Excellent defence by former NOTW Editor Hall who seems a decent man (as I think Coulson is) but I'm not convinced; I reckon there are three certainties - death, taxes, and the fact that Andy Coulson knew phone hacking was endemic when he was editor.

You are right..Coulson seems like an OK bloke (unlike that vile Campbell) but he got down in the gutter.

I know heaps of decent journos but once they take the dollar from the Dirty Digger they lose all sense. (been there..done that )

The biggest story in years because it condemns the behaviour and morality of both the Media and the Police; I know it may sound self obsessed but this reflects my experiences (and horror) ten years ago; I could not believe the behaviour of both massive areas of modern society (the third foul and stinking area being the Judicial system).

"Can this really be happening to me?" was the shocked reaction I had. As I learned more I was able to divorce myself to a degree and see the ramifications on our civilisation.

I'm afraid I felt it would eventually lead to the extermination of the species. Everything I've witnessed since confirms that view. It sounds absurd. Such a huge conclusion from such tiny and trivial acts.

But it is well on the way.

as I said in my thread on Assange..I have worked for numerous newspaper titles (in the UK and elsewhere ) and the editor was always the first port of call to get expenses OKed from taxi fares to payments to a source.

And that includes News corp titles.

It simply defies belief that the editor of a major British tabloid did not know that hundreds of thousands of pounds were being spent on a private detective to illegally hack phones.

If he did not..and I will give him the benefit of the doubt..then he was unique amongst the dozens of editors employed by Rupert Murdoch around the world and who are liable to receive a phone call from him out of the blue and a telephone grilling on expenses if they have risen.

I've always thought the day would come when the power of the tabloids would cause some sort of calamity that would set off a chain of events that would ultimately bring into question their un-democratic use of that power.

This is it-not the fact that they bugged celebrities phones but the fact it appears they have perverted the working of a supposedly independent police force.

Show your support for Andy Coulson by leaving a message on YOUR voicemail.

veritas wrote:
This is it-not the fact that they bugged celebrities phones but the fact it appears they have perverted the working of a supposedly independent police force.

The police were never going to bite the hand that feeds them, were they ?

A few "hints" about a paedo here ....

A few "plugs" for a police search there ....

You scratch my back ... etc

JK2006 wrote:
The biggest story in years because it condemns the behaviour and morality of both the Media and the Police;

<<< Former Scotland Yard assistant commissioner Brian Paddick, who believes his phone was hacked into by another newspaper, accused the force of running scared of the press.

"There is a whole media machine at New Scotland Yard, designed to try and make sure the police are portrayed positively in the media. The last thing the police want to do is to upset newspaper editors, which could result in biased reporting against the police." >>>

taken from - www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12294854

oh dear...

"It will restore confidence in victims who feel they have not been given a service. It will be with no stone unturned. We have some of the most skilled investigators in the country and you will be proud of what they do."

sounds like a cover-up on the way.

What really gets on my wick about all this..

I wasn't hacked so I can't sue for half a million !

actually In The Know- here is an interesting phenomena that blows out of the water the oft claim that a successful corporation will pack up and move off-shore if their delicate sensibilities are riled-

In the vast suburbs of outer Sydney a left wing mayor refused to pay subsidies any longer to the McDonald's hamburger joints. They issued the usual cries of jobs lost, 12 year old kids on poverty wages will no longer learn valuable life skills of putting a piece of lettuce and meat inside a bun and so on.

Mayor stuck to his guns..Murdoch media got stuck in to him (McDonalds=advertisers) and 4 McDonalds outlets closed over 2 years.

The result-a mass of locally owned restaurants opened up to fill the void..Chinese , Malayan, Turkish and so on. Estimated 3 times as many people employed and people from all over rushing into the area to spend heaps of money all over the place...petrol garages,parking meters, fashion shops, movies etc.

Unbridled Capitalism spreads the lie that the Law Of Physics does not apply.

It always does-for every action there is a reaction. You close down your business and another will spring up in it's place if the business is there. So Voadafone can fuck off to wherever they want because mobile phones aren't going away.

epilogue : left wing socialist Mayor became leader of the Labor Party cheered on by me and lost spectacularly at the general election !!

Are you saying that the 'Karma Krushed (bleep)' is an OK bloke now Ken? Wasn't he the guy in charge at the NOW when they photoshopped a photo of you in a park somewhere?

Oh yes; shit way to behave; still a decent bloke.

But would you say the same about the lawyers, judges and jurors that put you behind bars? They were, after all, just doing their jobs?

I think I'm up to my old trick of posting in the wrong thread again.

note to self : no more posts after third G & T

when you work on a News Corp title you drop your standards.

It really is like going to the dark side. And everyone does it because they all need those wages. Normally decent people 'push the envelope' on integrity.

When I got my first job at 16 working for a mega millionaire who had high standards he drilled into me that corruption starts at the top and filters down until it infects everyone there whether they know it or not. I've found it to be always the case

Yes KB; mainly decent people with the best intentions - either lazy or gullible or corrupt but generally decent; it's an easy infection to pick up.

The other thing to remember is that thousands of people work for organisations like News Int; Assoc; Express - the vast majority do jobs that do not involve moral decisions and even the Editors are simply overseeing a paper. Bad behaviour becomes filtered down and down and wink and nudge slips through with ease in media as in life.

Ditto crime; 99% of the time it's nowhere near the clear cut extreme version precised for us morons who cannot take in complexity - we have neither the time nor the inclination to bother thinking whether a man who shook his wife gently during a row and made her fall, hit her head and die is a sad example of a tragic accident or a vile murderer who should be locked up for life.

KK, You must have seen some questionable practices going in the record business over the years. I remember hearing many years ago about allegations that record companies were buying their own product to get certain artists into the charts and henceforth onto Top of the Pops. This process would supposedly act as a springboard into real sales and chart further topping success; I doubt the practice was endemic. However I do believe that just because the prevailing culturein an organisation is corrupt that you have to follow suit and be like the rest in order to fit in.

I started it and it did become endemic and ruined the music scene. Good intentions, nothing illegal, broke hits. I wish somebody was doing the same kind of thing now (not precisely that which they are still doing and have destroyed the charts).

I hear there's no money in recorded music these days anyway - most of the income comes from the licensing of sound recordings, air play PRS and from concerts? Just look what happened on iTunes when they announced they would be selling the entire Beatles back catalogue - their PR machine was trying to convince everyone that the charts would be awash with Beatles hits; it never happened. When you can rent a CD from your local library for 75 pence, take it home and ermmm, you know iPods come into the picture, it's no surprise that sales have fallen. That's a massive loophole that technology has yet conquer.

I wonder how much of that 75 pence wends its way back to PPL and PRS?