History > 2007 > UK > Media (I)

4.15pm

MP urges

internet violence clampdown

Tuesday July 31, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
Roxanne Escobales and agencies

A Tory MP has called on the justice minister, Jack Straw, to clamp down on internet images and videos of violence and criminal activity.

After watching Children's Fight Club, a BBC Panorama documentary broadcast last night, the MP for North Thanet, in Kent, Roger Gale, wrote to Mr Straw to urge him to change the law.

Mr Gale would like to see the same rules applied to the internet as to other media.

Mr Gale said: "All this violence and criminality, which is deliberately photographed so it can be shown on the internet with impunity, would be totally unacceptable if it appeared on terrestrial TV or in the newspapers.

"It would appear that anything goes without fear of prosecution," he added.

Yet it is unlikely that Mr Straw will jump into the fray of policing the internet. A Ministry of Justice spokeswoman said the law was geared toward self-regulation, with websites such as the popular video-sharing site YouTube already having regulatory codes in place.

She said: "As it stands, if you are recording an assault, you can be charged with aiding and abetting or any number of crimes. If there is a video showing violence, and it comes to be prosecuted, then [the video] becomes an aggravating factor in the sentencing, leading to more stringent sentences."

As the most popular video site, YouTube garners the most criticism for such videos. If a viewer is offended by inappropriate material, such as hate speech, violence or humiliating acts, then he or she can notify YouTube, and the video then gets reviewed. If it is deemed to be out of step with the terms and conditions, then it is taken off the site. If users repeatedly break the rules, then their accounts are disabled.

A spokeswoman said a dedicated team of employees was available to review videos "24 hour a day, seven days a week". However, she added that YouTube was dedicated to its policy of self-regulation.

"We give people a platform to express themselves. We don't implement any censorship; we do promote freedom of expression," she said.

The Ministry of Justice said in 2006 it had consulted the Association of Chief Police Officers and the Crown Prosecution Service. "They said they were not aware of any cases they were not able to prosecute because of a gap in the law," a justice spokeswoman said.

YouTube will not reveal how many visitors it attracts daily, but puts the figure in the hundreds of millions, with hundreds of thousands of videos being uploaded each day.

Figures released today by the internet tracking company comScore show the UK's online population is higher than it ever has been, with 31.7 million users. That's 63% of the country's population of people age 15 or older. The average UK internet user spent 35 hours online in June.

    MP urges internet violence clampdown, G, 31.7.2007, http://politics.guardian.co.uk/homeaffairs/story/0,,2138692,00.html

1pm update

No death shown

in Alzheimer's documentary,

says ITV


Tuesday July 31, 2007
MediaGuardian.co.uk
Ben Dowell

ITV has admitted that a Paul Watson documentary appearing to show the death of an Alzheimer's sufferer does not show the actual moment of his passing.

Simon Shaps, the ITV director of television, released a statement today clarifying this point, after the film was shown to journalists at a recent press launch and prompted a flurry of articles asking whether it was appropriate to screen the death of Malcolm Pointon.

The music lecturer, who died in February, and his wife are the subjects of Watson's forthcoming ITV1 documentary, Malcom & Barbara: Love's Farewell, which is to be screened next week on August 8.

Love's Farewell shows Mr Pointon's wife, Barbara, cradling his head and telling him: "You can let go. Death isn't the end because love goes on. A new beginning for you and a new beginning for me."

After the press screening on July 18, journalists were left with the impression that the scene ended with the filming of his moment of death, as the shot froze on Mr Pointon's still face.

However, it is now understood that this footage of Mr Pointon slipping into a coma, with the rest of his grieving family around his bedside, was filmed two and a half days before his death.

Mr Shaps today said: "The film maker responsible, Paul Watson, has now confirmed that the film does not portray the moment of Malcolm's passing, which was in fact some days later.

"This will be made clear at the end of the film on transmission and should have been made clear earlier."

Watson returned to work with the Pointon family for the new documentary, 11 years after he documented the effect of Alzheimer's disease in the critically acclaimed and award-winning Malcom & Barbara: A Love Story.

He was quoted in last week's newspapers saying that Mrs Pointon had asked him to film "to the bitter end".

The Daily Mail mentioned the ITV documentary on its front page last Thursday, while the BBC Radio 4's Today programme interviewed Watson and Barbara Pointon last week, directly asking her why she had consented to filming her husband's death.

The television industry already under siege following a string of complaints over the editing of footage in promotional trailers and TV shows

The BBC apologised after falsely showing a promotional trailer of the Queen storming out of a photoshoot to journalists, while BBC news apologised after screening a film about Gordon Brown that showed a sequence of events in the wrong order.

Production company Endemol admitted that scenes from its Channel Five series Killer Shark Live were pre-recorded when they were billed as live.

    No death shown in Alzheimer's documentary, says ITV, G, 31.7.2007,
    http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,,2138601,00.html

10am

BBC gets a year to clean up

Thursday July 19, 2007
MediaGuardian.co.uk
Matt Wells


The chairman of the BBC Trust, Sir Michael Lyons, today gave the corporation a year to clean up its act after a week of revelations about faked TV scenes and rigged phone competitions.

Amid a welter of damaging newspaper headlines, Sir Michael backed the director general, Mark Thompson, for now but said the trust would "suspend judgment" until there were clear signs of improvement in editorial standards.

The Ofcom chief executive, Ed Richards, is to meet the BBC Trust soon to "urgently discuss" the next regulatory move following the corporation's decision to suspend all phone-ins and interactive competitions.

Mr Richards said he planned to "work with the BBC Trust" to discuss "appropriate solutions" to the problems of viewer trust in British television.

Sir Michael, speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, denied the BBC Trust had been slower to react than Ofcom. He said there was no question of the trust being "asleep on the job".

Asked by presenter John Humphrys whether the trust had the power to sack people, he said: "We certainly have the power to appoint the chairman of the executive of the board, who is the director general. Other appointments are the responsibility of the director general and the executive board."

Pressed about whether heads would roll, he added: "Decisions about disciplinary action are for Mark Thompson. We will be watching very carefully to make sure appropriate sanctions are applied once the full facts are known."

Today's papers make grim reading for the BBC. The Sun calls the BBC "cheats" in its front-page headline, and the Daily Mail talks of the "shaming of the BBC".

Amid the welter of criticism, Sir Michael backed Mr Thompson. "Our judgment at the moment is that he has responded to these very serious issues with energy. He's the right person to lead change at the BBC."

Sir Michael - speaking from New Zealand - said he did not want to "create a sense of panic", but underlined the seriousness of the situation.

"Any question of deceit has to be ruled out as unacceptable. Our focus is on putting things right and we're backing the director general to do that. But we suspend judgment until we see improvements."

He wanted clear signs of improvement in a year. Expectations of the BBC are "much higher" than other broadcasters, he conceded.

Ofcom yesterday published a report into premium-rate telephone services that found "systemic failures" in how all broadcasters managed programmes.

Richard Ayre, the former BBC new deputy who compiled the report, said some broadcasters were "in denial" about the scale of the problem.

