Janis Joplin ~ Little Girl Blue...

Oh sit there, oh count those raindrops

Oh, feel em falling down, oh honey all around you.

Honey dont you know its time,

I feel its time,

Somebody told you cause you got to know

That all you ever gonna have to count on

Or gonna wanna lean on

Its gonna feel just like those raindrops do

When theyre falling down, honey, all around you...

Anti-Murdoch flashmob demands Rebekah Brooks' sacking. London, 07.07.2011

On what proved to be a momentous day in UK press history, News International, the owners of the scandal-ridden News of The World newspaper suddenly announced the paper's shut-down following a last edition to be published this weekend. The newspaper's reputation has been destroyed by the infamous phone-hacking scandal which News International has tried desperately to underplay over the past few months, but which suddenly erupted into a fully-blown national outrage this week when it was revealed that the Metropolitan Police had evidence to suggest that not only had the newspaper's journalists been behind the hacking of murdered teenager Millie Dowler, the families of several of the victims of the 7/7 London Underground bombings and the families of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also that the News of the World had been secretly - and illegally - paying members of the Metropolitan Police to get hold of confidential data on up to a thousand people over the years to provide the paper with insider knowledge and many scoops.

These very serious allegations have been revealed against the backdrop of News International's current bid to buy the remaining 61% of shares in the pay-to-view TV company BSkyB, which had been protested vigorously by many people concerned about the unchallenged domination of Rupert Murdoch's media empire in the United Kingdom.

Today's flashmob, organised by the group 'Take Back Parliament', congregated outside the Department of Culture, Media and Sport - the domain of Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who, despite many demands for a full review of News International's suitability and trustworthiness in the light of months of revelations about the phone-hacking and News International's attempts to deceive Parliament during questioning several months ago, has ignored all the warnings and was pushing the Murdoch bid through the official channels at an indecent speed, raising suspicions that David Cameron's close relationship with News International Chief Executive Rebekah Brookes and with Rupert Murdoch himself was influencing Hunt's professional judgement.

The flashmob protesters - some wearing cutout masks of Rupert Murdoch - held up copies of today's London Evening Standard (which is not a Murdoch newspaper), displaying the front page headline "Murdoch Staff Pay Met £100K In Bribes", referring to the illegal supply of highly confidential information to reporters by trusted police officers to News of The World journalists.

Demanding an immediate and complete halt to the BSkyB bid attempt, the protesters also called for the sacking of News International's Chief Executive Rebekah Brookes who was Editor in Chief of the News of The World when all the worst offences were supposedly carried out and who, many maintain, must have known what was happening, despite her frequent denials of any knowledge of the phone-hacking offences. Also of the utmost concern is Brookes' close personal friendship with Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife, and the depth of the debt of gratitude he feels he owes to Rupert Murdoch and his media empire for the massive support he got from the Murdoch press during the last general election.

Many, many questions remain unanswered right now about "who knew what and when did they know it?", and as police enquiries commence it was announced today that five journalists will be arrested, as will ex-News of the World editor Andy Coulson who resigned when the first scandal broke after Royal Correspondent Clive Goodman was famously imprisoned for hacking into Prince William's phone. Coulson immediately became David Cameron's election strategist and press spokesman until more recent discoveries obliged him to resign his post as Cameron's spokesperson. Coulson has always maintained he had no knowledge whatsoever of the phone-hacking, but a cache of emails was handed to the police a few days ago which allegedly contradict Coulson's claims of innocence in the matter, and of the clandestine payments made to corrupt police officers, may be behind the news of Coulson's imminent arrest.

Today's shock announcement of the newspaper's sudden demise saw around 200 journalists made redundant today, almost none of whom were working on the paper during the period in question, prompting National Union of Journalist General secretary Michelle Stanistreet to make the following official statement this afternoon:

“This shows the depths to which Rupert Murdoch and his lieutenants at News International are prepared to stoop. The announcement James Murdoch should be making today is the dismissal of Rebekah Brookes as chief executive of News International. The shocking revelations this week show beyond doubt the systemic abuse and corruption at the top of the operation ran by both Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson. Yet News International has persistently lied about the extent of this scandal and tried to pass it off as a problem created by a couple of rogue reporters.

“Closing the title and sacking over 200 staff in the UK and Ireland, and putting scores more freelances and casuals out of a job, is an act of utter cynical opportunism. Murdoch is clearly banking on this drawing a line under the scandal, removing an obstacle to the BskyB deal, and letting his senior executives off the hook. That simply won’t wash. It is not ordinary working journalists who have destroyed this paper’s credibility – it is the actions of Murdoch’s most senior people.

“James Murdoch was absolutely right when he said in his statement today that ‘Wrongdoers turned a good newsroom bad.’ Yet those wrongdoers are still there today, at the top of the News International empire and ordinary staff at the paper are paying with their livelihoods.

“The closure of the News of the World – a newspaper that has been in print now for 168 years – is a calculated sacrifice by Rupert Murdoch to salvage his reputation and that of News International, in the hope that readers will switch allegiance to a new seven-day operation at The Sun, the government will wave through the BskyB deal and he will widen his grip on the UK’s media landscape.

“It is ironic that 25 years after the Wapping dispute it is the behaviour of Rupert Murdoch and his management that has caused the closure of the newspaper. The NUJ will offer all support to its members at the News of the World facing compulsory redundancies and will be organising an emergency meeting of all journalists at the title to offer advice and support.”

All photos © 2011 Pete Riches

Do not reproduce, alter or reblog my images without my permission.

Hi-Res versions of these files are available on application

about.me/peteriches

Anti-Murdoch flashmob demands Rebekah Brooks' sacking. London, 07.07.2011

On what proved to be a momentous day in UK press history, News International, the owners of the scandal-ridden News of The World newspaper suddenly announced the paper's shut-down following a last edition to be published this weekend. The newspaper's reputation has been destroyed by the infamous phone-hacking scandal which News International has tried desperately to underplay over the past few months, but which suddenly erupted into a fully-blown national outrage this week when it was revealed that the Metropolitan Police had evidence to suggest that not only had the newspaper's journalists been behind the hacking of murdered teenager Millie Dowler, the families of several of the victims of the 7/7 London Underground bombings and the families of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also that the News of the World had been secretly - and illegally - paying members of the Metropolitan Police to get hold of confidential data on up to a thousand people over the years to provide the paper with insider knowledge and many scoops.

These very serious allegations have been revealed against the backdrop of News International's current bid to buy the remaining 61% of shares in the pay-to-view TV company BSkyB, which had been protested vigorously by many people concerned about the unchallenged domination of Rupert Murdoch's media empire in the United Kingdom.

Today's flashmob, organised by the group 'Take Back Parliament', congregated outside the Department of Culture, Media and Sport - the domain of Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who, despite many demands for a full review of News International's suitability and trustworthiness in the light of months of revelations about the phone-hacking and News International's attempts to deceive Parliament during questioning several months ago, has ignored all the warnings and was pushing the Murdoch bid through the official channels at an indecent speed, raising suspicions that David Cameron's close relationship with News International Chief Executive Rebekah Brookes and with Rupert Murdoch himself was influencing Hunt's professional judgement.

The flashmob protesters - some wearing cutout masks of Rupert Murdoch - held up copies of today's London Evening Standard (which is not a Murdoch newspaper), displaying the front page headline "Murdoch Staff Pay Met £100K In Bribes", referring to the illegal supply of highly confidential information to reporters by trusted police officers to News of The World journalists.

Demanding an immediate and complete halt to the BSkyB bid attempt, the protesters also called for the sacking of News International's Chief Executive Rebekah Brookes who was Editor in Chief of the News of The World when all the worst offences were supposedly carried out and who, many maintain, must have known what was happening, despite her frequent denials of any knowledge of the phone-hacking offences. Also of the utmost concern is Brookes' close personal friendship with Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife, and the depth of the debt of gratitude he feels he owes to Rupert Murdoch and his media empire for the massive support he got from the Murdoch press during the last general election.

Many, many questions remain unanswered right now about "who knew what and when did they know it?", and as police enquiries commence it was announced today that five journalists will be arrested, as will ex-News of the World editor Andy Coulson who resigned when the first scandal broke after Royal Correspondent Clive Goodman was famously imprisoned for hacking into Prince William's phone. Coulson immediately became David Cameron's election strategist and press spokesman until more recent discoveries obliged him to resign his post as Cameron's spokesperson. Coulson has always maintained he had no knowledge whatsoever of the phone-hacking, but a cache of emails was handed to the police a few days ago which allegedly contradict Coulson's claims of innocence in the matter, and of the clandestine payments made to corrupt police officers, may be behind the news of Coulson's imminent arrest.

Today's shock announcement of the newspaper's sudden demise saw around 200 journalists made redundant today, almost none of whom were working on the paper during the period in question, prompting National Union of Journalist General secretary Michelle Stanistreet to make the following official statement this afternoon:

“This shows the depths to which Rupert Murdoch and his lieutenants at News International are prepared to stoop. The announcement James Murdoch should be making today is the dismissal of Rebekah Brookes as chief executive of News International. The shocking revelations this week show beyond doubt the systemic abuse and corruption at the top of the operation ran by both Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson. Yet News International has persistently lied about the extent of this scandal and tried to pass it off as a problem created by a couple of rogue reporters.

“Closing the title and sacking over 200 staff in the UK and Ireland, and putting scores more freelances and casuals out of a job, is an act of utter cynical opportunism. Murdoch is clearly banking on this drawing a line under the scandal, removing an obstacle to the BskyB deal, and letting his senior executives off the hook. That simply won’t wash. It is not ordinary working journalists who have destroyed this paper’s credibility – it is the actions of Murdoch’s most senior people.

“James Murdoch was absolutely right when he said in his statement today that ‘Wrongdoers turned a good newsroom bad.’ Yet those wrongdoers are still there today, at the top of the News International empire and ordinary staff at the paper are paying with their livelihoods.

“The closure of the News of the World – a newspaper that has been in print now for 168 years – is a calculated sacrifice by Rupert Murdoch to salvage his reputation and that of News International, in the hope that readers will switch allegiance to a new seven-day operation at The Sun, the government will wave through the BskyB deal and he will widen his grip on the UK’s media landscape.

“It is ironic that 25 years after the Wapping dispute it is the behaviour of Rupert Murdoch and his management that has caused the closure of the newspaper. The NUJ will offer all support to its members at the News of the World facing compulsory redundancies and will be organising an emergency meeting of all journalists at the title to offer advice and support.”

All photos © 2011 Pete Riches

Do not reproduce, alter or reblog my images without my permission.

