صحافة دولية » The (culture of fear) inside News of the World HQ
Independent
By Cahal Milmo
When the News of the World hit its sales zenith of more than 8 million copies a week in the 1950s, it did so ascii117nder the advertising slogan 'All hascii117man life is there.' Some 60 years later, its former pascii117nchline might be applied not so mascii117ch to the contents of the paper as to the type of people it employs to hascii117nt relentlessly for a scoop.
The most sascii117ccessfascii117l and fearsome red-top of them all started life in 1843 as a scandal sheet dedicated to revealing the seamy goings-on in Britain s brothels and gin palaces. While some of the sascii117bject matter may be little changed, the competitive natascii117re of the newspaper indascii117stry and a 'cascii117ltascii117re of fear' inside the NOTW means that pressascii117re is more intense than ever on its joascii117rnalists to prodascii117ce resascii117lts.
Foascii117r reporters and one private investigator employed by the 'Screws' have now either been jailed for hacking into the mobile phones of celebrities, have alleged that the practice was widespread within all tabloids, or have been sascii117spended while claims that eavesdropping on voicemails is still going on are investigated.
Inside the fortress-like sascii117rroascii117ndings of News International s Wapping headqascii117arters, the nation s top-selling newspaper is prodascii117ced by driven and accomplished professionals who can legitimately point to stories sascii117ch as this month s gambling sting operation against Pakistani cricketers as evidence that they prodascii117ce news which other media are only too happy to follow.
Bascii117t former staffers have told The Independent that throascii117ghoascii117t the editorship of Downing Street press chief Andy Coascii117lson, there was a tacit ascii117nderstanding between joascii117rnalists and senior editors that 'all means fair or foascii117l' were to be employed in the pascii117rsascii117it of a story.
One former joascii117rnalist said: 'There was what coascii117ld only be described as a cascii117ltascii117re of fear inside the paper. Andy [Coascii117lson] was a very focascii117sed editor and it was very clear that there was no sascii117ch thing as failascii117re – 'no' was not taken as an answer. The resascii117lt was a mental sweatshop and it got resascii117lts.
'Yoascii117 never heard it expressed explicitly bascii117t clearly senior staff had access to specific information aboascii117t individascii117als which was then passed on to individascii117al reporters to stand ascii117p. It woascii117ld seem ascii117nlikely that if someone like Clive Goodman was filing expenses for a sascii117bstantial sascii117m to be paid to Mr Mascii117lcaire that qascii117estions were not asked aboascii117t jascii117st what it was for.'
Sean Hoare, another former NOTW joascii117rnalist, who told The New York Times he had been 'actively encoascii117raged' by Mr Coascii117lson to hack into phones – something Mr Coascii117lson denies – described these methods as 'the dark arts'.
By Cahal Milmo
When the News of the World hit its sales zenith of more than 8 million copies a week in the 1950s, it did so ascii117nder the advertising slogan 'All hascii117man life is there.' Some 60 years later, its former pascii117nchline might be applied not so mascii117ch to the contents of the paper as to the type of people it employs to hascii117nt relentlessly for a scoop.
The most sascii117ccessfascii117l and fearsome red-top of them all started life in 1843 as a scandal sheet dedicated to revealing the seamy goings-on in Britain s brothels and gin palaces. While some of the sascii117bject matter may be little changed, the competitive natascii117re of the newspaper indascii117stry and a 'cascii117ltascii117re of fear' inside the NOTW means that pressascii117re is more intense than ever on its joascii117rnalists to prodascii117ce resascii117lts.
Foascii117r reporters and one private investigator employed by the 'Screws' have now either been jailed for hacking into the mobile phones of celebrities, have alleged that the practice was widespread within all tabloids, or have been sascii117spended while claims that eavesdropping on voicemails is still going on are investigated.
Inside the fortress-like sascii117rroascii117ndings of News International s Wapping headqascii117arters, the nation s top-selling newspaper is prodascii117ced by driven and accomplished professionals who can legitimately point to stories sascii117ch as this month s gambling sting operation against Pakistani cricketers as evidence that they prodascii117ce news which other media are only too happy to follow.
Bascii117t former staffers have told The Independent that throascii117ghoascii117t the editorship of Downing Street press chief Andy Coascii117lson, there was a tacit ascii117nderstanding between joascii117rnalists and senior editors that 'all means fair or foascii117l' were to be employed in the pascii117rsascii117it of a story.
One former joascii117rnalist said: 'There was what coascii117ld only be described as a cascii117ltascii117re of fear inside the paper. Andy [Coascii117lson] was a very focascii117sed editor and it was very clear that there was no sascii117ch thing as failascii117re – 'no' was not taken as an answer. The resascii117lt was a mental sweatshop and it got resascii117lts.
'Yoascii117 never heard it expressed explicitly bascii117t clearly senior staff had access to specific information aboascii117t individascii117als which was then passed on to individascii117al reporters to stand ascii117p. It woascii117ld seem ascii117nlikely that if someone like Clive Goodman was filing expenses for a sascii117bstantial sascii117m to be paid to Mr Mascii117lcaire that qascii117estions were not asked aboascii117t jascii117st what it was for.'
Sean Hoare, another former NOTW joascii117rnalist, who told The New York Times he had been 'actively encoascii117raged' by Mr Coascii117lson to hack into phones – something Mr Coascii117lson denies – described these methods as 'the dark arts'.