    BBC gets a year to clean up, G, 19.7.2007, http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,,2129849,00.html

4.15pm update

BBC halts phone-in contests


Wednesday July 18, 2007
MediaGuardian.co.uk
Leigh Holmwood


The BBC has ordered the immediate suspension of all phone-ins and interactive competitions following a review of its programming that has thrown up scores of new editorial breaches.

The BBC Trust today said that breaches of editorial standards had been reported on shows including Children in Need, Comic Relief, Sports Relief, BBC2 children's programme TMI, The Liz Kershaw Show on BBC 6Music BBC World Service programme White Label.

It added information was also "emerging" about editorial breaches linked to numerous phone-in and interactive competitions.

At its meeting today, the trust backed the proposal by the director general, Mark Thompson, to suspend all phone contests after he gave them a full report on recent incidents.

The BBC is suspending some of the "editorial leaders" involved in the six programmes that breached viewers' trust and BBC guidelines.

Although the corporation said it will not reveal who is being suspended, it said: "In some cases, editorial leaders will be asked to stand back from their duties, pending reviews of why it took so long for a number of historical incidents to come to light."

It follows a plea to all staff to check BBC programmes going back to January 2005 - prompted by the phone-in scandal on Blue Peter and the wrongly edited footage of the Queen shown to journalists last week.

"The trust is deeply concerned that significant failures of control and compliance within the BBC, and in some cases by its suppliers, have compromised the BBC's values of accuracy and honesty," the trust said in a statement.

"These principles are at the heart of the BBC's mission and purpose.

"The BBC is owned and paid for by the public it seeks to serve and the BBC Trust represents their interests.

"The public has a right to expect the BBC to set the standards for editorial integrity in broadcasting and expect those in charge of the corporation to protect the reputation of their public institution.

"Last week, the trust requested the director general to provide to its meeting today an early account of recent events, particularly in respect of the actions which led to misleading reports about HM the Queen, and information which was beginning to emerge about previously unreported incidents, together with an immediate action plan to address these failings."

Mark Thompson told staff today that those involved in deceptions could face dismissal.

"Nothing matters more than trust and fair dealing with our audiences" he told staff in an internal broadcast this afternoon.

"We have to regard deception as a very grave breach of discipline which will normally lead to dismissal. If you have a choice between deception and a programme going off air, let the programme go.

"It is far better to accept a production problem and make a clean breast to the public than to deceive."

BBC trustee Richard Tait has backed the director general. In the first signal that no senior heads are likely to roll Mr Tait said he thought the director general is "the right man for this crisis".

Mr Thompson announced a package of "tough measures" to address the further breaches of editorial standards, which came to light following a BBC-wide search of around 1 million hours of output since January 2005.

All phone-related competitions across BBC television and radio will be suspended from midnight tonight, while interactive and online competitions will be taken down "as soon as possible".

An "unprecedented" programme of editorial training focusing on the issue of honesty with audiences will also be implemented from the autumn, which the BBC said would "emphasise the absolute imperative to understand and comply with all of the BBC's values and editorial standards".

Other measures include:

· a full and independent inquiry into the incident involving BBC1 and the Queen;

· no more commissions for RDF until they put in place steps to ensure "there is no chance of a repetition" of the incident involving the Queen;

· the suspension of un-named "editorial leaders" pending reviews of why it took so long for the new breaches to come to light;

· standard contracts for BBC staff and BBC suppliers amended to ensure "responsibility for upholding the BBC's editorial standards and consequences of breaching those standards";

· new steps to make sure promotional materials, such as launch tapes, trails and publicity materials meet standards;

· an invitation to ITV, Channel 4 and Channel Five to a workshop on training and editorial standards across the industry.

    BBC halts phone-in contests, G, 18.7.2007, http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,,2129301,00.html

Downfall of Citizen Black

· Conrad Black facing up to 20 years in prison
· Peer convicted of fraud and obstruction of justice
· Former Telegraph boss embezzled $6m from firm

Saturday July 14, 2007
Guardian
Andrew Clark in Chicago

Disgraced media mogul Conrad Black faces a lengthy stretch in a US jail after a court convicted him of looting millions of pounds from his Hollinger empire by embezzling funds from shareholders.

After more than 70 hours of deliberation, a Chicago jury delivered verdicts of guilty on three charges of fraud and one charge of obstructing justice - although the former Telegraph owner was cleared of a further nine charges, including tax evasion and racketeering.

Prosecutors are pressing for 15 to 20 years, although lawyers suggested it would more likely be closer to five years. Defence lawyers said Black would appeal against the convictions. Looking pale and drawn, he stared stony-faced in front of him as Judge Amy St Eve read out the verdicts. Co-defendants, Jack Boultbee, Peter Atkinson and Mark Kipnis, were also found guilty of fraud.

In a charged emotional scene, Black's family used a brief adjournment to hurry to his side. Barbara Amiel put an arm round her grimacing husband, who was immaculately dressed in cream suit and mauve tie, while his daughter, Alana, patted him gently and offered comforting words.

The US government petitioned for Black to go straight to prison, describing him as a "flight risk" who could flee to Canada or Britain. Defence counsel Edward Greenspan pleaded for bail to continue, insisting his client would appear for sentencing: "His life - his past, his present and his future - are all wrapped up in this case." The judge allowed Black to remain at liberty pending a hearing on Thursday, but she ordered he remain in Chicago; the peer was forced to hand his UK passport to the court clerk before hurrying away without a word.

Delivered just after 11am local time, the outcome ended a four-month trial and marked a final fall from grace for the press baron who once counted Baroness Thatcher, Princess Michael of Kent and Henry Kissinger amongst his friends.

Patrick Fitzgerald, the US attorney who brought the case, said it showed "grave concern" about integrity at the highest echelons of multinationals which had arisen when firms such as Enron and WorldCom collapsed. "The message is a very simple one,"said Mr Fitzgerald, who also led the prosecution of the White House aide Scooter Libby. "If you're going to take liberties, and break the law with other peoples' money, there are going to be consequences." There was a public interest need to ensure "insiders in public corporations dealing with shareholders' money do not engage in self-dealing".

The case against Black revolved around a series of phoney "non-compete" agreements attached to the sale of newspapers in America and Canada. According to the US government, he and his colleagues used these little-noticed clauses to skim as much as $60m from Hollinger. But of nine fraud charges, he was only convicted of three, amounting to embezzlement of $6.5m. The jury also threw out charges relating to his expense claims, and billing Hollinger for a holiday to Bora Bora and for his wife's 60th birthday party.

Outside court, Mr Greenspan said there were "viable legal issues" for Black's appeal against the convictions. "Conrad Black was cleared of all the central charges," claimed Mr Greenspan, adding: "We vehemently disagree with the government's position on sentencing."

Throughout the trial, Black has been at Chicago's Ritz-Carlton hotel. He protested his innocence and lambasted prosecutors in vitriolic language, declaring he was "at war" with the US government and branding his assailants as "Nazis".

A lawyer specialising in white-collar crime, Andrew Stoltmann, said chances of a successful appeal were slim, given the leeway allowed the defence: "I think Conrad Black has virtually no grounds for appeal. Judge Amy St Eve bent over backwards to give him a fair trial."