Hi-Res versions of these files are available on application

about.me/peteriches

Anti-Murdoch flashmob demands Rebekah Brooks' sacking. London, 07.07.2011

On what proved to be a momentous day in UK press history, News International, the owners of the scandal-ridden News of The World newspaper suddenly announced the paper's shut-down following a last edition to be published this weekend. The newspaper's reputation has been destroyed by the infamous phone-hacking scandal which News International has tried desperately to underplay over the past few months, but which suddenly erupted into a fully-blown national outrage this week when it was revealed that the Metropolitan Police had evidence to suggest that not only had the newspaper's journalists been behind the hacking of murdered teenager Millie Dowler, the families of several of the victims of the 7/7 London Underground bombings and the families of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also that the News of the World had been secretly - and illegally - paying members of the Metropolitan Police to get hold of confidential data on up to a thousand people over the years to provide the paper with insider knowledge and many scoops.

These very serious allegations have been revealed against the backdrop of News International's current bid to buy the remaining 61% of shares in the pay-to-view TV company BSkyB, which had been protested vigorously by many people concerned about the unchallenged domination of Rupert Murdoch's media empire in the United Kingdom.

Today's flashmob, organised by the group 'Take Back Parliament', congregated outside the Department of Culture, Media and Sport - the domain of Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who, despite many demands for a full review of News International's suitability and trustworthiness in the light of months of revelations about the phone-hacking and News International's attempts to deceive Parliament during questioning several months ago, has ignored all the warnings and was pushing the Murdoch bid through the official channels at an indecent speed, raising suspicions that David Cameron's close relationship with News International Chief Executive Rebekah Brookes and with Rupert Murdoch himself was influencing Hunt's professional judgement.

The flashmob protesters - some wearing cutout masks of Rupert Murdoch - held up copies of today's London Evening Standard (which is not a Murdoch newspaper), displaying the front page headline "Murdoch Staff Pay Met £100K In Bribes", referring to the illegal supply of highly confidential information to reporters by trusted police officers to News of The World journalists.

Demanding an immediate and complete halt to the BSkyB bid attempt, the protesters also called for the sacking of News International's Chief Executive Rebekah Brookes who was Editor in Chief of the News of The World when all the worst offences were supposedly carried out and who, many maintain, must have known what was happening, despite her frequent denials of any knowledge of the phone-hacking offences. Also of the utmost concern is Brookes' close personal friendship with Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife, and the depth of the debt of gratitude he feels he owes to Rupert Murdoch and his media empire for the massive support he got from the Murdoch press during the last general election.

Many, many questions remain unanswered right now about "who knew what and when did they know it?", and as police enquiries commence it was announced today that five journalists will be arrested, as will ex-News of the World editor Andy Coulson who resigned when the first scandal broke after Royal Correspondent Clive Goodman was famously imprisoned for hacking into Prince William's phone. Coulson immediately became David Cameron's election strategist and press spokesman until more recent discoveries obliged him to resign his post as Cameron's spokesperson. Coulson has always maintained he had no knowledge whatsoever of the phone-hacking, but a cache of emails was handed to the police a few days ago which allegedly contradict Coulson's claims of innocence in the matter, and of the clandestine payments made to corrupt police officers, may be behind the news of Coulson's imminent arrest.

Today's shock announcement of the newspaper's sudden demise saw around 200 journalists made redundant today, almost none of whom were working on the paper during the period in question, prompting National Union of Journalist General secretary Michelle Stanistreet to make the following official statement this afternoon:

“This shows the depths to which Rupert Murdoch and his lieutenants at News International are prepared to stoop. The announcement James Murdoch should be making today is the dismissal of Rebekah Brookes as chief executive of News International. The shocking revelations this week show beyond doubt the systemic abuse and corruption at the top of the operation ran by both Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson. Yet News International has persistently lied about the extent of this scandal and tried to pass it off as a problem created by a couple of rogue reporters.

“Closing the title and sacking over 200 staff in the UK and Ireland, and putting scores more freelances and casuals out of a job, is an act of utter cynical opportunism. Murdoch is clearly banking on this drawing a line under the scandal, removing an obstacle to the BskyB deal, and letting his senior executives off the hook. That simply won’t wash. It is not ordinary working journalists who have destroyed this paper’s credibility – it is the actions of Murdoch’s most senior people.

“James Murdoch was absolutely right when he said in his statement today that ‘Wrongdoers turned a good newsroom bad.’ Yet those wrongdoers are still there today, at the top of the News International empire and ordinary staff at the paper are paying with their livelihoods.

“The closure of the News of the World – a newspaper that has been in print now for 168 years – is a calculated sacrifice by Rupert Murdoch to salvage his reputation and that of News International, in the hope that readers will switch allegiance to a new seven-day operation at The Sun, the government will wave through the BskyB deal and he will widen his grip on the UK’s media landscape.

“It is ironic that 25 years after the Wapping dispute it is the behaviour of Rupert Murdoch and his management that has caused the closure of the newspaper. The NUJ will offer all support to its members at the News of the World facing compulsory redundancies and will be organising an emergency meeting of all journalists at the title to offer advice and support.”

All photos © 2011 Pete Riches

Do not reproduce, alter or reblog my images without my permission.

Hi-Res versions of these files are available on application

about.me/peteriches

Anti-Murdoch flashmob demands Rebekah Brooks' sacking. London, 07.07.2011

On what proved to be a momentous day in UK press history, News International, the owners of the scandal-ridden News of The World newspaper suddenly announced the paper's shut-down following a last edition to be published this weekend. The newspaper's reputation has been destroyed by the infamous phone-hacking scandal which News International has tried desperately to underplay over the past few months, but which suddenly erupted into a fully-blown national outrage this week when it was revealed that the Metropolitan Police had evidence to suggest that not only had the newspaper's journalists been behind the hacking of murdered teenager Millie Dowler, the families of several of the victims of the 7/7 London Underground bombings and the families of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also that the News of the World had been secretly - and illegally - paying members of the Metropolitan Police to get hold of confidential data on up to a thousand people over the years to provide the paper with insider knowledge and many scoops.

These very serious allegations have been revealed against the backdrop of News International's current bid to buy the remaining 61% of shares in the pay-to-view TV company BSkyB, which had been protested vigorously by many people concerned about the unchallenged domination of Rupert Murdoch's media empire in the United Kingdom.

Today's flashmob, organised by the group 'Take Back Parliament', congregated outside the Department of Culture, Media and Sport - the domain of Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who, despite many demands for a full review of News International's suitability and trustworthiness in the light of months of revelations about the phone-hacking and News International's attempts to deceive Parliament during questioning several months ago, has ignored all the warnings and was pushing the Murdoch bid through the official channels at an indecent speed, raising suspicions that David Cameron's close relationship with News International Chief Executive Rebekah Brookes and with Rupert Murdoch himself was influencing Hunt's professional judgement.

The flashmob protesters - some wearing cutout masks of Rupert Murdoch - held up copies of today's London Evening Standard (which is not a Murdoch newspaper), displaying the front page headline "Murdoch Staff Pay Met £100K In Bribes", referring to the illegal supply of highly confidential information to reporters by trusted police officers to News of The World journalists.

Demanding an immediate and complete halt to the BSkyB bid attempt, the protesters also called for the sacking of News International's Chief Executive Rebekah Brookes who was Editor in Chief of the News of The World when all the worst offences were supposedly carried out and who, many maintain, must have known what was happening, despite her frequent denials of any knowledge of the phone-hacking offences. Also of the utmost concern is Brookes' close personal friendship with Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife, and the depth of the debt of gratitude he feels he owes to Rupert Murdoch and his media empire for the massive support he got from the Murdoch press during the last general election.

Many, many questions remain unanswered right now about "who knew what and when did they know it?", and as police enquiries commence it was announced today that five journalists will be arrested, as will ex-News of the World editor Andy Coulson who resigned when the first scandal broke after Royal Correspondent Clive Goodman was famously imprisoned for hacking into Prince William's phone. Coulson immediately became David Cameron's election strategist and press spokesman until more recent discoveries obliged him to resign his post as Cameron's spokesperson. Coulson has always maintained he had no knowledge whatsoever of the phone-hacking, but a cache of emails was handed to the police a few days ago which allegedly contradict Coulson's claims of innocence in the matter, and of the clandestine payments made to corrupt police officers, may be behind the news of Coulson's imminent arrest.

Today's shock announcement of the newspaper's sudden demise saw around 200 journalists made redundant today, almost none of whom were working on the paper during the period in question, prompting National Union of Journalist General secretary Michelle Stanistreet to make the following official statement this afternoon:

“This shows the depths to which Rupert Murdoch and his lieutenants at News International are prepared to stoop. The announcement James Murdoch should be making today is the dismissal of Rebekah Brookes as chief executive of News International. The shocking revelations this week show beyond doubt the systemic abuse and corruption at the top of the operation ran by both Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson. Yet News International has persistently lied about the extent of this scandal and tried to pass it off as a problem created by a couple of rogue reporters.

“Closing the title and sacking over 200 staff in the UK and Ireland, and putting scores more freelances and casuals out of a job, is an act of utter cynical opportunism. Murdoch is clearly banking on this drawing a line under the scandal, removing an obstacle to the BskyB deal, and letting his senior executives off the hook. That simply won’t wash. It is not ordinary working journalists who have destroyed this paper’s credibility – it is the actions of Murdoch’s most senior people.

“James Murdoch was absolutely right when he said in his statement today that ‘Wrongdoers turned a good newsroom bad.’ Yet those wrongdoers are still there today, at the top of the News International empire and ordinary staff at the paper are paying with their livelihoods.

“The closure of the News of the World – a newspaper that has been in print now for 168 years – is a calculated sacrifice by Rupert Murdoch to salvage his reputation and that of News International, in the hope that readers will switch allegiance to a new seven-day operation at The Sun, the government will wave through the BskyB deal and he will widen his grip on the UK’s media landscape.

“It is ironic that 25 years after the Wapping dispute it is the behaviour of Rupert Murdoch and his management that has caused the closure of the newspaper. The NUJ will offer all support to its members at the News of the World facing compulsory redundancies and will be organising an emergency meeting of all journalists at the title to offer advice and support.”

All photos © 2011 Pete Riches

Do not reproduce, alter or reblog my images without my permission.

Hi-Res versions of these files are available on application

about.me/peteriches

Anti-Murdoch flashmob demands Rebekah Brooks' sacking. London, 07.07.2011

On what proved to be a momentous day in UK press history, News International, the owners of the scandal-ridden News of The World newspaper suddenly announced the paper's shut-down following a last edition to be published this weekend. The newspaper's reputation has been destroyed by the infamous phone-hacking scandal which News International has tried desperately to underplay over the past few months, but which suddenly erupted into a fully-blown national outrage this week when it was revealed that the Metropolitan Police had evidence to suggest that not only had the newspaper's journalists been behind the hacking of murdered teenager Millie Dowler, the families of several of the victims of the 7/7 London Underground bombings and the families of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also that the News of the World had been secretly - and illegally - paying members of the Metropolitan Police to get hold of confidential data on up to a thousand people over the years to provide the paper with insider knowledge and many scoops.

