Body & Soul2 mins ago
BBC as bad as the NOTW ?
Obviously the BBC must have had a memory lapse when they broadcast their reports.
It seems it is only terrible when the papers use these private investigators.
http://www.guardian.c...-private-investigator
It seems it is only terrible when the papers use these private investigators.
http://www.guardian.c...-private-investigator
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// Whittamore was at the heart of a network of corrupt officials and "blaggers" responsible for obtaining information such as ex-directory phone numbers, car registrations and criminal records. In 2005 he pleaded guilty to breaches of the Data Protection Act and received a two-year conditional discharge.//
Private Investigators are not illegal in this country and many companies and individuals use them.
The News of the World (and other newspapers) are not in trouble for using private investigators, they are in trouble for using illegal techniques to get private or confidential information. Sometimes the NotW journalists crossed the line, other times a third party was employed.
The BBC are blameless in this instance. There is no evidence that the Private Eye used the same techniques for the BBC in 2001, that he would later used to obtain information for the NotW.
The News of the World (and other newspapers) are not in trouble for using private investigators, they are in trouble for using illegal techniques to get private or confidential information. Sometimes the NotW journalists crossed the line, other times a third party was employed.
The BBC are blameless in this instance. There is no evidence that the Private Eye used the same techniques for the BBC in 2001, that he would later used to obtain information for the NotW.
Yes. Some of the hacking techniques used in 2005 would not have been available in 2001. As phones become smart and hold more information about us, then the opportunities for mining useful information increases.
It is very dangerous to assume that someone convicted of a crime have been doing that crime all their life. It just does not follow.
It is very dangerous to assume that someone convicted of a crime have been doing that crime all their life. It just does not follow.
LoL - No, I do not think so, for several reasons. Firstly, only one recorded incident where this investigator listed the Beeb as a client. Second, this was back in 2001 - We all knew far less about the methods of these investigators. Third, and most important of all, there was a public interest defence - this was not hacking a murdered girls phone, or chasing down some celebrity on a kiss and tell.
The public interest defence holds now as it did then - if the papers can show that they are acting in the public interest, then they have a defence when using illegal methods. The NoW could offer no such defence.
The public interest defence holds now as it did then - if the papers can show that they are acting in the public interest, then they have a defence when using illegal methods. The NoW could offer no such defence.
I have no problem with the BBC and other media using such personnel in the interests of proper, investigative journalism, particularly where criminal activity may be exposed.
As Zeuhl says it would appear that some can't grasp the distinction between tracking a dangerous and predatory paedophile in contrast to hacking the phone of a murder victim.
As Zeuhl says it would appear that some can't grasp the distinction between tracking a dangerous and predatory paedophile in contrast to hacking the phone of a murder victim.
<<it ok to break the law if it gives the BBC a good story. >>
True investigative journalism isn't just about getting a 'good story' though that is any journalist's primary role. It is also about informing and exposing matters that are in the public interest.
In that context, most people (including the legal system) have been tolerant of law breaking that is not disproportionate to the crime being exposed.
If the NoTW had been hacking the phones of paedophiles, terrorists or gangsters most people would not have been bothered.
But they weren't! Were they 4846? What criminal activity did they suspect the murdered Milly Fowler to be guilty of?
True investigative journalism isn't just about getting a 'good story' though that is any journalist's primary role. It is also about informing and exposing matters that are in the public interest.
In that context, most people (including the legal system) have been tolerant of law breaking that is not disproportionate to the crime being exposed.
If the NoTW had been hacking the phones of paedophiles, terrorists or gangsters most people would not have been bothered.
But they weren't! Were they 4846? What criminal activity did they suspect the murdered Milly Fowler to be guilty of?
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