Sentencing was set for November 30 and Mr Stoltmann predicted five to seven years. Black would have to serve a minimum of 85% before parole, but such a relatively short sentence may entitle him to a minimum security "Club Fed" jail.

    Downfall of Citizen Black, G, 14.7.2007, http://business.guardian.co.uk/conradblacktrial/story/0,,2126307,00.html

8am

MySpace UK breaks 10m barrier

Tuesday July 10, 2007
MediaGuardian.co.uk
Mark Sweney

MySpace has cracked the 10 million user mark in the UK, meaning more people have put a profile up than drink bitter, according to the social networking website.

According to MySpace UK's own internal user log, London, Manchester and Birmingham are the cities with the most MySpace users, with 1.8 million, 721,000 and 589,000 user profiles respectively.

At the other end of the scale, Lowther in Cumbria, Attleborough in Norfolk and Thanet in Kent are the "least friendly" places in the UK with each town boasting just one MySpace user.

MySpace launched a UK version of its website in April last year with 3.6 million users. This figure has since grown by 286% to 10.2 million monthly unique users, according to figures provided by MySpace.

MySpace reckons that about the same number of people use its social networking website as own a dog - there are some 10.3 million dog owners across the country - and it is more popular than drinking bitter, with around 9.2 million real ale drinkers in the UK.

The UK's favourite MySpace profile with 627,515 "friends" is Project Red, the global fund to fight Aids co-founded by U2 frontman Bono.

Damon Albarn's virtual band Gorillaz is second with 603,394 MySpace friends, and Welsh band Bullet for my Valentine is third with 450,000 friends.

"The fact that the top three MySpace profiles are a charitable campaign, a major pop group and an indie rock band shows the diversity of the MySpace community," said the MySpace Europe senior vice-president of marketing and content, Jamie Kantrowitz.

However, with eight of the top 10 most popular UK profiles relating to bands and artists, MySpace is still firmly the social networking site most closely associated with music fans.

The top 10 is rounded out, in descending order, by the profiles for artists Imogen Heap, Lily Allen and Coldplay, followed by the Find Madeleine profile, and music profiles for Oasis, Lost Prophets and James Blunt.

In the sporting-related category Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand comes out on top, following his tie-up with P Diddy earlier this year. Formula one driver Lewis Hamilton is second and Wayne Rooney third.

    MySpace UK breaks 10m barrier, G, 10.7.2007, http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,,2122397,00.html

3.45am update

BBC reporter Alan Johnston

freed in Gaza


Wednesday July 4, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
Conal Urquhart in Gaza City

Alan Johnston, the BBC journalist held hostage in the Gaza Strip since March, was handed over to Hamas officials by his Islamist captors early this morning.

The 45-year-old Briton, looking pale and frail, was taken to the offices of the disputed Hamas prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, in Gaza City. A witness said he was well, but had lost a lot of weight.

The BBC confirmed Mr Johnston had been freed by his kidnappers.

He is expected to leave Gaza for Israel as soon as possible. According to a Foreign Office advance plan, he will receive medical attention in Jerusalem before decisions are made about when he will return home to Britain.

Speaking to BBC News 24 after his release, Mr Johnston said: "It's the most fantastic thing to be free."

He described his 16 weeks of captivity as "appalling".

"It became almost hard to imagine normal life again," he said. "Now it really is over and it is indescribably good to be out."

Mr Johnston, the only western correspondent working full-time in Gaza, went missing on March 12. His captors later declared themselves to be the Army of Islam, an al-Qaida-inspired group with links to one of Gaza's powerful clans. Concern grew last month when the group issued a video of Mr Johnston in what appeared to be a vest packed with explosives and threatened to kill the reporter if there was an attempt to free him.

His release comes after Hamas security forces surrounded a group of buildings in Gaza City yesterday, where he was believed to have been held. Hamas had issued several ultimatums to his captors, warning that force could be used to secure his freedom.

From 5.30am yesterday, members of the Hamas police, the Executive Force, took over the rooftops of high rise apartment blocks that overlook the stronghold of the Dogmush family in the Sabra district of Gaza City. The activity was considered as part of a policy to increase pressure on the kidnappers.

The forces closed off all streets in the area and checked cars and individuals who wanted to leave the area. There was sporadic shooting throughout the day and one passerby was shot dead in crossfire.

The Hamas force has detained several members of the Dogmush family at roadblocks while Dogmush gunmen abducted 10 students of the Islamic University from their residence in the Sabra area.

The Dogmush family is a large clan which has several groups, one of which, under Mumtaz Dogmush, has been involved in several kidnappings, including that of Mr Johnston. The Army of Islam was involved in the abduction of the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit more than a year ago, although it was sidelined soon afterwards.

As darkness fell last night, dozens of Hamas gunmen in black masks moved closer to the Dogmush compound, a mixture of apartment blocks and commercial premises.

The breakthrough was said to have come after pressure from another militant group, the Popular Resistance Committees, who visited the Mumtaz Dogmush to help negotiate a final agreement.

Since Hamas has taken control of Gaza, its leaders have repeated their intention to free Mr Johnston, to demonstrate that they can provide better security in Gaza than the forces of the Palestinian Authority and Fatah which they routed in street battles two weeks ago.

The leader of Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, said the freeing of Mr Johnston showed his movement had brought order to the Gaza Strip.

"We have been able to close this chapter which has harmed the image of our people greatly. The efforts by Hamas have produced the freedom of Alan Johnston," Mr Meshaal told the Reuters agency by telephone from Syria.

Simon Wilson, the bureau chief of the BBC, said he believed that the buildup of forces was a tactic to increase pressure on the kidnappers rather than a prelude to a rescue attempt. "We have repeatedly said that we do not want military action to free Alan," he said.

At a press conference in Gaza City earlier, Mr Haniyeh said that Hamas hoped to end Mr Johnston's captivity peacefully but retained other options. Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman, accused Mr Johnston's captors of smearing the Palestinian people's reputation.

In London, no immediate comment was available from the Foreign Office. More than a dozen journalists and foreign aid workers have been kidnapped in Gaza in recent months, but Mr Johnston was held longer than others.

    BBC reporter Alan Johnston freed in Gaza, G, 4.7.2007, http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,,2118037,00.html

8am

Burchill bows out of journalism

Thursday June 21, 2007
MediaGuardian.co.uk
Stephen Brook, press correspondent

Burchill: 'Thirty years from the age of 17 without a break is way enough.' Photograph: Guardian

Julie Burchill, one of Britain's best-known and most acerbic newspaper columnists, says she is quitting journalism.
Burchill, who finished her last regular journalism job as a Times columnist over a year ago to take an extended sabbatical, told MediaGuardian.co.uk she has no plans to return to the industry.

She will instead concentrate of writing books and TV scripts and finally undertake a theology degree.

Burchill is writing two commissioned TV scripts, one with former Daily Mail writer Sara Lawrence, and a book about hypocrisy. She is also promoting Sweet, her sequel to the teen novel Sugar Rush, due out in August.

"Next year I finally hope to do my theology degree. I don't need to do journalism anymore, because of all the money I made from my house. Thirty years is enough," Burchill said.