These very serious allegations have been revealed against the backdrop of News International's current bid to buy the remaining 61% of shares in the pay-to-view TV company BSkyB, which had been protested vigorously by many people concerned about the unchallenged domination of Rupert Murdoch's media empire in the United Kingdom.

Today's flashmob, organised by the group 'Take Back Parliament', congregated outside the Department of Culture, Media and Sport - the domain of Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who, despite many demands for a full review of News International's suitability and trustworthiness in the light of months of revelations about the phone-hacking and News International's attempts to deceive Parliament during questioning several months ago, has ignored all the warnings and was pushing the Murdoch bid through the official channels at an indecent speed, raising suspicions that David Cameron's close relationship with News International Chief Executive Rebekah Brookes and with Rupert Murdoch himself was influencing Hunt's professional judgement.

The flashmob protesters - some wearing cutout masks of Rupert Murdoch - held up copies of today's London Evening Standard (which is not a Murdoch newspaper), displaying the front page headline "Murdoch Staff Pay Met £100K In Bribes", referring to the illegal supply of highly confidential information to reporters by trusted police officers to News of The World journalists.

Demanding an immediate and complete halt to the BSkyB bid attempt, the protesters also called for the sacking of News International's Chief Executive Rebekah Brookes who was Editor in Chief of the News of The World when all the worst offences were supposedly carried out and who, many maintain, must have known what was happening, despite her frequent denials of any knowledge of the phone-hacking offences. Also of the utmost concern is Brookes' close personal friendship with Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife, and the depth of the debt of gratitude he feels he owes to Rupert Murdoch and his media empire for the massive support he got from the Murdoch press during the last general election.

Many, many questions remain unanswered right now about "who knew what and when did they know it?", and as police enquiries commence it was announced today that five journalists will be arrested, as will ex-News of the World editor Andy Coulson who resigned when the first scandal broke after Royal Correspondent Clive Goodman was famously imprisoned for hacking into Prince William's phone. Coulson immediately became David Cameron's election strategist and press spokesman until more recent discoveries obliged him to resign his post as Cameron's spokesperson. Coulson has always maintained he had no knowledge whatsoever of the phone-hacking, but a cache of emails was handed to the police a few days ago which allegedly contradict Coulson's claims of innocence in the matter, and of the clandestine payments made to corrupt police officers, may be behind the news of Coulson's imminent arrest.

Today's shock announcement of the newspaper's sudden demise saw around 200 journalists made redundant today, almost none of whom were working on the paper during the period in question, prompting National Union of Journalist General secretary Michelle Stanistreet to make the following official statement this afternoon:

“This shows the depths to which Rupert Murdoch and his lieutenants at News International are prepared to stoop. The announcement James Murdoch should be making today is the dismissal of Rebekah Brookes as chief executive of News International. The shocking revelations this week show beyond doubt the systemic abuse and corruption at the top of the operation ran by both Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson. Yet News International has persistently lied about the extent of this scandal and tried to pass it off as a problem created by a couple of rogue reporters.

“Closing the title and sacking over 200 staff in the UK and Ireland, and putting scores more freelances and casuals out of a job, is an act of utter cynical opportunism. Murdoch is clearly banking on this drawing a line under the scandal, removing an obstacle to the BskyB deal, and letting his senior executives off the hook. That simply won’t wash. It is not ordinary working journalists who have destroyed this paper’s credibility – it is the actions of Murdoch’s most senior people.

“James Murdoch was absolutely right when he said in his statement today that ‘Wrongdoers turned a good newsroom bad.’ Yet those wrongdoers are still there today, at the top of the News International empire and ordinary staff at the paper are paying with their livelihoods.

“The closure of the News of the World – a newspaper that has been in print now for 168 years – is a calculated sacrifice by Rupert Murdoch to salvage his reputation and that of News International, in the hope that readers will switch allegiance to a new seven-day operation at The Sun, the government will wave through the BskyB deal and he will widen his grip on the UK’s media landscape.

“It is ironic that 25 years after the Wapping dispute it is the behaviour of Rupert Murdoch and his management that has caused the closure of the newspaper. The NUJ will offer all support to its members at the News of the World facing compulsory redundancies and will be organising an emergency meeting of all journalists at the title to offer advice and support.”

All photos © 2011 Pete Riches

Do not reproduce, alter or reblog my images without my permission.

Hi-Res versions of these files are available on application

about.me/peteriches

Anti-Murdoch flashmob demands Rebekah Brooks' sacking. London, 07.07.2011

On what proved to be a momentous day in UK press history, News International, the owners of the scandal-ridden News of The World newspaper suddenly announced the paper's shut-down following a last edition to be published this weekend. The newspaper's reputation has been destroyed by the infamous phone-hacking scandal which News International has tried desperately to underplay over the past few months, but which suddenly erupted into a fully-blown national outrage this week when it was revealed that the Metropolitan Police had evidence to suggest that not only had the newspaper's journalists been behind the hacking of murdered teenager Millie Dowler, the families of several of the victims of the 7/7 London Underground bombings and the families of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also that the News of the World had been secretly - and illegally - paying members of the Metropolitan Police to get hold of confidential data on up to a thousand people over the years to provide the paper with insider knowledge and many scoops.

These very serious allegations have been revealed against the backdrop of News International's current bid to buy the remaining 61% of shares in the pay-to-view TV company BSkyB, which had been protested vigorously by many people concerned about the unchallenged domination of Rupert Murdoch's media empire in the United Kingdom.

Today's flashmob, organised by the group 'Take Back Parliament', congregated outside the Department of Culture, Media and Sport - the domain of Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who, despite many demands for a full review of News International's suitability and trustworthiness in the light of months of revelations about the phone-hacking and News International's attempts to deceive Parliament during questioning several months ago, has ignored all the warnings and was pushing the Murdoch bid through the official channels at an indecent speed, raising suspicions that David Cameron's close relationship with News International Chief Executive Rebekah Brookes and with Rupert Murdoch himself was influencing Hunt's professional judgement.

The flashmob protesters - some wearing cutout masks of Rupert Murdoch - held up copies of today's London Evening Standard (which is not a Murdoch newspaper), displaying the front page headline "Murdoch Staff Pay Met £100K In Bribes", referring to the illegal supply of highly confidential information to reporters by trusted police officers to News of The World journalists.

Demanding an immediate and complete halt to the BSkyB bid attempt, the protesters also called for the sacking of News International's Chief Executive Rebekah Brookes who was Editor in Chief of the News of The World when all the worst offences were supposedly carried out and who, many maintain, must have known what was happening, despite her frequent denials of any knowledge of the phone-hacking offences. Also of the utmost concern is Brookes' close personal friendship with Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife, and the depth of the debt of gratitude he feels he owes to Rupert Murdoch and his media empire for the massive support he got from the Murdoch press during the last general election.

Many, many questions remain unanswered right now about "who knew what and when did they know it?", and as police enquiries commence it was announced today that five journalists will be arrested, as will ex-News of the World editor Andy Coulson who resigned when the first scandal broke after Royal Correspondent Clive Goodman was famously imprisoned for hacking into Prince William's phone. Coulson immediately became David Cameron's election strategist and press spokesman until more recent discoveries obliged him to resign his post as Cameron's spokesperson. Coulson has always maintained he had no knowledge whatsoever of the phone-hacking, but a cache of emails was handed to the police a few days ago which allegedly contradict Coulson's claims of innocence in the matter, and of the clandestine payments made to corrupt police officers, may be behind the news of Coulson's imminent arrest.

Today's shock announcement of the newspaper's sudden demise saw around 200 journalists made redundant today, almost none of whom were working on the paper during the period in question, prompting National Union of Journalist General secretary Michelle Stanistreet to make the following official statement this afternoon:

“This shows the depths to which Rupert Murdoch and his lieutenants at News International are prepared to stoop. The announcement James Murdoch should be making today is the dismissal of Rebekah Brookes as chief executive of News International. The shocking revelations this week show beyond doubt the systemic abuse and corruption at the top of the operation ran by both Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson. Yet News International has persistently lied about the extent of this scandal and tried to pass it off as a problem created by a couple of rogue reporters.

“Closing the title and sacking over 200 staff in the UK and Ireland, and putting scores more freelances and casuals out of a job, is an act of utter cynical opportunism. Murdoch is clearly banking on this drawing a line under the scandal, removing an obstacle to the BskyB deal, and letting his senior executives off the hook. That simply won’t wash. It is not ordinary working journalists who have destroyed this paper’s credibility – it is the actions of Murdoch’s most senior people.

“James Murdoch was absolutely right when he said in his statement today that ‘Wrongdoers turned a good newsroom bad.’ Yet those wrongdoers are still there today, at the top of the News International empire and ordinary staff at the paper are paying with their livelihoods.

“The closure of the News of the World – a newspaper that has been in print now for 168 years – is a calculated sacrifice by Rupert Murdoch to salvage his reputation and that of News International, in the hope that readers will switch allegiance to a new seven-day operation at The Sun, the government will wave through the BskyB deal and he will widen his grip on the UK’s media landscape.

“It is ironic that 25 years after the Wapping dispute it is the behaviour of Rupert Murdoch and his management that has caused the closure of the newspaper. The NUJ will offer all support to its members at the News of the World facing compulsory redundancies and will be organising an emergency meeting of all journalists at the title to offer advice and support.”

All photos © 2011 Pete Riches

Do not reproduce, alter or reblog my images without my permission.

Hi-Res versions of these files are available on application

about.me/peteriches

Anti-Murdoch flashmob demands Rebekah Brooks' sacking. London, 07.07.2011

On what proved to be a momentous day in UK press history, News International, the owners of the scandal-ridden News of The World newspaper suddenly announced the paper's shut-down following a last edition to be published this weekend. The newspaper's reputation has been destroyed by the infamous phone-hacking scandal which News International has tried desperately to underplay over the past few months, but which suddenly erupted into a fully-blown national outrage this week when it was revealed that the Metropolitan Police had evidence to suggest that not only had the newspaper's journalists been behind the hacking of murdered teenager Millie Dowler, the families of several of the victims of the 7/7 London Underground bombings and the families of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also that the News of the World had been secretly - and illegally - paying members of the Metropolitan Police to get hold of confidential data on up to a thousand people over the years to provide the paper with insider knowledge and many scoops.

These very serious allegations have been revealed against the backdrop of News International's current bid to buy the remaining 61% of shares in the pay-to-view TV company BSkyB, which had been protested vigorously by many people concerned about the unchallenged domination of Rupert Murdoch's media empire in the United Kingdom.

Today's flashmob, organised by the group 'Take Back Parliament', congregated outside the Department of Culture, Media and Sport - the domain of Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who, despite many demands for a full review of News International's suitability and trustworthiness in the light of months of revelations about the phone-hacking and News International's attempts to deceive Parliament during questioning several months ago, has ignored all the warnings and was pushing the Murdoch bid through the official channels at an indecent speed, raising suspicions that David Cameron's close relationship with News International Chief Executive Rebekah Brookes and with Rupert Murdoch himself was influencing Hunt's professional judgement.

