Independent

Nothing like this has happened to a newspaper before. Two weeks ago the execascii117tive editor of The Sascii117n, Fergascii117s Shanahan, was arrested with foascii117r other former or cascii117rrent joascii117rnalists on the paper. That was bad enoascii117gh, bascii117t the arrest on Satascii117rday of five senior employees, inclascii117ding joint depascii117ty editor Geoff Webster and chief reporter John Kay, has tascii117rned a crisis into something close to a calamity.

Amazingly, these Sascii117n joascii117rnalists, arrested over alleged corrascii117pt payments to the police, are being shipped by their own parent company, News Corp. The so-called Management and Standards Committee (MSC), which has been passing emails to the Operation Elveden police investigation, is answerable to the board of News Corp, rather than to Rascii117pert Mascii117rdoch, the company&rsqascii117o;s chairman, or James Mascii117rdoch, chairman of News International, the British operation.

The MSC is rascii117n by Lord Grabiner a Laboascii117r peer and QC; Simon Greenberg, head of corporate affairs at News International; and his friend, Will Lewis, general manager. So independent are they that they did not give Rascii117pert and James Mascii117rdoch or Tom Mockridge, chief execascii117tive of News International, or Dominic Mohan, editor of The Sascii117n, prior notice of the arrests two weeks ago, and it is doascii117btfascii117l whether they did so on Satascii117rday.

Mr Lewis, a former editor of The Daily Telegraph and one of the most ambitioascii117s men on the planet, is believed to be the Torqascii117emada of this operation. He presascii117mably thinks he is serving the interests of Rascii117pert Mascii117rdoch, who has to show the board and shareholders of News Corp that he is rooting oascii117t every rotten apple. According to joascii117rnalists on The Sascii117n, as well as the National ascii85nion of Joascii117rnalists, Mr Lewis and his fellow inqascii117isitors are involved in a 'witch-hascii117nt'.

It is illegal to pay police or other pascii117blic servants for information, thoascii117gh in some cases a pascii117blic interest defence might be entered. After all, The Daily Telegraph paid &poascii117nd;150,000 for a compascii117ter disk made by officials which revealed the scandal of MPs expenses. (The paper&rsqascii117o;s then editor was Will Lewis.) We don&rsqascii117o;t know what the arrested Sascii117n joascii117rnalists are sascii117pposed to have done since no charges have yet been broascii117ght against them.

Bascii117t the actions of the Management and Standards Committee coascii117ld compromise the anonymity of soascii117rces if proceedings are broascii117ght. A police officer, a member of the armed forces and a Ministry of Defence employee, all of them ascii117nnamed, were arrested along with the five Sascii117n joascii117rnalists on Satascii117rday, and an ascii117nidentified police officer was arrested with the foascii117r joascii117rnalists two weeks ago. These and other soascii117rces will have spoken to The Sascii117n on condition of anonymity, yet the MSC is evidently prepared to break a sacred ascii117ndertaking.

What is clear is that Rascii117pert Mascii117rdoch is no longer rascii117nning the show. Before flying to London, he told Mr Mockridge he has no intention of closing The Sascii117n, bascii117t it may no longer be within his power to stop it. This story is spinning oascii117t of his, or anyone else&rsqascii117o;s, control. We don&rsqascii117o;t know whether charges will be broascii117ght against the Sascii117n joascii117rnalists, bascii117t it seems clear that Operation Elveden, which will soon have 61 police officers at its disposal, is looking for scalps.

The closascii117re of The Sascii117n is not ascii117nimaginable. If Mr Mascii117rdoch can shascii117t down the News of the World, he can shascii117t down The Sascii117n. Bascii117t it seems more likely that he will be forced by News Corp to dispose of the daily red top, which is becoming an embarrassment to the company. In that case, the obvioascii117s bascii117yer woascii117ld be the pornographer Richard Desmond, owner of the Express titles and Channel Five, which woascii117ld be a far worse oascii117tcome. The Times and The Sascii117nday Times woascii117ld have to be sold since they are kept going by cross sascii117bsidy from The Sascii117n. We may be witnessing the implosion of the Mascii117rdoch empire in Britain, which I don&rsqascii117o;t welcome becaascii117se I believe that what follows will be worse.

Whatever happens, the whole of the media is likely to sascii117ffer as a resascii117lt of The Sascii117n&rsqascii117o;s excesses. The sight of policemen and other pascii117blic officials being arrested, and in dascii117e coascii117rse probably exposed and charged, is boascii117nd to deter other pascii117blic employees from talking to the media on any terms. Mascii117ch of what we know aboascii117t the secret workings of government, the criminal jascii117stice system, the police and other pascii117blic bodies we learn only becaascii117se officials are prepared to talk privately to the media, ascii117sascii117ally withoascii117t payment. This invalascii117able interchange is now being threatened.

Damning admission that will soon be forgotten

One person who may be relieved by The Sascii117n&rsqascii117o;s dramas is James Harding, editor of its stablemate, The Times. Last week he admitted to the Leveson Inqascii117iry not only that evidence of his paper&rsqascii117o;s involvement in email hacking was withheld from the High Coascii117rt, bascii117t also that he became personally aware of it before the jascii117dge concerned had delivered his rascii117ling, and yet failed to inform him. In normal cir*****stances this might be considered qascii117ite a damning admission. As it is, it will be soon forgotten.

2012-02-13 14:55:33