Burchill said she decided not to return to the Times after selling her Brighton property to developers for £1.5m.

"But no, I don't ever plan to go back to journalism. As I said, 30 years from the age of 17 without a break is way enough - for me and for my public," she added.

Burchill started her career in journalism at New Musical Express in the 70s after famously answering an advert for "hip young gunslingers".

She later became a newspaper columnist and in 1991 she founded the short-lived but influential Modern Review with Toby Young and Cosmo Landesman.

From 1998 to 2003, she wrote a weekly column in the Guardian before moving to the Times.

In February last year, the Times "assured" readers that while Burchill had discontinued her Saturday column, she would continue to write for the paper.

However, in April last year, Burchill took extended leave to undertake a theology degree, promising to return to journalism in 2008 "to delight and torment you all".

She has now abandoned that plan, partly because Sugar Rush, the Channel 4 drama inspired by her novel about a 15-year-old lesbian, won an International Emmy in the children and young people category in November.

Last year, Burchill and Lawrence launched Dumbass Inc to pitch reality TV ideas to TV networks.

"I meant to take a year off writing last year to start my theology degree, but then Sugar Rush won an Emmy and I felt I should finish the follow-up, Sweet," Burchill said.

She also wrote a book Made in Brighton, with her husband Daniel Raven.

"Then I got offered these two TV jobs for this year, and I'm somewhat sheepish to admit that I've got TV projects lined up throughout 2008 as well," Burchill said.

"So I don't know when I'll get to have my year off writing and start my theology degree but hopefully by the time I'm 50, in July 2009, I will have done all my projects and not have taken any more on. Then I can do my voluntary work and theology properly."

    Burchill bows out of journalism, G, 21.6.2007, http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,,2107536,00.html

The Guardian        p. 27        25.5.2007

Digital divide is closing,

Ofcom survey finds

Friday May 25, 2007
Guardian
Richard Wray

The divide between the digital haves and have-nots has narrowed, according to the second annual survey of the UK's communications market by Ofcom.

The take-up of broadband in England extended to 45% of households last year - three percentage points above that of Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland at 42%. This represented a narrowing of the "digital divide" of 2005, when only 24% of households in Northern Ireland had adopted broadband while the UK region with the highest take-up scored 36%.

The gap in take-up of digital TV has also narrowed. In 2005, Northern Ireland had the fewest digital TV users at 53% of households while Wales had the most at 72%. Last year, digital TV penetration in Northern Ireland reached 69% while Wales still led the pack at 82%.

Irish viewers are the least satisfied with what they are seeing, with 33% believing the quality of TV has got worse compared with 27% in England and 19% in Wales. The Welsh, however, are the most offended by swearing and violence on TV.

The survey contains several surprises, including the fact that Wales now has more public wireless internet access points, or "Wi-Fi hotspots", per person than Germany, Japan and the US.

People in south-west England are least likely to own a mobile phone and most likely to watch BBC1. But broadband take-up is growing faster there than anywhere else in England.

In England, digital TV take-up is growing fastest in Yorkshire and Humberside, with penetration at 78%, only one point behind the north-east, where usage is the highest in England.

    Digital divide is closing, Ofcom survey finds, G, 25.5.2007, http://technology.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2087921,00.html

Thomson and Reuters

Agree on Merger

May 15, 2007
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 6:30 a.m. ET
The New York Times

LONDON (AP) -- Reuters Group PLC and Thomson Corp. said Tuesday they agreed on terms for a merger to create one of the world's largest financial news providers.

The cash and stock transaction values Reuters at $17.2 billion.

Holders of each Reuters share will be paid $6.99 in cash and 0.16 Thomson-Reuters PLC shares.

The value of the deal is calculated based on Thomson's closing share price of 48.46 Canadian dollars on the Toronto Stock Exchange on May 3, the day before the companies announced they were exploring a combination.

Thomson, formally based in Toronto but with its operational head office in Stamford, Conn., would control about 70 percent of the shares in the new company, Thomson-Reuters PLC. The combine will be headed by Tom Glocer, 47, who is now chief executive of Reuters.

The two companies expect to realize $500 million in savings by the third year.

Reuters trustees, who could have vetoed any takeover, endorsed the deal.

''We believe that the formation of Thomson-Reuters marks a watershed in the global information business, and will underpin the strength, integrity and sustainability of Reuters as a global leader in news and financial information for many years to come,'' said Pehr Gyllenhammar, chairman of the trustees.

Reuters competes with Thomson and Bloomberg LP in providing data terminals to the world's major banks and brokerages. Reuters was the market leader for years before steadily losing ground to Bloomberg.

An April report from Inside Market Data Reference said Bloomberg has a 33 percent share of the market, with Reuters holding 23 percent and Thomson 11 percent.

''For Thomson, it is a defining moment in our journey to become the information provider of choice for the world's business and professional markets,'' said Richard J. Harrington, Thomson's president and chief executive. Harrington, 60, will step down when the merger is completed.

London-based Reuters was born in 1851 when Paul Julius Reuter started sending stock market quotations between London and Paris via the new Calais-Dover cable.

Reuters shares were up 2.8 percent at $12.34 on the London Stock Exchange.

The merged companies will have a dual-listed structure.

Thomson will change its name to Thomson-Reuters Corp., and will retain current listings on the Toronto Stock Exchange and on the New York Stock Exchange.

Thomson-Reuters PLC will apply for its ordinary shares to be listed on the London Stock Exchange and intends to apply for its American Depositary Shares to be listed on Nasdaq.

''The companies will be separate legal entities but will be managed and operated as if they were a single economic enterprise,'' the announcement said. ''The boards of the two companies will be identical and the combined business will be managed by a single senior executive management team.''

The combined Thomson Financial unit and Reuters financial and media businesses will be called Reuters.

Thomson's professional businesses -- legal, tax and accounting, scientific and healthcare -- will be branded as Thomson-Reuters Professional.

Woodbridge, the Thomson family holding company which controls roughly 70 percent of Thomson, will own approximately 53 percent of the combined business. Other Thomson shareholders will have 23 percent and Reuters shareholders 24 percent, the companies said.

------

On the Net:

Thomson, www.thomson.com

Reuters, http://about.reuters.com

    Thomson and Reuters Agree on Merger, NYT, 15.5.2007,
    http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-Britain-Reuters-Thomson.html?hp

Special investigation

Bribery and drugs

exposed at private jail

Undercover reporter offered £1,500 by inmates

Monday April 16, 2007
Guardian
Eric Allison and Duncan Campbell

An investigation by an undercover reporter working as a prison officer has exposed conditions in a private jail where inmates have easy access to drugs and mobile phones and subject overstretched staff to intimidation if they are too diligent in their work.

The investigation into Rye Hill prison, Warwickshire, has unearthed a catalogue of failings at the jail which has already been strongly criticised over the murder of one inmate and the "avoidable" suicides of vulnerable inmates.

During the five-month investigation by Guardian Films and BBC's Panorama, the reporter, a former soldier, worked as a custody officer on some of the most volatile wings in the prison run by Global Solutions Ltd (GSL). He was asked by inmates to bring drugs into the category B high-security prison and assured that his "fee" of £1,500 would be paid into his bank account via Western Union, a practice an inmate claimed had been used before.