The flashmob protesters - some wearing cutout masks of Rupert Murdoch - held up copies of today's London Evening Standard (which is not a Murdoch newspaper), displaying the front page headline "Murdoch Staff Pay Met £100K In Bribes", referring to the illegal supply of highly confidential information to reporters by trusted police officers to News of The World journalists.

Demanding an immediate and complete halt to the BSkyB bid attempt, the protesters also called for the sacking of News International's Chief Executive Rebekah Brookes who was Editor in Chief of the News of The World when all the worst offences were supposedly carried out and who, many maintain, must have known what was happening, despite her frequent denials of any knowledge of the phone-hacking offences. Also of the utmost concern is Brookes' close personal friendship with Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife, and the depth of the debt of gratitude he feels he owes to Rupert Murdoch and his media empire for the massive support he got from the Murdoch press during the last general election.

Many, many questions remain unanswered right now about "who knew what and when did they know it?", and as police enquiries commence it was announced today that five journalists will be arrested, as will ex-News of the World editor Andy Coulson who resigned when the first scandal broke after Royal Correspondent Clive Goodman was famously imprisoned for hacking into Prince William's phone. Coulson immediately became David Cameron's election strategist and press spokesman until more recent discoveries obliged him to resign his post as Cameron's spokesperson. Coulson has always maintained he had no knowledge whatsoever of the phone-hacking, but a cache of emails was handed to the police a few days ago which allegedly contradict Coulson's claims of innocence in the matter, and of the clandestine payments made to corrupt police officers, may be behind the news of Coulson's imminent arrest.

Today's shock announcement of the newspaper's sudden demise saw around 200 journalists made redundant today, almost none of whom were working on the paper during the period in question, prompting National Union of Journalist General secretary Michelle Stanistreet to make the following official statement this afternoon:

“This shows the depths to which Rupert Murdoch and his lieutenants at News International are prepared to stoop. The announcement James Murdoch should be making today is the dismissal of Rebekah Brookes as chief executive of News International. The shocking revelations this week show beyond doubt the systemic abuse and corruption at the top of the operation ran by both Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson. Yet News International has persistently lied about the extent of this scandal and tried to pass it off as a problem created by a couple of rogue reporters.

“Closing the title and sacking over 200 staff in the UK and Ireland, and putting scores more freelances and casuals out of a job, is an act of utter cynical opportunism. Murdoch is clearly banking on this drawing a line under the scandal, removing an obstacle to the BskyB deal, and letting his senior executives off the hook. That simply won’t wash. It is not ordinary working journalists who have destroyed this paper’s credibility – it is the actions of Murdoch’s most senior people.

“James Murdoch was absolutely right when he said in his statement today that ‘Wrongdoers turned a good newsroom bad.’ Yet those wrongdoers are still there today, at the top of the News International empire and ordinary staff at the paper are paying with their livelihoods.

“The closure of the News of the World – a newspaper that has been in print now for 168 years – is a calculated sacrifice by Rupert Murdoch to salvage his reputation and that of News International, in the hope that readers will switch allegiance to a new seven-day operation at The Sun, the government will wave through the BskyB deal and he will widen his grip on the UK’s media landscape.

“It is ironic that 25 years after the Wapping dispute it is the behaviour of Rupert Murdoch and his management that has caused the closure of the newspaper. The NUJ will offer all support to its members at the News of the World facing compulsory redundancies and will be organising an emergency meeting of all journalists at the title to offer advice and support.”

All photos © 2011 Pete Riches

Do not reproduce, alter or reblog my images without my permission.

Hi-Res versions of these files are available on application

about.me/peteriches

Anti-Murdoch flashmob demands Rebekah Brooks' sacking. London, 07.07.2011

On what proved to be a momentous day in UK press history, News International, the owners of the scandal-ridden News of The World newspaper suddenly announced the paper's shut-down following a last edition to be published this weekend. The newspaper's reputation has been destroyed by the infamous phone-hacking scandal which News International has tried desperately to underplay over the past few months, but which suddenly erupted into a fully-blown national outrage this week when it was revealed that the Metropolitan Police had evidence to suggest that not only had the newspaper's journalists been behind the hacking of murdered teenager Millie Dowler, the families of several of the victims of the 7/7 London Underground bombings and the families of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also that the News of the World had been secretly - and illegally - paying members of the Metropolitan Police to get hold of confidential data on up to a thousand people over the years to provide the paper with insider knowledge and many scoops.

These very serious allegations have been revealed against the backdrop of News International's current bid to buy the remaining 61% of shares in the pay-to-view TV company BSkyB, which had been protested vigorously by many people concerned about the unchallenged domination of Rupert Murdoch's media empire in the United Kingdom.

Today's flashmob, organised by the group 'Take Back Parliament', congregated outside the Department of Culture, Media and Sport - the domain of Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who, despite many demands for a full review of News International's suitability and trustworthiness in the light of months of revelations about the phone-hacking and News International's attempts to deceive Parliament during questioning several months ago, has ignored all the warnings and was pushing the Murdoch bid through the official channels at an indecent speed, raising suspicions that David Cameron's close relationship with News International Chief Executive Rebekah Brookes and with Rupert Murdoch himself was influencing Hunt's professional judgement.

The flashmob protesters - some wearing cutout masks of Rupert Murdoch - held up copies of today's London Evening Standard (which is not a Murdoch newspaper), displaying the front page headline "Murdoch Staff Pay Met £100K In Bribes", referring to the illegal supply of highly confidential information to reporters by trusted police officers to News of The World journalists.

Demanding an immediate and complete halt to the BSkyB bid attempt, the protesters also called for the sacking of News International's Chief Executive Rebekah Brookes who was Editor in Chief of the News of The World when all the worst offences were supposedly carried out and who, many maintain, must have known what was happening, despite her frequent denials of any knowledge of the phone-hacking offences. Also of the utmost concern is Brookes' close personal friendship with Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife, and the depth of the debt of gratitude he feels he owes to Rupert Murdoch and his media empire for the massive support he got from the Murdoch press during the last general election.

Many, many questions remain unanswered right now about "who knew what and when did they know it?", and as police enquiries commence it was announced today that five journalists will be arrested, as will ex-News of the World editor Andy Coulson who resigned when the first scandal broke after Royal Correspondent Clive Goodman was famously imprisoned for hacking into Prince William's phone. Coulson immediately became David Cameron's election strategist and press spokesman until more recent discoveries obliged him to resign his post as Cameron's spokesperson. Coulson has always maintained he had no knowledge whatsoever of the phone-hacking, but a cache of emails was handed to the police a few days ago which allegedly contradict Coulson's claims of innocence in the matter, and of the clandestine payments made to corrupt police officers, may be behind the news of Coulson's imminent arrest.

Today's shock announcement of the newspaper's sudden demise saw around 200 journalists made redundant today, almost none of whom were working on the paper during the period in question, prompting National Union of Journalist General secretary Michelle Stanistreet to make the following official statement this afternoon:

“This shows the depths to which Rupert Murdoch and his lieutenants at News International are prepared to stoop. The announcement James Murdoch should be making today is the dismissal of Rebekah Brookes as chief executive of News International. The shocking revelations this week show beyond doubt the systemic abuse and corruption at the top of the operation ran by both Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson. Yet News International has persistently lied about the extent of this scandal and tried to pass it off as a problem created by a couple of rogue reporters.

“Closing the title and sacking over 200 staff in the UK and Ireland, and putting scores more freelances and casuals out of a job, is an act of utter cynical opportunism. Murdoch is clearly banking on this drawing a line under the scandal, removing an obstacle to the BskyB deal, and letting his senior executives off the hook. That simply won’t wash. It is not ordinary working journalists who have destroyed this paper’s credibility – it is the actions of Murdoch’s most senior people.

“James Murdoch was absolutely right when he said in his statement today that ‘Wrongdoers turned a good newsroom bad.’ Yet those wrongdoers are still there today, at the top of the News International empire and ordinary staff at the paper are paying with their livelihoods.

“The closure of the News of the World – a newspaper that has been in print now for 168 years – is a calculated sacrifice by Rupert Murdoch to salvage his reputation and that of News International, in the hope that readers will switch allegiance to a new seven-day operation at The Sun, the government will wave through the BskyB deal and he will widen his grip on the UK’s media landscape.

“It is ironic that 25 years after the Wapping dispute it is the behaviour of Rupert Murdoch and his management that has caused the closure of the newspaper. The NUJ will offer all support to its members at the News of the World facing compulsory redundancies and will be organising an emergency meeting of all journalists at the title to offer advice and support.”

All photos © 2011 Pete Riches

Do not reproduce, alter or reblog my images without my permission.

Hi-Res versions of these files are available on application

about.me/peteriches

Anti-Murdoch flashmob demands Rebekah Brooks' sacking. London, 07.07.2011

On what proved to be a momentous day in UK press history, News International, the owners of the scandal-ridden News of The World newspaper suddenly announced the paper's shut-down following a last edition to be published this weekend. The newspaper's reputation has been destroyed by the infamous phone-hacking scandal which News International has tried desperately to underplay over the past few months, but which suddenly erupted into a fully-blown national outrage this week when it was revealed that the Metropolitan Police had evidence to suggest that not only had the newspaper's journalists been behind the hacking of murdered teenager Millie Dowler, the families of several of the victims of the 7/7 London Underground bombings and the families of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also that the News of the World had been secretly - and illegally - paying members of the Metropolitan Police to get hold of confidential data on up to a thousand people over the years to provide the paper with insider knowledge and many scoops.

These very serious allegations have been revealed against the backdrop of News International's current bid to buy the remaining 61% of shares in the pay-to-view TV company BSkyB, which had been protested vigorously by many people concerned about the unchallenged domination of Rupert Murdoch's media empire in the United Kingdom.

Today's flashmob, organised by the group 'Take Back Parliament', congregated outside the Department of Culture, Media and Sport - the domain of Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who, despite many demands for a full review of News International's suitability and trustworthiness in the light of months of revelations about the phone-hacking and News International's attempts to deceive Parliament during questioning several months ago, has ignored all the warnings and was pushing the Murdoch bid through the official channels at an indecent speed, raising suspicions that David Cameron's close relationship with News International Chief Executive Rebekah Brookes and with Rupert Murdoch himself was influencing Hunt's professional judgement.

The flashmob protesters - some wearing cutout masks of Rupert Murdoch - held up copies of today's London Evening Standard (which is not a Murdoch newspaper), displaying the front page headline "Murdoch Staff Pay Met £100K In Bribes", referring to the illegal supply of highly confidential information to reporters by trusted police officers to News of The World journalists.

