Everybody's Hacked Off

When most of the British press conspired to cover up the phone-hacking scandal at the "News of the World", what did that tell us? This title offers a summary of the Leveson inquiry and a convincing argument for why we need press reform. It paints a damning picture of press corruption and makes a case for journalism that doesn't bully and lie.

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A brilliantly written, concise and accessible summary of the Leveson inquiry and a convincing argument for why we need press reform from an expert on the subject, with an introduction by film star Hugh Grant, a "Hacked Off" campaigner and a recent witness at the Leveson inquiry. When most of the British press conspired to cover up the phone-hacking scandal at the "News of the World", what did that tell us? That it wasn't just the "News of the World" that had something to hide. And when the Leveson Inquiry lifted the lid on their activities we saw what it was: illegal practices, dishonesty, a disregard for the rights of ordinary people and an arrogant assumption of unaccountability. Now the battle is on to decide whether anything will change and the editors and proprietors, with their vast propaganda power, are determined to ensure nothing will. This book, by a long-time journalist who is a founder of the Hacked Off campaign, paints a damning picture of press corruption and makes a passionate case for journalism that doesn't bully and lie - journalism that is truly answerable to the public while remaining free from government interference.
We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get this right, and we must not allow powerful media corporations to snatch that chance from us. Brian Cathcart has been a journalist for more than thirty years, working for "Reuters", the "Independent", the "Independent on Sunday" (where he was deputy editor) and the "New Statesman" (assistant editor and media columnist). He is the author of several books, including "Were You Still Up for Portillo?" and the award-winning "The Case of Stephen Lawrence". As a journalist he has campaigned for justice for Barry George, who was wrongly convicted of killing Jill Dando, and for the families of the young soldiers killed at Deepcut army barracks. In 2008-10 he was specialist adviser to the Commons media select committee and he has since written about the hacking crisis and media reform for "Index on Censorship", "Hacked Off", the "Guardian", the "Financial Times", the "Independent", the "Daily Beast", CNN, "Inforrm" and others. He has been professor of journalism at Kingston University London since 2005.