Last night, Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, said the investigation called into question the role of private prisons at a time when half of the new 8,000 prison places promised by the government are expected to be privately run. "These revelations are guaranteed to fuel concern about the long-term effect of privatising our prisons, at a time when the government is keen to push greater private sector participation in the probation service as well."

In one clip from the film, to be shown tonight, a young female custody officer is threatened with violence by an inmate. The woman, who had angered prisoners because of her thorough approach to her work, is advised to "back off" by a senior colleague.

Another prisoner told the programme that staff considered too strict were attacked by prisoners, who were paid with drugs by fellow inmates to assault them. Newly-qualified staff, operating alone or in pairs are depicted trying to control upwards of 70 prisoners on a wing while they are unlocked and on free association.

After being given an outline of the film and shown some undercover footage, John Bates, director of corporate communications for GSL, said 47 mobile phones had been recovered inside the jail already this year "which would tend to suggest that there is a very prevalent problem."

He said the prison was "progressing well" and called staff training extremely thorough. But Mr Bates said it was "completely unacceptable" that prisoners were attempting to "groom" officers to bring in drugs. Of the undercover reporter, he said: "He failed his colleagues and he put himself at risk." He added: "I don't think that you quite understand how difficult and complex running a prison is."

Despite two damning reports on Rye Hill by the chief inspector of prisons, GSL are the main providers of private prison places in England and Wales and considered likely to win the government contract to provide a further 4,000 places.

Conditions in the jail were highlighted last month at Northampton crown court when the prison was criticised after the collapse of a manslaughter trial over the death in 2005 of Michael Bailey, a prisoner on suicide watch. Four officers were cleared in connection with the death and the judge described it as an "avoidable tragedy".

Fewer than three weeks after Michael Bailey died, another inmate, Wayne Reid, was stabbed to death in his cell - two inmates have been convicted of his murder.

    Bribery and drugs exposed at private jail, G, 16.4.2007, http://www.guardian.co.uk/prisons/story/0,,2058097,00.html

BBC reporter murdered,

claims unknown group

Monday April 16, 2007
The Guardian
Rory McCarthy in Jerusalem

Concern was mounting last night for the safety of the kidnapped BBC journalist Alan Johnston after a group in Gaza issued a statement saying he had been killed.

It was impossible to verify the claim, which was made in Arabic and sent by email to Palestinian journalists in Gaza from a previously unknown group.

The BBC said it too had no independent verification of the claim but said it was "deeply concerned".

Mr Johnston, 44, was kidnapped five weeks ago today as he drove home from his office in Gaza City. He was thought to have been seized by a criminal family in Gaza but the BBC has had no direct contact with the kidnappers.

Yesterday afternoon the group, which called itself the Palestinian Monotheism and Holy War Brigades, released a three-paragraph statement saying it had killed Mr Johnston. It said a video of his death would be broadcast but several hours after the message there was no evidence of any video.

The group said it had been asking for the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. Although there are around 10,000 Palestinians in Israeli jails this was not an issue previously thought to have been connected to the kidnapping. Instead it was widely believed that, as in previous cases in Gaza, the kidnappers wanted money or weapons from the Palestinian Authority.

"We demanded all who care about the journalist, who was abducted by us, should release our prisoners from the prisons of the occupation," the message said. "The whole world made so much noise about this foreign journalist, while it took no action over our thousands of prisoners."

The name of the group in Arabic, Kataib al-Tawhid w'al-Jihad Falasteen, has not been heard before in Gaza but it echoed a name used by one of the most influential militant groups in Iraq run by the Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed in a US strike last June. His group, which at first called itself the Monotheism and Holy War Brigades, was behind many kidnappings and beheadings of foreigners in Iraq. It later changed its name to al-Qaida in Iraq and apparently claimed allegiance to Osama bin Laden.

In a statement last night, the BBC said it had no evidence to support the claim. "The BBC is aware of these reports," the corporation said. "We have no independent verification. We are deeply concerned about what we are hearing. We would stress at this stage it is rumour with no independent verification."

Hani al-Qawasmi, the Palestinian interior minister, told reporters he too had no proof of the claim."I have been in contact with all the security chiefs since I heard the information," he said. "There is no information to confirm the killing of the journalist Johnston."

Last week the BBC's director general, Mark Thompson, was in Ramallah for a day of action to call for the journalist's release and he was told by the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, that Mr Johnston was safe and well. He said the Palestinian officials had "credible evidence" to support their assessment.

Mr Johnston, a widely-respected reporter, has been held longer than any other hostage in Gaza.

He lived in Gaza City for three years, the only foreign correspondent based there, and was due to have ended his assignment at the beginning of April.

    BBC reporter murdered, claims unknown group, G, 16.4.2007,
    http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,,2058030,00.html

9.45am

PCC offered

to prevent media scrum

for sailors' stories


Friday April 13, 2007
MediaGuardian.co.uk
Leigh Holmwood


The Press Complaints Commission offered to intervene to prevent the 15 captured navy personnel being pursued by the media before they left Iran - but the media watchdog claims the Ministry of Defence ignored the offer.

The disclosure will heap more pressure on the defence secretary, Des Browne, following a public outcry after two of sailors detained in Iran sold their stories after their release.

According to today's Daily Telegraph, two emails detailing the PCC's code on harassment - including a 24-hour emergency telephone number for the hostages' families - were sent to the MoD last week but they were not acknowledged.

The PCC director, Tim Toulmin, told the Telegraph that the regulatory body offered to help the MoD if the media interest "gave rise to any problems for the hostages or the families".

He added: "The commission can swiftly pass guidance or specific requests to the British press, help dissipate media scrums and raise awareness of any reasons why people should not be approached by the press.

"The Ministry of Defence, chose, for some reason, not to come back to us."

Mr Browne had originally claimed the navy waived the rules on service personnel selling their stories because of the huge pressure from the media.

Leading Seaman Faye Turney - the only woman among the captured personnel - sold her story to the Sun and ITV in a joint deal thought to be worth up to £100,000, while Arthur Batchelor - the youngest of the group - made a deal with the Daily Mirror.

    PCC offered to prevent media scrum for sailors' stories, G, 13.4.2007, http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,,2056538,00.html?gusrc=ticker-103704

1pm

Browne accepts blame

for navy media row

Wednesday April 11, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
James Sturcke and agencies

The defence secretary, Des Browne, today said he accepted "full responsibility" for the hastily revoked decision to allow two of the military personnel captured by Iran to sell their stories to the press.

Mr Browne said he first talked to Tony Blair about the hugely controversial move on Easter Monday before announcing that he would ban the service personnel accepting payment for interviews.

In an interview with the BBC, the defence secretary said that on Good Friday he was "taken through" a note from the navy about the service's intention to let those arrested by Iran and held for nearly two weeks tell their tales to newspapers.

Mr Brown said it was the navy's view that current regulations could not prevent money changing hands and he accepted its analysis.

By Monday, however, after Mr Browne had had the opportunity to consult "senior officials and senior officers" he came to take a different view.