Demanding an immediate and complete halt to the BSkyB bid attempt, the protesters also called for the sacking of News International's Chief Executive Rebekah Brookes who was Editor in Chief of the News of The World when all the worst offences were supposedly carried out and who, many maintain, must have known what was happening, despite her frequent denials of any knowledge of the phone-hacking offences. Also of the utmost concern is Brookes' close personal friendship with Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife, and the depth of the debt of gratitude he feels he owes to Rupert Murdoch and his media empire for the massive support he got from the Murdoch press during the last general election.

Many, many questions remain unanswered right now about "who knew what and when did they know it?", and as police enquiries commence it was announced today that five journalists will be arrested, as will ex-News of the World editor Andy Coulson who resigned when the first scandal broke after Royal Correspondent Clive Goodman was famously imprisoned for hacking into Prince William's phone. Coulson immediately became David Cameron's election strategist and press spokesman until more recent discoveries obliged him to resign his post as Cameron's spokesperson. Coulson has always maintained he had no knowledge whatsoever of the phone-hacking, but a cache of emails was handed to the police a few days ago which allegedly contradict Coulson's claims of innocence in the matter, and of the clandestine payments made to corrupt police officers, may be behind the news of Coulson's imminent arrest.

Today's shock announcement of the newspaper's sudden demise saw around 200 journalists made redundant today, almost none of whom were working on the paper during the period in question, prompting National Union of Journalist General secretary Michelle Stanistreet to make the following official statement this afternoon:

“This shows the depths to which Rupert Murdoch and his lieutenants at News International are prepared to stoop. The announcement James Murdoch should be making today is the dismissal of Rebekah Brookes as chief executive of News International. The shocking revelations this week show beyond doubt the systemic abuse and corruption at the top of the operation ran by both Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson. Yet News International has persistently lied about the extent of this scandal and tried to pass it off as a problem created by a couple of rogue reporters.

“Closing the title and sacking over 200 staff in the UK and Ireland, and putting scores more freelances and casuals out of a job, is an act of utter cynical opportunism. Murdoch is clearly banking on this drawing a line under the scandal, removing an obstacle to the BskyB deal, and letting his senior executives off the hook. That simply won’t wash. It is not ordinary working journalists who have destroyed this paper’s credibility – it is the actions of Murdoch’s most senior people.

“James Murdoch was absolutely right when he said in his statement today that ‘Wrongdoers turned a good newsroom bad.’ Yet those wrongdoers are still there today, at the top of the News International empire and ordinary staff at the paper are paying with their livelihoods.

“The closure of the News of the World – a newspaper that has been in print now for 168 years – is a calculated sacrifice by Rupert Murdoch to salvage his reputation and that of News International, in the hope that readers will switch allegiance to a new seven-day operation at The Sun, the government will wave through the BskyB deal and he will widen his grip on the UK’s media landscape.

“It is ironic that 25 years after the Wapping dispute it is the behaviour of Rupert Murdoch and his management that has caused the closure of the newspaper. The NUJ will offer all support to its members at the News of the World facing compulsory redundancies and will be organising an emergency meeting of all journalists at the title to offer advice and support.”

All photos © 2011 Pete Riches

Do not reproduce, alter or reblog my images without my permission.

Hi-Res versions of these files are available on application

about.me/peteriches

Anti-Murdoch flashmob demands Rebekah Brooks' sacking. London, 07.07.2011

On what proved to be a momentous day in UK press history, News International, the owners of the scandal-ridden News of The World newspaper suddenly announced the paper's shut-down following a last edition to be published this weekend. The newspaper's reputation has been destroyed by the infamous phone-hacking scandal which News International has tried desperately to underplay over the past few months, but which suddenly erupted into a fully-blown national outrage this week when it was revealed that the Metropolitan Police had evidence to suggest that not only had the newspaper's journalists been behind the hacking of murdered teenager Millie Dowler, the families of several of the victims of the 7/7 London Underground bombings and the families of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also that the News of the World had been secretly - and illegally - paying members of the Metropolitan Police to get hold of confidential data on up to a thousand people over the years to provide the paper with insider knowledge and many scoops.

These very serious allegations have been revealed against the backdrop of News International's current bid to buy the remaining 61% of shares in the pay-to-view TV company BSkyB, which had been protested vigorously by many people concerned about the unchallenged domination of Rupert Murdoch's media empire in the United Kingdom.

Today's flashmob, organised by the group 'Take Back Parliament', congregated outside the Department of Culture, Media and Sport - the domain of Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who, despite many demands for a full review of News International's suitability and trustworthiness in the light of months of revelations about the phone-hacking and News International's attempts to deceive Parliament during questioning several months ago, has ignored all the warnings and was pushing the Murdoch bid through the official channels at an indecent speed, raising suspicions that David Cameron's close relationship with News International Chief Executive Rebekah Brookes and with Rupert Murdoch himself was influencing Hunt's professional judgement.

The flashmob protesters - some wearing cutout masks of Rupert Murdoch - held up copies of today's London Evening Standard (which is not a Murdoch newspaper), displaying the front page headline "Murdoch Staff Pay Met £100K In Bribes", referring to the illegal supply of highly confidential information to reporters by trusted police officers to News of The World journalists.

Demanding an immediate and complete halt to the BSkyB bid attempt, the protesters also called for the sacking of News International's Chief Executive Rebekah Brookes who was Editor in Chief of the News of The World when all the worst offences were supposedly carried out and who, many maintain, must have known what was happening, despite her frequent denials of any knowledge of the phone-hacking offences. Also of the utmost concern is Brookes' close personal friendship with Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife, and the depth of the debt of gratitude he feels he owes to Rupert Murdoch and his media empire for the massive support he got from the Murdoch press during the last general election.

Many, many questions remain unanswered right now about "who knew what and when did they know it?", and as police enquiries commence it was announced today that five journalists will be arrested, as will ex-News of the World editor Andy Coulson who resigned when the first scandal broke after Royal Correspondent Clive Goodman was famously imprisoned for hacking into Prince William's phone. Coulson immediately became David Cameron's election strategist and press spokesman until more recent discoveries obliged him to resign his post as Cameron's spokesperson. Coulson has always maintained he had no knowledge whatsoever of the phone-hacking, but a cache of emails was handed to the police a few days ago which allegedly contradict Coulson's claims of innocence in the matter, and of the clandestine payments made to corrupt police officers, may be behind the news of Coulson's imminent arrest.

Today's shock announcement of the newspaper's sudden demise saw around 200 journalists made redundant today, almost none of whom were working on the paper during the period in question, prompting National Union of Journalist General secretary Michelle Stanistreet to make the following official statement this afternoon:

“This shows the depths to which Rupert Murdoch and his lieutenants at News International are prepared to stoop. The announcement James Murdoch should be making today is the dismissal of Rebekah Brookes as chief executive of News International. The shocking revelations this week show beyond doubt the systemic abuse and corruption at the top of the operation ran by both Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson. Yet News International has persistently lied about the extent of this scandal and tried to pass it off as a problem created by a couple of rogue reporters.

“Closing the title and sacking over 200 staff in the UK and Ireland, and putting scores more freelances and casuals out of a job, is an act of utter cynical opportunism. Murdoch is clearly banking on this drawing a line under the scandal, removing an obstacle to the BskyB deal, and letting his senior executives off the hook. That simply won’t wash. It is not ordinary working journalists who have destroyed this paper’s credibility – it is the actions of Murdoch’s most senior people.

“James Murdoch was absolutely right when he said in his statement today that ‘Wrongdoers turned a good newsroom bad.’ Yet those wrongdoers are still there today, at the top of the News International empire and ordinary staff at the paper are paying with their livelihoods.

“The closure of the News of the World – a newspaper that has been in print now for 168 years – is a calculated sacrifice by Rupert Murdoch to salvage his reputation and that of News International, in the hope that readers will switch allegiance to a new seven-day operation at The Sun, the government will wave through the BskyB deal and he will widen his grip on the UK’s media landscape.

“It is ironic that 25 years after the Wapping dispute it is the behaviour of Rupert Murdoch and his management that has caused the closure of the newspaper. The NUJ will offer all support to its members at the News of the World facing compulsory redundancies and will be organising an emergency meeting of all journalists at the title to offer advice and support.”

All photos © 2011 Pete Riches

Do not reproduce, alter or reblog my images without my permission.

Hi-Res versions of these files are available on application

about.me/peteriches

Anti-Murdoch flashmob demands Rebekah Brooks' sacking. London, 07.07.2011

On what proved to be a momentous day in UK press history, News International, the owners of the scandal-ridden News of The World newspaper suddenly announced the paper's shut-down following a last edition to be published this weekend. The newspaper's reputation has been destroyed by the infamous phone-hacking scandal which News International has tried desperately to underplay over the past few months, but which suddenly erupted into a fully-blown national outrage this week when it was revealed that the Metropolitan Police had evidence to suggest that not only had the newspaper's journalists been behind the hacking of murdered teenager Millie Dowler, the families of several of the victims of the 7/7 London Underground bombings and the families of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also that the News of the World had been secretly - and illegally - paying members of the Metropolitan Police to get hold of confidential data on up to a thousand people over the years to provide the paper with insider knowledge and many scoops.

These very serious allegations have been revealed against the backdrop of News International's current bid to buy the remaining 61% of shares in the pay-to-view TV company BSkyB, which had been protested vigorously by many people concerned about the unchallenged domination of Rupert Murdoch's media empire in the United Kingdom.

Today's flashmob, organised by the group 'Take Back Parliament', congregated outside the Department of Culture, Media and Sport - the domain of Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who, despite many demands for a full review of News International's suitability and trustworthiness in the light of months of revelations about the phone-hacking and News International's attempts to deceive Parliament during questioning several months ago, has ignored all the warnings and was pushing the Murdoch bid through the official channels at an indecent speed, raising suspicions that David Cameron's close relationship with News International Chief Executive Rebekah Brookes and with Rupert Murdoch himself was influencing Hunt's professional judgement.

The flashmob protesters - some wearing cutout masks of Rupert Murdoch - held up copies of today's London Evening Standard (which is not a Murdoch newspaper), displaying the front page headline "Murdoch Staff Pay Met £100K In Bribes", referring to the illegal supply of highly confidential information to reporters by trusted police officers to News of The World journalists.

Demanding an immediate and complete halt to the BSkyB bid attempt, the protesters also called for the sacking of News International's Chief Executive Rebekah Brookes who was Editor in Chief of the News of The World when all the worst offences were supposedly carried out and who, many maintain, must have known what was happening, despite her frequent denials of any knowledge of the phone-hacking offences. Also of the utmost concern is Brookes' close personal friendship with Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife, and the depth of the debt of gratitude he feels he owes to Rupert Murdoch and his media empire for the massive support he got from the Murdoch press during the last general election.

