HND media studies student, Franchesca Hashemi, from Cardonald College, casts her eyes over the main media stories making today's newspapers….
It’s the ongoing allegations of phone hacking by News of the World journalists that stands out today, including on the front page of The Herald.
Say writers Paul Hutcheon and Alison Campsie, former MP, George Galloway, is claiming he “was informed of the interception of his voicemail messages at a recent meeting with the Metropolitan Police”.
Galloway is reported saying that he “was shown a document seized from the home of former private investigator, Glenn Mulcaire, previously hired by the News of the World, which included his name, mobile number and security pin details, plus the names of those who left the messages and an outline of their contents”.
Mulcaire was jailed four years ago, after admitting plotting to intercept voicemail messages for the News of the World.
Galloway is suing News of the World for breach of privacy.
Yesterday, the Metropolitan Police arrested and questioned Ian Hedmunson, the News of the World's former news editor and its chief reporter, Neville Thurlbeck. Both voluntarily presented themselves at different police stations in south-west London and were later released on police bail to return in September.
The Scotsman’s Sam Marsden (page 15) states that “the arrests underlined the Metropolitan Police’s determination to investigate the scandal thoroughly”, following concerns that the original phone hacking enquiry – involving Mulcaire and the News of the World's royal correspondent, Clive Goodman – was deemed inadequate.
Says Chris Greenwood, in the Scottish Daily Mail (page 8), more former executives of News of the World “are expected to be arrested in coming weeks as police follow a complex paper trail”.
And the Scottish Daily Express’ (page 19) claims that actress, Sienna Miller, is “one of several celebrities who are suing News of the World publishers” for alleged phone hacking.
Says the paper: “Sienna Miller won a High Court Order to force mobile giant Vodaphone to hand over information from other customers’ records that might uncover evidence of hacking.”
The Scotsman adds that “a steady flow of new allegations” were making their way through concerning other well-known personalities such as Jude Law, Gordon Brown, Paul Gascoigne and Andy Gray – as well as Miller.
News of the World sister title, The Scottish Sun, makes a small reference to the story on page 2.
Meanwhile, in different news, the Daily Record (page 37) reports the Federation of Small Businesses apparently warning that “Scotland risks being left behind unless it gets faster, more reliable broadband”.
Moving on, and the Scottish Daily Mail (page 3) is reporting the Royal Wedding, later this month, is set to lose ITV up to £8 million in revenue, due to a ‘no ads’ policy set by broadcasting regulators, Ofcom.
Elsewhere, Big Brother is set to grace our screens one more time this summer following a reported multi-million pound deal with Channel 5. The story appears in the Scottish Daily Express (page 8), which shares the same owner as Channel 5 in Richard Desmond.
Finally, Ford Ennals, the head of the body overseeing a nationwide switch from analogue radio to digital, is quoted saying sorry if his organisation – Digital Radio UK – has confused listeners as to when the switchover is going to happen. Says the Scottish Daily Mail (page 32), there is now no deadline, but the process of preparing for it should – Digital Radio UK is quoted, saying – be 2015.
Says the paper: “Ministers have already privately admitted that the ‘aspirational’ date of 2015 won’t be achieved.” It is thought 2020 would be a more realistic target as digital radio only counts for 25 per cent of all listening.