"I first spoke to the prime minister on Monday when I was in the process of making the decision [to ban payment for interviews] on Monday," Mr Browne said. "[The original position] was a decision made by the navy but I am secretary of state for defence and ultimately the responsibility rests with me."

Mr Browne said the navy wanted to counteract the "propaganda" of the Iranians while the 15 were being held and that the British media had made offers to their relatives while they were still in captivity.

Mr Browne said he was "not content" with the decision at the time but accepted the analysis that payments would change hands regardless. The navy believed it could keep more control over the content of the interviews and prevent any security breaches better by co-operation with the press, he added.

However, Mr Browne imposed a ban on further sales on Monday after the publication and broadcast of the first stories sparked an angry backlash from military figures, politicians and the families of killed and injured troops.

They claimed the sailors had been used as pawns in an international propaganda war and that the decision had set a very dangerous precedent that would harm the armed forces.

Number 10, which in an earlier statement said it was informed of the decision on Sunday, would not say yesterday when the prime minister himself knew of the controversial plan.

A Downing Street spokeswoman said the prime minister recognised there was "no easy answer" and supported Mr Browne's decision to halt sales pending the review.

"What's important now is to look at this and look at these situations, to recognise the world in which we are operating in terms of the media and the vast sums of money involved.

"I don't think it's helpful to get into who informed who when," she added.

But Liam Fox, the shadow defence secretary, said more detail needed to be revealed about the process.

"This is complete ministerial incompetence. Ministers utterly failed to think out the consequences of what they were doing," he said. "Typically, New Labour's obsession with news management trumped issues of dignity, professionalism and discipline.

"The MoD's actions were completely at odds with normal procedure and totally out of character with the ethos of our armed forces.

"Service personnel and the public will be asking what has been going on at the top of the MoD. Des Browne needs to come clean with the details of who was involved in the decision, at what stage and why it was taken."

The only female hostage, Leading Seaman Faye Turney, sold her story to the Sun newspaper and the ITV programme Tonight With Trevor McDonald.

She said a percentage of her fee was going to help personnel on her ship HMS Cornwall and their families while the remainder would go into a trust fund for her daughter.

The youngest captive, Arthur Batchelor, 20, sold his account to the Daily Mirror.

In today's newspaper, he said some of the money would go to HMS Cornwall, but he also wanted to help his care worker sister who had taken two weeks unpaid leave while he was held captive.

He told the paper the remainder of the money might pay for "a few driving lessons".

Others among the group did not take any payment but defended their colleagues' right to do so.

Mr Browne's U-turn on payments was mocked by former Labour defence minister Peter Kilfoyle, who said the UK's armed forces had been left a "laughing stock".

He accused the defence secretary of insisting it was a decision taken by the navy "to distance himself from a great embarrassment".

Mr Kilfoyle told the BBC: "I just wonder how they are going to put the genie back into the bottle now they have allowed a couple of people, at least, to publish their stories."

Some military colleagues of Leading Seaman Turney criticised her decision to sell her story on the anonymous internet chat forum the British Army's Rumour Service. But some also pointed the finger of blame for the controversy at politicians.

    Browne accepts blame for navy media row, G, 11.4.2007, http://www.guardian.co.uk/military/story/0,,2054555,00.html

Wilfing on the web,

the new British pastime

Tuesday April 10, 2007
Guardian
Paul Lewis

It is the virtual equivalent of window-shopping, and a lot of us seem to be spending a lot of time doing it. "Wilfing" - or surfing the web without any real purpose - has become a new national pastime, according to a survey out today.

Although a newly-identified habit, more than two-thirds of the 33.7 million internet users in the UK admit to at least the occasional "wilf" (a term derived from the phrase "what was I looking for?"), while browsing the internet.

The lure of pop-up sites and flashing online adverts is, it seems, too appealing to resist for many internet users. Almost a quarter of those surveyed said they spent 30% or more of their internet time wilfing - the equivalent of spending an entire working day every fortnight pointlessly jumping between random pages.

The YouGov survey of more than 2,400 web users, which was commissioned by Moneysupermarket.com, found that shopping websites are the most likely destinations for wilfers. Other popular pulls include news, music and travel websites.

The tendency to wilf is more prevalent among men than women, the poll found. Gazing at a succession of pointless web pages also appeared to be the preserve of the young, with people aged 55 or over being three times less likely to browse absent-mindedly than those under 25.

The time-consuming practice appears to have destructive effects too: a third of males admitted that wilfing has a damaging effect on their relationship with a partner.

One in five confessed to being "distracted" from work or study by adult entertainment web sites, which often use pop-up mechanisms to coax users into transferring to their pages.

    Wilfing on the web, the new British pastime, G, 10.4.2007, http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,2053340,00.html

MoD bows to public pressure

and halts sale of hostage interviews

to media

· Defence secretary overturns navy ruling
· Forces chiefs called in to set out new guidelines

Tuesday April 10, 2007
Guardian
Will Woodward, chief political correspondent

The government last night capitulated to an overwhelming public outcry over the sale of interviews by the sailors and marines detained by Iran, as it rushed through a ban on any further media deals by armed forces personnel.

With the controversy widening into accusations that the government was fostering a culture that devalued heroism and promoted instant celebrity, Des Browne, the defence secretary, said the navy's earlier decision - which he had endorsed - to let the 15 former detainees sell their stories had "not reached a satisfactory outcome".

While the MoD said the navy had applied existing regulations correctly, the head of the army, General Sir Richard Dannatt, allowed it to be known he was unhappy about the move.

The decision to allow the sailors and marines to sell their stories for sums of up to £100,000 was condemned by opposition politicians, families of dead service personnel and former officers. Some of the 15 have already given interviews for free. Lord Heseltine, the former deputy prime minister and defence secretary, said the decision was tantamount to saying: "Look lads, Rupert Murdoch's Sun has taken over. He's got the big cheque books and if he's prepared to pay to hell with any rules or regulations, any understandings, any customs, any traditions, it's all up for grabs.' That's called New Labour. I am profoundly shocked.

"What an extraordinary story, that people who every day take calculated risks with their lives are expected to earn relatively small sums of money whilst people who get themselves taken hostage, in circumstances which are worth exploring, can make a killing. I have never heard anything so appalling," he said.

Another Tory former minister, John Redwood, condemned "a new low in the long and dispiriting history of Labour spin". Former foreign secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind said he was "appalled" and would demand a statement from Mr Browne when parliament returns next week. That call was endorsed by the Labour MP David Crausby, a member of the defence select committee, and the Liberal Democrats' defence spokesman Nick Harvey.

But last night Mr Browne claimed that pressure on the 15 and their families "made it inevitable that some of them would accept media offers to tell their story in return for payment" and the navy had faced a "dilemma".

He added: "Many strong views on this have been expressed, but I hope people will understand that this was a very tough call, and that the navy had a duty to support its people. Nevertheless, all of us who have been involved over the last few days recognise we have not reached a satisfactory outcome. We must learn from this."

Sir Ian Andrews, the second most senior civilian official at the MoD, is to consult the chiefs of staff of the army, navy and air force to thrash out future guidelines.

