The leveson Enquiry

Introduction

The Leveson enquiry is a recent public enquiry made to regulate the press. It was introduced due to the 'News Of The world' phone hacking scandal. This scandal raised ethical concerns and 'The News Of The World' due to the repercussions of the incident the newspaper was shut down. In this blog post I will be explaining each of the victims which have been effected as a result of the phone hacking scandal.

Ann Diamond

Ann Diamond is a British radio presenter,t.v presenter and newspaper journalist. She has been has been a victim of many incidents involving the newspapers. She has stated that the media dug up information on here that her family and close friends didn't even know. These were things such as information regarding her mortgage which only Ann Diamond knew. 

As well as this the media have attacked her in various other ways such as the headline in 1981 'Anne Diamond killed my father'. This was published shortly after a fatal car crash she was involved in were the media accused her of being responsible. Although, the most famous scandal between the media and Ann Diamond was the one regarding her pregnancy. When she fell pregnant Ann Diamond wanted to be out of the public eye due to her previous problems with the newspaper. However, at the hospital the doctor with her whilst her birth was actual a journalist impersonating as a doctor. This was so that the so called 'Doctor' could ask her questions for the press during her giving birth. After this her baby son Sebastian died. Once again she didn't want the press involved in her sons funeral. Regardless of this, a freelance photographer appeared at the funeral and photos of the funeral were on the front page the following day. Due to the issues she had with the press she publicised the distress the press put her through by the use of newspapers and documentaries  As a result of the Rupert Murdoch set out a personal vendetta against Ann Diamond. This meant that she was continued to be targeted by the media. She was involved in the leveson enquiry and gave statements against the press.

Heather Mills

Heather mills is a model who was also a victim of this scandal. A journalist mentioned a voice-mail left by her ex-husband Paul McCartney in a tabloid. After being challenged about this the press argued that Mills showed them the voice mail. However this was not the case and it turned out that heather mills  had been hacked by the press. Heather Mills stated that she hadn't shown the voice mails to anyone therefore it was clear what had happened.

Sienna Miller

Sienna Miller was an actor involved in a similar case surrounding the phone hacking scandal. Notes written by a news of the world journalist were found. These notes included personal information about the celebrity  Personal information such as contact number, location and pin number. This was also required through phone hacking. However unlike most of the victims she received compensation. Sienna Miller received £100,000 in damages and a written apology from the newspaper.

Ryan Giggs

Welsh footballer Ryan Giggs was another victim of this scandal. He decided to sue News Of The World on allegations of his phone being hacked. This came about after his previous dispute with the media. This was were the newspaper published information about an affair that he was having with his sister in law. Due to this, he took legal action and ordered a super-injunction. This meant that he could not be reported about in any article. However upon other victims appealing he decided to sue news of the world for alleged phone hacking. He was also given compensation for the incident.

Kate and Jerry McCann

After Kate and Jerry McCann's daughter went missing in 2007, there were many attempts to hack there phone. This was also proven to be done by News Of The World. Due to who the two parents were the case was taken very seriously. In the end the couple won damaged of over £400,000.

Milly Dowlers parents

Milly Dowler was abducted in 2002 and presumed dead. Shortly after this the parents of Milly Dowler released that her voice mail box was empty. Journalist's from news of the world had hacked her phone and deleted voice messages to make room for more. Due to the fact that the voice-mails had been deleted the parent assumed there was a chance she was still alive. However they discovered this was actually down to News Of The World tampering with her phone. The family went to a solicitor and got offered £2 million in damages.

Hugh Grant

British actor Hugh Grant was another victim of the phone hacking scandal. After News Of The World illegally tampered with his voice mail he took action. He did this by starting the group 'Hacked Of'. This was the group opposing 'The free speech network'. The free speech network is a group against the regulation of the press. Both groups played a massive part in the leveson enquiry.

Charlotte Church

Charlotte Church's phone was also hacked by the same newspaper. News Of The World's private investigator had her number and the number's of many of her agents in his notes. She appealed about this a gained £600,000 in damages.

The Enquiry

All of these celebrities (amongst 46 other public figures  appealed during the Leveson Enquiry. This is because they were key people in the enquiry and had to give evidence against the press. The purpose of the enquiry was to try and regulate the press. The concept of regulation came about due to the phone hacking scandal. This is because it began raising questions as to how the press operated. Although, no legal changes were made Lord Leveson did make some reccomendations for the future. He reccomended that the press remain self regulated. This means that the government have no say in what the press publish. However,  he feels that the self regulation should be reworked. This is to try and prevent another incident such as the phone hacking scandal