcaire, Bailey told the Inquiry.