"I want to be sure those charged with these difficult decisions have clear guidance for the future. Until that time, no further service personnel will be allowed to talk to the media about their experiences in return for payment," Mr Browne said.

Leading seaman Faye Turney, the only woman in the group, earned around £100,000 in a joint deal with the Sun and ITV1's Tonight With Trevor McDonald. Arthur Batchelor, at 20 the youngest, sold his story for a smaller sum to the Daily Mirror. Those deals are still intact. Fourteen of the 15 had had the media camped outside their families' doors for most of the crisis, the MoD said.

In her Sun interview, spread over three pages, Faye Turney told how she was stripped to her knickers and left in a tiny cell, and that at one point she was convinced the Iranians were preparing her coffin. She said her lowest point was when her captors told her the other Britons had been sent home. She was told she could confess to being in Iranian waters and go home within two weeks, or be tried for espionage and be sent to prison for "several years". Her ship, HMS Cornwall, would get a percentage of her fee, she said.

Mr Batchelor, pictured in the Mirror in the grey civilian suit given to him by the Iranians, admitted he "cried like a baby" after being blindfolded and being threatened with the prospect of being shot. Shortly before the end of their 13-day ordeal, he was told: "You're about to be released by the president - tell your friends to clap." The Iranians had called him Mr Bean.

Lieutenant Felix Carman and royal marine captain Chris Air, who led the joint press conference given by six of the crew on Friday, both gave another round of interviews yesterday.

Lt Carman admitted to unease about the payments, so soon after the deaths of four British soldiers in Iraq. He told GMTV the money was "a bit unsavoury" but added: "I don't begrudge people who have been through an awful ordeal making a bit of money out of this."

He told Radio Five Live that he wanted to tell his story to correct some of the criticism the group had received. They had neither surrendered easily nor unreservedly confessed, he said.

    MoD bows to public pressure and halts sale of hostage interviews to media, G, 10.4.2007, http://www.guardian.co.uk/military/story/0,,2053379,00.html

Anger as hostages sell stories

to highest bidders

Sunday April 8, 2007
The Observer
Amelia Hill and Jamie Doward

The 15 British military hostages released by Iran were accused last night of cashing in on the ordeal by selling their stories in a string of lucrative media deals.

The sailors, who spent 13 days in captivity and at times feared for their lives, have been given permission by the Ministry of Defence to give exclusive interviews. The MoD justified lifting the ban on military personnel selling their stories while in service because of the 'exceptional circumstances' involved.

The former captives are expected to make around £250,000 between them. Faye Turney, the 26-year-old seawoman, is likely to get the most profitable deal. She is said to have sold her story for £150,000 in a joint contract with a newspaper and ITV.

The development was criticised by politicians and relatives of victims killed in the Iraq war. Liam Fox, the shadow Defence Secretary, said: 'One of the great things about our armed forces is their professionalism and dignity. Many people who shared the anxiety of the hostages' abduction will feel that selling their stories is somewhat undignified and falls below the very high standards we have come to expect from our service men and women.'

Colonel Bob Stewart, a British commander of United Nations forces in Bosnia, told the Sunday Times that the MoD had turned a military disaster into a media circus. 'The released hostages are behaving like reality TV stars,' he said. 'I am appalled that the MoD is encouraging them to profit in this way.'

Rose Gentle, whose son Gordon was killed by a bomb in Iraq, said: 'This is wrong and I don't think it should be allowed by the MoD. None of the parents who have lost loved ones in Iraq have sold their stories.'

One of the ex-hostages reportedly wanted £70,000 for his story. There were reports that the Royal Marines were planning to sell the vases given to them in their 'goody bags' by the Iranians on eBay. The father of one of the hostages said the MoD had suggested the servicemen 'Go out there, tell the truth and make the money.'

It emerged yesterday that Iranian intelligence officers told the 15 captives they first became suspicious about their activities after watching an interview with one of them on British television.

Families of the hostages said their loved ones had told them the Iranians had made the claim soon after capturing them. On 13 March - 10 days before the Britons was seized - Channel 5 broadcast an interview with Captain Chris Air, one of the captured Royal Marines, in which he stated that his crew's role was to liaise with Iraqi vessels to 'let them know we are here to protect them, protect their fishing and to stop any terrorism or any piracy in the area'.

· Additional reporting: Mark Townsend and Andrew Wander

     Anger as hostages sell stories to highest bidders, O, 8.4.2007, http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,2052699,00.html

TV interview 'tipped off' Iran

about ship's intelligence role

Sunday April 8, 2007
The Observer
Jamie Doward and Andrew Wander
 

Iranian intelligence officers told the 15 British captives they first became suspicious about their activities after watching an interview with one of them on British television.

Families of the hostages said that their loved ones had told them the Iranians had made the claim soon after capturing them.

The revelation is likely to raise questions about the Ministry of Defence's decision to allow the media to accompany Cornwall, the ship on which the service personnel were based, and report on its activities.

On 13 March - 10 days before the 15 were seized - Channel 5 broadcast an interview with Captain Chris Air, one of the captured Royal Marines, in which he stated that his crew's role was to liaise with Iraqi vessels to 'let them know we are here to protect them, protect their fishing and to stop any terrorism or any piracy in the area'.

The Iranian interrogators told their captives, who were seized while travelling in two dinghies during a patrol, that this had alerted them to Cornwall's role.

However, Channel 5 said it had taken care to edit the footage so as not to jeopardise the frigate's activities or the safety of the hostages once they had been taken by the Iranians. The full footage of the interview with Air was not released to the media until after the hostages had been released.

In the footage that was held back, Air confirmed the ship was engaged in collecting information on the Iranians from passing shipping traffic. 'It's partly a hearts and minds type patrol,' Air said. 'Secondly, it's to gather int [intelligence] if they do have any information, because they're here for days at a time. They can share it with us whether it's about piracy or any sort of Iranian activity in the area, because obviously we're right by the buffer zone with Iran.'

The MoD confirmed last night that the Iranians had made the claim that they had become interested in Cornwall's activities after learning about it on British television, but denied the decision to allow the ship's crew to be interviewed while on active duty had jeopardised the mission.

'HMS Cornwall's activities in the north Arabian Gulf are legitimate and open,' a spokeswoman for the MoD said, pointing out that the ship's presence in the area was well known. 'Details of her activities as part of the Combined Task Force 158 are published on both the MoD and Royal Navy websites. Also, as a Type 22 frigate, it would be hard to miss her physical presence.'

The MoD's decision to allow media access to Cornwall had been welcomed by newspapers and broadcasters keen to tell the story of the navy's role in patrolling the seas off Iraq. Also on board the frigate was a BBC film crew and a journalist from the Independent

But as attention now turns to the MoD's role in handling the affair, questions are likely to be asked as to whether lessons will have to be learnt regarding the media's relationship with the armed forces.

    TV interview 'tipped off' Iran about ship's intelligence role, O, 8.4.2007, http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,2052588,00.html

BBC gagged

over cash for honours inquiry

Saturday March 3, 2007
Guardian
David Hencke,
Westminster correspondent


The BBC was banned last night from broadcasting fresh allegations in the cash for honours investigation.
Lord Goldsmith, the attorney general, obtained an injunction to stop the BBC proceeding with a news story for the 10 O'Clock News after a two-hour hearing in chambers at the royal courts of justice in London.