Many, many questions remain unanswered right now about "who knew what and when did they know it?", and as police enquiries commence it was announced today that five journalists will be arrested, as will ex-News of the World editor Andy Coulson who resigned when the first scandal broke after Royal Correspondent Clive Goodman was famously imprisoned for hacking into Prince William's phone. Coulson immediately became David Cameron's election strategist and press spokesman until more recent discoveries obliged him to resign his post as Cameron's spokesperson. Coulson has always maintained he had no knowledge whatsoever of the phone-hacking, but a cache of emails was handed to the police a few days ago which allegedly contradict Coulson's claims of innocence in the matter, and of the clandestine payments made to corrupt police officers, may be behind the news of Coulson's imminent arrest.

Today's shock announcement of the newspaper's sudden demise saw around 200 journalists made redundant today, almost none of whom were working on the paper during the period in question, prompting National Union of Journalist General secretary Michelle Stanistreet to make the following official statement this afternoon:

“This shows the depths to which Rupert Murdoch and his lieutenants at News International are prepared to stoop. The announcement James Murdoch should be making today is the dismissal of Rebekah Brookes as chief executive of News International. The shocking revelations this week show beyond doubt the systemic abuse and corruption at the top of the operation ran by both Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson. Yet News International has persistently lied about the extent of this scandal and tried to pass it off as a problem created by a couple of rogue reporters.

“Closing the title and sacking over 200 staff in the UK and Ireland, and putting scores more freelances and casuals out of a job, is an act of utter cynical opportunism. Murdoch is clearly banking on this drawing a line under the scandal, removing an obstacle to the BskyB deal, and letting his senior executives off the hook. That simply won’t wash. It is not ordinary working journalists who have destroyed this paper’s credibility – it is the actions of Murdoch’s most senior people.

“James Murdoch was absolutely right when he said in his statement today that ‘Wrongdoers turned a good newsroom bad.’ Yet those wrongdoers are still there today, at the top of the News International empire and ordinary staff at the paper are paying with their livelihoods.

“The closure of the News of the World – a newspaper that has been in print now for 168 years – is a calculated sacrifice by Rupert Murdoch to salvage his reputation and that of News International, in the hope that readers will switch allegiance to a new seven-day operation at The Sun, the government will wave through the BskyB deal and he will widen his grip on the UK’s media landscape.

“It is ironic that 25 years after the Wapping dispute it is the behaviour of Rupert Murdoch and his management that has caused the closure of the newspaper. The NUJ will offer all support to its members at the News of the World facing compulsory redundancies and will be organising an emergency meeting of all journalists at the title to offer advice and support.”

All photos © 2011 Pete Riches

Do not reproduce, alter or reblog my images without my permission.

Hi-Res versions of these files are available on application

about.me/peteriches

Anti-Murdoch flashmob demands Rebekah Brooks' sacking. London, 07.07.2011

On what proved to be a momentous day in UK press history, News International, the owners of the scandal-ridden News of The World newspaper

suddenly announced the paper's shut-down following a last edition to be published this weekend. The newspaper's reputation has been destroyed

by the infamous phone-hacking scandal which News International has tried desperately to underplay over the past few months, but which

suddenly erupted into a fully-blown national outrage this week when it was revealed that the Metropolitan Police had evidence to suggest that

not only had the newspaper's journalists been behind the hacking of murdered teenager Millie Dowler, the families of several of the victims

of the 7/7 London Underground bombings and the families of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also that the News of the World had

been secretly - and illegally - paying members of the Metropolitan Police to get hold of confidential data on up to a thousand people over

the years to provide the paper with insider knowledge and many scoops.

These very serious allegations have been revealed against the backdrop of News International's current bid to buy the remaining 61% of shares

in the pay-to-view TV company BSkyB, which had been protested vigorously by many people concerned about the unchallenged domination of Rupert

Murdoch's media empire in the United Kingdom.

Today's flashmob, organised by the group 'Take Back Parliament', congregated outside the Department of Culture, Media and Sport - the domain

of Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who, despite many demands for a full review of News International's suitability and trustworthiness in the

light of months of revelations about the phone-hacking and News International's attempts to deceive Parliament during questioning several

months ago, has ignored all the warnings and was pushing the Murdoch bid through the official channels at an indecent speed, raising

suspicions that David Cameron's close relationship with News International Chief Executive Rebekah Brookes and with Rupert Murdoch himself

was influencing Hunt's professional judgement.

The flashmob protesters - some wearing cutout masks of Rupert Murdoch - held up copies of today's London Evening Standard (which is not a

Murdoch newspaper), displaying the front page headline "Murdoch Staff Pay Met £100K In Bribes", referring to the illegal supply of highly

confidential information to reporters by trusted police officers to News of The World journalists.

Demanding an immediate and complete halt to the BSkyB bid attempt, the protesters also called for the sacking of News International's Chief

Executive Rebekah Brookes who was Editor in Chief of the News of The World when all the worst offences were supposedly carried out and who,

many maintain, must have known what was happening, despite her frequent denials of any knowledge of the phone-hacking offences. Also of the

utmost concern is Brookes' close personal friendship with Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife, and the depth of the debt of gratitude

he feels he owes to Rupert Murdoch and his media empire for the massive support he got from the Murdoch press during the last general

election.

Many, many questions remain unanswered right now about "who knew what and when did they know it?", and as police enquiries commence it was

announced today that five journalists will be arrested, as will ex-News of the World editor Andy Coulson who resigned when the first scandal

broke after Royal Correspondent Clive Goodman was famously imprisoned for hacking into Prince William's phone. Coulson immediately became

David Cameron's election strategist and press spokesman until more recent discoveries obliged him to resign his post as Cameron's

spokesperson. Coulson has always maintained he had no knowledge whatsoever of the phone-hacking, but a cache of emails was handed to the

police a few days ago which allegedly contradict Coulson's claims of innocence in the matter, and of the clandestine payments made to corrupt

police officers, may be behind the news of Coulson's imminent arrest.

Today's shock announcement of the newspaper's sudden demise saw around 200 journalists made redundant today, almost none of whom were working

on the paper during the period in question, prompting National Union of Journalist General secretary Michelle Stanistreet to make the

following official statement this afternoon:

“This shows the depths to which Rupert Murdoch and his lieutenants at News International are prepared to stoop. The announcement James

Murdoch should be making today is the dismissal of Rebekah Brookes as chief executive of News International. The shocking revelations this

week show beyond doubt the systemic abuse and corruption at the top of the operation ran by both Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson. Yet News

International has persistently lied about the extent of this scandal and tried to pass it off as a problem created by a couple of rogue

reporters.

“Closing the title and sacking over 200 staff in the UK and Ireland, and putting scores more freelances and casuals out of a job, is an act

of utter cynical opportunism. Murdoch is clearly banking on this drawing a line under the scandal, removing an obstacle to the BskyB deal,

and letting his senior executives off the hook. That simply won’t wash. It is not ordinary working journalists who have destroyed this

paper’s credibility – it is the actions of Murdoch’s most senior people.

“James Murdoch was absolutely right when he said in his statement today that ‘Wrongdoers turned a good newsroom bad.’ Yet those wrongdoers

are still there today, at the top of the News International empire and ordinary staff at the paper are paying with their livelihoods.

“The closure of the News of the World – a newspaper that has been in print now for 168 years – is a calculated sacrifice by Rupert Murdoch to

salvage his reputation and that of News International, in the hope that readers will switch allegiance to a new seven-day operation at The

Sun, the government will wave through the BskyB deal and he will widen his grip on the UK’s media landscape.

“It is ironic that 25 years after the Wapping dispute it is the behaviour of Rupert Murdoch and his management that has caused the closure of

the newspaper. The NUJ will offer all support to its members at the News of the World facing compulsory redundancies and will be organising

an emergency meeting of all journalists at the title to offer advice and support.”

All photos © 2011 Pete Riches

Do not reproduce, alter or reblog my images without my permission.

Hi-Res versions of these files are available on application

about.me/peteriches

Anti-Murdoch flashmob demands Rebekah Brooks' sacking. London, 07.07.2011

On what proved to be a momentous day in UK press history, News International, the owners of the scandal-ridden News of The World newspaper suddenly announced the paper's shut-down following a last edition to be published this weekend. The newspaper's reputation has been destroyed by the infamous phone-hacking scandal which News International has tried desperately to underplay over the past few months, but which suddenly erupted into a fully-blown national outrage this week when it was revealed that the Metropolitan Police had evidence to suggest that not only had the newspaper's journalists been behind the hacking of murdered teenager Millie Dowler, the families of several of the victims of the 7/7 London Underground bombings and the families of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also that the News of the World had been secretly - and illegally - paying members of the Metropolitan Police to get hold of confidential data on up to a thousand people over the years to provide the paper with insider knowledge and many scoops.

These very serious allegations have been revealed against the backdrop of News International's current bid to buy the remaining 61% of shares in the pay-to-view TV company BSkyB, which had been protested vigorously by many people concerned about the unchallenged domination of Rupert Murdoch's media empire in the United Kingdom.

Today's flashmob, organised by the group 'Take Back Parliament', congregated outside the Department of Culture, Media and Sport - the domain of Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who, despite many demands for a full review of News International's suitability and trustworthiness in the light of months of revelations about the phone-hacking and News International's attempts to deceive Parliament during questioning several months ago, has ignored all the warnings and was pushing the Murdoch bid through the official channels at an indecent speed, raising suspicions that David Cameron's close relationship with News International Chief Executive Rebekah Brookes and with Rupert Murdoch himself was influencing Hunt's professional judgement.

The flashmob protesters - some wearing cutout masks of Rupert Murdoch - held up copies of today's London Evening Standard (which is not a Murdoch newspaper), displaying the front page headline "Murdoch Staff Pay Met £100K In Bribes", referring to the illegal supply of highly confidential information to reporters by trusted police officers to News of The World journalists.

Demanding an immediate and complete halt to the BSkyB bid attempt, the protesters also called for the sacking of News International's Chief Executive Rebekah Brookes who was Editor in Chief of the News of The World when all the worst offences were supposedly carried out and who, many maintain, must have known what was happening, despite her frequent denials of any knowledge of the phone-hacking offences. Also of the utmost concern is Brookes' close personal friendship with Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife, and the depth of the debt of gratitude he feels he owes to Rupert Murdoch and his media empire for the massive support he got from the Murdoch press during the last general election.

Many, many questions remain unanswered right now about "who knew what and when did they know it?", and as police enquiries commence it was announced today that five journalists will be arrested, as will ex-News of the World editor Andy Coulson who resigned when the first scandal broke after Royal Correspondent Clive Goodman was famously imprisoned for hacking into Prince William's phone. Coulson immediately became David Cameron's election strategist and press spokesman until more recent discoveries obliged him to resign his post as Cameron's spokesperson. Coulson has always maintained he had no knowledge whatsoever of the phone-hacking, but a cache of emails was handed to the police a few days ago which allegedly contradict Coulson's claims of innocence in the matter, and of the clandestine payments made to corrupt police officers, may be behind the news of Coulson's imminent arrest.