The BBC could only say last night that it had been prevented from broadcasting a story which it believed was a "legitimate matter of public interest" about an hour before the bulletin went on air.

The cash for honours inquiry was sparked in March last year by complaints to the Metropolitan police by MPs from the Scottish National party and Plaid Cymru that honours appeared to have been offered in return for financial support to the major parties.

A Downing Street source said last night that the first No 10 knew that an injunction had either been sought or granted was when they saw the 10 O'clock News.

A spokesman for the attorney general said the move was taken in response to a request from the Metropolitan police, who have been engaged in a year-long inquiry into the claims, which relate to the Honours (Prevention of Abuses) Act 1925.

He said police were concerned that the disclosure of information contained in the story could have harmed their inquiry.

Lord Goldsmith was acting independently of the government in seeking the injunction, the spokesman added.

"The application for an injunction was made by the attorney general this afternoon at the specific request of and in cooperation with the police, because of their concern that disclosure of certain information at this stage would impede their inquiries," he said.

"The attorney general acted in this respect completely independently of government and in his independent public interest capacity."

The Metropolitan police issued an identical statement to that made by the attorney general's office.

Yesterday's hearing was understood to be the first time that an injunction had been either sought or granted in the cash for honours affair.

Sir Menzies Campbell, the Liberal Democrat leader and a barrister, said the implication of last night's injunction was that Lord Goldsmith thought it possible there may be a prosecution in the cash for honours affair.

Sir Menzies told BBC2's Newsnight: "The important thing to remember is that the attorney general acts in the public interest and in particular he has an interest to ensure that no possible prosecution is prejudiced and no possible defence is prejudiced."

The inference of Lord Goldsmith's actions was "he at least contemplates the possibility that a prosecution of some kind will follow", he said.

Inquiries have focused on loans totalling tens of millions of pounds used to bankroll the Labour and Conservative campaigns for the 2005 general election.

So far, four people have been arrested in connection with the inquiry: Tony Blair's personal fundraiser, Lord Levy; Downing Street aide Ruth Turner; the Labour donor Sir Christopher Evans and former headteacher Des Smith; but there have been no charges.

The Crown Prosecution Service has said there is no evidence to support a charge against Mr Smith, who told an undercover reporter that honours may be available in return for support for the government's city academy programme.

Mr Blair has been interviewed twice by police, both times as a witness, not a suspect, and not under caution. He has not been arrested.

Scotland Yard have also told Angus MacNeil, the SNP MP whose complaint sparked the inquiry, that they have not set a date for the end of their inquiry. He told the Guardian: "They have told me that it will take as long as it takes and they have no final date to end the investigation."

    BBC gagged over cash for honours inquiry, G, 3.3.2007, http://politics.guardian.co.uk/funding/story/0,,2025794,00.html

News of the World editor resigns

after reporter and investigator

are jailed for royal household scam

· Coulson accepts 'ultimate responsibility'
· Journalist and freelance colluded in eavesdropping

Saturday January 27, 2007
The Guardian
Hugh Muir

The editor of the News of the World resigned last night after the paper's royal reporter was jailed for four months after one of the biggest privacy and newspaper scandals of recent years.

Andy Coulson stepped down after Clive Goodman admitted colluding with a freelance investigator to intercept more than 600 mobile phone messages left for three senior officials in the royal household. Mr Coulson said he accepted "ultimate responsibility" for his reporter's actions.

The ruse, which ended in Goodman's "humiliation and disgrace", involved the casual breach of security arrangements put in place by the main mobile phone companies, yielding information that was then used to produce exclusive stories for the News of The World.

His lawyers told the court he became desperate for information because he was sidelined on the paper and felt his stellar career was on the wane. He paid the investigator Glenn Mulcaire £12,000 cash for his role in the eavesdropping - money that was then reclaimed from News International. But it also emerged that Mulcaire had a formal relationship with the newspaper and a lucrative contract worth more than £100,000 a year to provide "information and research". Mulcaire was jailed for a total of six months.

Palace officials alerted the police when they realised that someone was accessing their voicemails before they had retrieved them. Mulcaire used similar techniques to eavesdrop on five other prominent figures in the search for stories about them. They were the publicist Max Clifford, the Liberal Democrat MP Simon Hughes, the model Elle Macpherson, the professional footballer representative Gordon Taylor and the sports agent Skylet Andrew. In total he intercepted 66 of their calls.

Passing sentence Mr Justice Gross said: "This was serious criminal conduct of which we must not become numbed. It is of the very first importance to the integrity of our public life that such intrusive, sustained and criminal conduct should be marked unambiguously by loss of liberty." He said members of the royal family hold a "unique position in the life of this country". The judge said the "intrinsically serious and unattractive nature" of the offence meant immediate custody was inevitable. Goodman stood impassively as the sentence was passed. Goodman, 49, of Putney, south London and Mulcaire, 36, of Cheam, Surrey, admitted conspiracy to intercept communications last November, avoiding the need for a trial.

The sentencing trained a harsh light on the practices and imperatives of some forms of red-top journalism.

Goodman, according to his barrister, John Kelsey-Fry QC, was a journalist of integrity and high professional reputation. "Goodman was the top royal reporter in the country," he said. "He was respected, rewarded and commended by his peers ... But by January 2005 the position was very different. His stories were not considered adequate by his superiors. He was demoted and sidelined and another younger reporter was appointed to follow the royal family. He was under intense pressure to produce and feared for his job."

His solution was to team up with Mulcaire, who ran the Nine Consultancy security agency from an industrial estate in Sutton, south London. Mulcaire, who has previous convictions unspecified in court, produced a company brochure aimed at celebrities and offering to protect them from intrusive journalists. The key to his deception was obtaining passwords issued by the mobile phone companies to their own security staff. This allowed Mulcaire, having obtained the mobile phone numbers of his targets, to call customer services and to obtain the voicemail retrieval numbers. Accessing the mailboxes from an external phone required a pin number but Mulcaire was able to circumvent that security arrangement by persuading customer services to reinstate a default pin number on each account.

David Parry QC, prosecuting, said that during the eight months from November 2005 to June 2006 they accessed on 609 occasions the voicemail accounts of Helen Asprey, personal secretary to Prince William and Prince Harry, Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton, the private secretary to both princes, and Paddy Harverson, the communications secretary of the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall.

Goodman was responsible for 487 intercepts, Mulcaire 122. Many intrusions followed a pattern. Mulcaire, using a false name, would have customer services reset the pin numbers, speak to Goodman and illicitly access the account. He would then call Goodman back.

Though the eavesdropping occurred for eight months, the information it yielded was scant. A series of diary stories appeared in the paper's Blackadder column, one of which talked about Prince Charles attending a function. Others related to Prince William's military training. The court heard no stories resulted from the targeting of celebrities.

News of the World editor resigns after reporter and investigator are jailed for royal household scam, G, 27.1.2007, http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,,1999923,00.html