Today's shock announcement of the newspaper's sudden demise saw around 200 journalists made redundant today, almost none of whom were working on the paper during the period in question, prompting National Union of Journalist General secretary Michelle Stanistreet to make the following official statement this afternoon:

“This shows the depths to which Rupert Murdoch and his lieutenants at News International are prepared to stoop. The announcement James Murdoch should be making today is the dismissal of Rebekah Brookes as chief executive of News International. The shocking revelations this week show beyond doubt the systemic abuse and corruption at the top of the operation ran by both Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson. Yet News International has persistently lied about the extent of this scandal and tried to pass it off as a problem created by a couple of rogue reporters.

“Closing the title and sacking over 200 staff in the UK and Ireland, and putting scores more freelances and casuals out of a job, is an act of utter cynical opportunism. Murdoch is clearly banking on this drawing a line under the scandal, removing an obstacle to the BskyB deal, and letting his senior executives off the hook. That simply won’t wash. It is not ordinary working journalists who have destroyed this paper’s credibility – it is the actions of Murdoch’s most senior people.

“James Murdoch was absolutely right when he said in his statement today that ‘Wrongdoers turned a good newsroom bad.’ Yet those wrongdoers are still there today, at the top of the News International empire and ordinary staff at the paper are paying with their livelihoods.

“The closure of the News of the World – a newspaper that has been in print now for 168 years – is a calculated sacrifice by Rupert Murdoch to salvage his reputation and that of News International, in the hope that readers will switch allegiance to a new seven-day operation at The Sun, the government will wave through the BskyB deal and he will widen his grip on the UK’s media landscape.

“It is ironic that 25 years after the Wapping dispute it is the behaviour of Rupert Murdoch and his management that has caused the closure of the newspaper. The NUJ will offer all support to its members at the News of the World facing compulsory redundancies and will be organising an emergency meeting of all journalists at the title to offer advice and support.”

All photos © 2011 Pete Riches

Do not reproduce, alter or reblog my images without my permission.

Hi-Res versions of these files are available on application

about.me/peteriches

Anti-Murdoch flashmob demands Rebekah Brooks' sacking. London, 07.07.2011

On what proved to be a momentous day in UK press history, News International, the owners of the scandal-ridden News of The World newspaper suddenly announced the paper's shut-down following a last edition to be published this weekend. The newspaper's reputation has been destroyed by the infamous phone-hacking scandal which News International has tried desperately to underplay over the past few months, but which suddenly erupted into a fully-blown national outrage this week when it was revealed that the Metropolitan Police had evidence to suggest that not only had the newspaper's journalists been behind the hacking of murdered teenager Millie Dowler, the families of several of the victims of the 7/7 London Underground bombings and the families of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also that the News of the World had been secretly - and illegally - paying members of the Metropolitan Police to get hold of confidential data on up to a thousand people over the years to provide the paper with insider knowledge and many scoops.

These very serious allegations have been revealed against the backdrop of News International's current bid to buy the remaining 61% of shares in the pay-to-view TV company BSkyB, which had been protested vigorously by many people concerned about the unchallenged domination of Rupert Murdoch's media empire in the United Kingdom.

Today's flashmob, organised by the group 'Take Back Parliament', congregated outside the Department of Culture, Media and Sport - the domain of Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who, despite many demands for a full review of News International's suitability and trustworthiness in the light of months of revelations about the phone-hacking and News International's attempts to deceive Parliament during questioning several months ago, has ignored all the warnings and was pushing the Murdoch bid through the official channels at an indecent speed, raising suspicions that David Cameron's close relationship with News International Chief Executive Rebekah Brookes and with Rupert Murdoch himself was influencing Hunt's professional judgement.

The flashmob protesters - some wearing cutout masks of Rupert Murdoch - held up copies of today's London Evening Standard (which is not a Murdoch newspaper), displaying the front page headline "Murdoch Staff Pay Met £100K In Bribes", referring to the illegal supply of highly confidential information to reporters by trusted police officers to News of The World journalists.

Demanding an immediate and complete halt to the BSkyB bid attempt, the protesters also called for the sacking of News International's Chief Executive Rebekah Brookes who was Editor in Chief of the News of The World when all the worst offences were supposedly carried out and who, many maintain, must have known what was happening, despite her frequent denials of any knowledge of the phone-hacking offences. Also of the utmost concern is Brookes' close personal friendship with Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife, and the depth of the debt of gratitude he feels he owes to Rupert Murdoch and his media empire for the massive support he got from the Murdoch press during the last general election.

Many, many questions remain unanswered right now about "who knew what and when did they know it?", and as police enquiries commence it was announced today that five journalists will be arrested, as will ex-News of the World editor Andy Coulson who resigned when the first scandal broke after Royal Correspondent Clive Goodman was famously imprisoned for hacking into Prince William's phone. Coulson immediately became David Cameron's election strategist and press spokesman until more recent discoveries obliged him to resign his post as Cameron's spokesperson. Coulson has always maintained he had no knowledge whatsoever of the phone-hacking, but a cache of emails was handed to the police a few days ago which allegedly contradict Coulson's claims of innocence in the matter, and of the clandestine payments made to corrupt police officers, may be behind the news of Coulson's imminent arrest.

Today's shock announcement of the newspaper's sudden demise saw around 200 journalists made redundant today, almost none of whom were working on the paper during the period in question, prompting National Union of Journalist General secretary Michelle Stanistreet to make the following official statement this afternoon:

“This shows the depths to which Rupert Murdoch and his lieutenants at News International are prepared to stoop. The announcement James Murdoch should be making today is the dismissal of Rebekah Brookes as chief executive of News International. The shocking revelations this week show beyond doubt the systemic abuse and corruption at the top of the operation ran by both Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson. Yet News International has persistently lied about the extent of this scandal and tried to pass it off as a problem created by a couple of rogue reporters.

“Closing the title and sacking over 200 staff in the UK and Ireland, and putting scores more freelances and casuals out of a job, is an act of utter cynical opportunism. Murdoch is clearly banking on this drawing a line under the scandal, removing an obstacle to the BskyB deal, and letting his senior executives off the hook. That simply won’t wash. It is not ordinary working journalists who have destroyed this paper’s credibility – it is the actions of Murdoch’s most senior people.

“James Murdoch was absolutely right when he said in his statement today that ‘Wrongdoers turned a good newsroom bad.’ Yet those wrongdoers are still there today, at the top of the News International empire and ordinary staff at the paper are paying with their livelihoods.

“The closure of the News of the World – a newspaper that has been in print now for 168 years – is a calculated sacrifice by Rupert Murdoch to salvage his reputation and that of News International, in the hope that readers will switch allegiance to a new seven-day operation at The Sun, the government will wave through the BskyB deal and he will widen his grip on the UK’s media landscape.

“It is ironic that 25 years after the Wapping dispute it is the behaviour of Rupert Murdoch and his management that has caused the closure of the newspaper. The NUJ will offer all support to its members at the News of the World facing compulsory redundancies and will be organising an emergency meeting of all journalists at the title to offer advice and support.”

All photos © 2011 Pete Riches

Do not reproduce, alter or reblog my images without my permission.

Hi-Res versions of these files are available on application

about.me/peteriches

Anti-Murdoch flashmob demands Rebekah Brooks' sacking. London, 07.07.2011

On what proved to be a momentous day in UK press history, News International, the owners of the scandal-ridden News of The World newspaper suddenly announced the paper's shut-down following a last edition to be published this weekend. The newspaper's reputation has been destroyed by the infamous phone-hacking scandal which News International has tried desperately to underplay over the past few months, but which suddenly erupted into a fully-blown national outrage this week when it was revealed that the Metropolitan Police had evidence to suggest that not only had the newspaper's journalists been behind the hacking of murdered teenager Millie Dowler, the families of several of the victims of the 7/7 London Underground bombings and the families of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also that the News of the World had been secretly - and illegally - paying members of the Metropolitan Police to get hold of confidential data on up to a thousand people over the years to provide the paper with insider knowledge and many scoops.

These very serious allegations have been revealed against the backdrop of News International's current bid to buy the remaining 61% of shares in the pay-to-view TV company BSkyB, which had been protested vigorously by many people concerned about the unchallenged domination of Rupert Murdoch's media empire in the United Kingdom.

Today's flashmob, organised by the group 'Take Back Parliament', congregated outside the Department of Culture, Media and Sport - the domain of Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who, despite many demands for a full review of News International's suitability and trustworthiness in the light of months of revelations about the phone-hacking and News International's attempts to deceive Parliament during questioning several months ago, has ignored all the warnings and was pushing the Murdoch bid through the official channels at an indecent speed, raising suspicions that David Cameron's close relationship with News International Chief Executive Rebekah Brookes and with Rupert Murdoch himself was influencing Hunt's professional judgement.

The flashmob protesters - some wearing cutout masks of Rupert Murdoch - held up copies of today's London Evening Standard (which is not a Murdoch newspaper), displaying the front page headline "Murdoch Staff Pay Met £100K In Bribes", referring to the illegal supply of highly confidential information to reporters by trusted police officers to News of The World journalists.

Demanding an immediate and complete halt to the BSkyB bid attempt, the protesters also called for the sacking of News International's Chief Executive Rebekah Brookes who was Editor in Chief of the News of The World when all the worst offences were supposedly carried out and who, many maintain, must have known what was happening, despite her frequent denials of any knowledge of the phone-hacking offences. Also of the utmost concern is Brookes' close personal friendship with Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife, and the depth of the debt of gratitude he feels he owes to Rupert Murdoch and his media empire for the massive support he got from the Murdoch press during the last general election.

Many, many questions remain unanswered right now about "who knew what and when did they know it?", and as police enquiries commence it was announced today that five journalists will be arrested, as will ex-News of the World editor Andy Coulson who resigned when the first scandal broke after Royal Correspondent Clive Goodman was famously imprisoned for hacking into Prince William's phone. Coulson immediately became David Cameron's election strategist and press spokesman until more recent discoveries obliged him to resign his post as Cameron's spokesperson. Coulson has always maintained he had no knowledge whatsoever of the phone-hacking, but a cache of emails was handed to the police a few days ago which allegedly contradict Coulson's claims of innocence in the matter, and of the clandestine payments made to corrupt police officers, may be behind the news of Coulson's imminent arrest.

Today's shock announcement of the newspaper's sudden demise saw around 200 journalists made redundant today, almost none of whom were working on the paper during the period in question, prompting National Union of Journalist General secretary Michelle Stanistreet to make the following official statement this afternoon:

“This shows the depths to which Rupert Murdoch and his lieutenants at News International are prepared to stoop. The announcement James Murdoch should be making today is the dismissal of Rebekah Brookes as chief executive of News International. The shocking revelations this week show beyond doubt the systemic abuse and corruption at the top of the operation ran by both Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson. Yet News International has persistently lied about the extent of this scandal and tried to pass it off as a problem created by a couple of rogue reporters.

“Closing the title and sacking over 200 staff in the UK and Ireland, and putting scores more freelances and casuals out of a job, is an act of utter cynical opportunism. Murdoch is clearly banking on this drawing a line under the scandal, removing an obstacle to the BskyB deal, and letting his senior executives off the hook. That simply won’t wash. It is not ordinary working journalists who have destroyed this paper’s credibility – it is the actions of Murdoch’s most senior people.

“James Murdoch was absolutely right when he said in his statement today that ‘Wrongdoers turned a good newsroom bad.’ Yet those wrongdoers are still there today, at the top of the News International empire and ordinary staff at the paper are paying with their livelihoods.

“The closure of the News of the World – a newspaper that has been in print now for 168 years – is a calculated sacrifice by Rupert Murdoch to salvage his reputation and that of News International, in the hope that readers will switch allegiance to a new seven-day operation at The Sun, the government will wave through the BskyB deal and he will widen his grip on the UK’s media landscape.

“It is ironic that 25 years after the Wapping dispute it is the behaviour of Rupert Murdoch and his management that has caused the closure of the newspaper. The NUJ will offer all support to its members at the News of the World facing compulsory redundancies and will be organising an emergency meeting of all journalists at the title to offer advice and support.”

All photos © 2011 Pete Riches

Do not reproduce, alter or reblog my images without my permission.

Hi-Res versions of these files are available on application

about.me/peteriches

Anti-Murdoch flashmob demands Rebekah Brooks' sacking. London, 07.07.2011

On what proved to be a momentous day in UK press history, News International, the owners of the scandal-ridden News of The World newspaper suddenly announced the paper's shut-down following a last edition to be published this weekend. The newspaper's reputation has been destroyed by the infamous phone-hacking scandal which News International has tried desperately to underplay over the past few months, but which suddenly erupted into a fully-blown national outrage this week when it was revealed that the Metropolitan Police had evidence to suggest that not only had the newspaper's journalists been behind the hacking of murdered teenager Millie Dowler, the families of several of the victims of the 7/7 London Underground bombings and the families of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also that the News of the World had been secretly - and illegally - paying members of the Metropolitan Police to get hold of confidential data on up to a thousand people over the years to provide the paper with insider knowledge and many scoops.

These very serious allegations have been revealed against the backdrop of News International's current bid to buy the remaining 61% of shares in the pay-to-view TV company BSkyB, which had been protested vigorously by many people concerned about the unchallenged domination of Rupert Murdoch's media empire in the United Kingdom.

Today's flashmob, organised by the group 'Take Back Parliament', congregated outside the Department of Culture, Media and Sport - the domain of Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who, despite many demands for a full review of News International's suitability and trustworthiness in the light of months of revelations about the phone-hacking and News International's attempts to deceive Parliament during questioning several months ago, has ignored all the warnings and was pushing the Murdoch bid through the official channels at an indecent speed, raising suspicions that David Cameron's close relationship with News International Chief Executive Rebekah Brookes and with Rupert Murdoch himself was influencing Hunt's professional judgement.

The flashmob protesters - some wearing cutout masks of Rupert Murdoch - held up copies of today's London Evening Standard (which is not a Murdoch newspaper), displaying the front page headline "Murdoch Staff Pay Met £100K In Bribes", referring to the illegal supply of highly confidential information to reporters by trusted police officers to News of The World journalists.

Demanding an immediate and complete halt to the BSkyB bid attempt, the protesters also called for the sacking of News International's Chief Executive Rebekah Brookes who was Editor in Chief of the News of The World when all the worst offences were supposedly carried out and who, many maintain, must have known what was happening, despite her frequent denials of any knowledge of the phone-hacking offences. Also of the utmost concern is Brookes' close personal friendship with Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife, and the depth of the debt of gratitude he feels he owes to Rupert Murdoch and his media empire for the massive support he got from the Murdoch press during the last general election.

Many, many questions remain unanswered right now about "who knew what and when did they know it?", and as police enquiries commence it was announced today that five journalists will be arrested, as will ex-News of the World editor Andy Coulson who resigned when the first scandal broke after Royal Correspondent Clive Goodman was famously imprisoned for hacking into Prince William's phone. Coulson immediately became David Cameron's election strategist and press spokesman until more recent discoveries obliged him to resign his post as Cameron's spokesperson. Coulson has always maintained he had no knowledge whatsoever of the phone-hacking, but a cache of emails was handed to the police a few days ago which allegedly contradict Coulson's claims of innocence in the matter, and of the clandestine payments made to corrupt police officers, may be behind the news of Coulson's imminent arrest.

Today's shock announcement of the newspaper's sudden demise saw around 200 journalists made redundant today, almost none of whom were working on the paper during the period in question, prompting National Union of Journalist General secretary Michelle Stanistreet to make the following official statement this afternoon:

“This shows the depths to which Rupert Murdoch and his lieutenants at News International are prepared to stoop. The announcement James Murdoch should be making today is the dismissal of Rebekah Brookes as chief executive of News International. The shocking revelations this week show beyond doubt the systemic abuse and corruption at the top of the operation ran by both Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson. Yet News International has persistently lied about the extent of this scandal and tried to pass it off as a problem created by a couple of rogue reporters.

“Closing the title and sacking over 200 staff in the UK and Ireland, and putting scores more freelances and casuals out of a job, is an act of utter cynical opportunism. Murdoch is clearly banking on this drawing a line under the scandal, removing an obstacle to the BskyB deal, and letting his senior executives off the hook. That simply won’t wash. It is not ordinary working journalists who have destroyed this paper’s credibility – it is the actions of Murdoch’s most senior people.

“James Murdoch was absolutely right when he said in his statement today that ‘Wrongdoers turned a good newsroom bad.’ Yet those wrongdoers are still there today, at the top of the News International empire and ordinary staff at the paper are paying with their livelihoods.

“The closure of the News of the World – a newspaper that has been in print now for 168 years – is a calculated sacrifice by Rupert Murdoch to salvage his reputation and that of News International, in the hope that readers will switch allegiance to a new seven-day operation at The Sun, the government will wave through the BskyB deal and he will widen his grip on the UK’s media landscape.

“It is ironic that 25 years after the Wapping dispute it is the behaviour of Rupert Murdoch and his management that has caused the closure of the newspaper. The NUJ will offer all support to its members at the News of the World facing compulsory redundancies and will be organising an emergency meeting of all journalists at the title to offer advice and support.”

All photos © 2011 Pete Riches

Do not reproduce, alter or reblog my images without my permission.

Hi-Res versions of these files are available on application

about.me/peteriches

Anti-Murdoch flashmob demands Rebekah Brooks' sacking. London, 07.07.2011

On what proved to be a momentous day in UK press history, News International, the owners of the scandal-ridden News of The World newspaper suddenly announced the paper's shut-down following a last edition to be published this weekend. The newspaper's reputation has been destroyed by the infamous phone-hacking scandal which News International has tried desperately to underplay over the past few months, but which suddenly erupted into a fully-blown national outrage this week when it was revealed that the Metropolitan Police had evidence to suggest that not only had the newspaper's journalists been behind the hacking of murdered teenager Millie Dowler, the families of several of the victims of the 7/7 London Underground bombings and the families of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also that the News of the World had been secretly - and illegally - paying members of the Metropolitan Police to get hold of confidential data on up to a thousand people over the years to provide the paper with insider knowledge and many scoops.

These very serious allegations have been revealed against the backdrop of News International's current bid to buy the remaining 61% of shares in the pay-to-view TV company BSkyB, which had been protested vigorously by many people concerned about the unchallenged domination of Rupert Murdoch's media empire in the United Kingdom.

Today's flashmob, organised by the group 'Take Back Parliament', congregated outside the Department of Culture, Media and Sport - the domain of Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who, despite many demands for a full review of News International's suitability and trustworthiness in the light of months of revelations about the phone-hacking and News International's attempts to deceive Parliament during questioning several months ago, has ignored all the warnings and was pushing the Murdoch bid through the official channels at an indecent speed, raising suspicions that David Cameron's close relationship with News International Chief Executive Rebekah Brookes and with Rupert Murdoch himself was influencing Hunt's professional judgement.

The flashmob protesters - some wearing cutout masks of Rupert Murdoch - held up copies of today's London Evening Standard (which is not a Murdoch newspaper), displaying the front page headline "Murdoch Staff Pay Met £100K In Bribes", referring to the illegal supply of highly confidential information to reporters by trusted police officers to News of The World journalists.

Demanding an immediate and complete halt to the BSkyB bid attempt, the protesters also called for the sacking of News International's Chief Executive Rebekah Brookes who was Editor in Chief of the News of The World when all the worst offences were supposedly carried out and who, many maintain, must have known what was happening, despite her frequent denials of any knowledge of the phone-hacking offences. Also of the utmost concern is Brookes' close personal friendship with Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife, and the depth of the debt of gratitude he feels he owes to Rupert Murdoch and his media empire for the massive support he got from the Murdoch press during the last general election.

Many, many questions remain unanswered right now about "who knew what and when did they know it?", and as police enquiries commence it was announced today that five journalists will be arrested, as will ex-News of the World editor Andy Coulson who resigned when the first scandal broke after Royal Correspondent Clive Goodman was famously imprisoned for hacking into Prince William's phone. Coulson immediately became David Cameron's election strategist and press spokesman until more recent discoveries obliged him to resign his post as Cameron's spokesperson. Coulson has always maintained he had no knowledge whatsoever of the phone-hacking, but a cache of emails was handed to the police a few days ago which allegedly contradict Coulson's claims of innocence in the matter, and of the clandestine payments made to corrupt police officers, may be behind the news of Coulson's imminent arrest.

Today's shock announcement of the newspaper's sudden demise saw around 200 journalists made redundant today, almost none of whom were working on the paper during the period in question, prompting National Union of Journalist General secretary Michelle Stanistreet to make the following official statement this afternoon:

“This shows the depths to which Rupert Murdoch and his lieutenants at News International are prepared to stoop. The announcement James Murdoch should be making today is the dismissal of Rebekah Brookes as chief executive of News International. The shocking revelations this week show beyond doubt the systemic abuse and corruption at the top of the operation ran by both Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson. Yet News International has persistently lied about the extent of this scandal and tried to pass it off as a problem created by a couple of rogue reporters.

“Closing the title and sacking over 200 staff in the UK and Ireland, and putting scores more freelances and casuals out of a job, is an act of utter cynical opportunism. Murdoch is clearly banking on this drawing a line under the scandal, removing an obstacle to the BskyB deal, and letting his senior executives off the hook. That simply won’t wash. It is not ordinary working journalists who have destroyed this paper’s credibility – it is the actions of Murdoch’s most senior people.

“James Murdoch was absolutely right when he said in his statement today that ‘Wrongdoers turned a good newsroom bad.’ Yet those wrongdoers are still there today, at the top of the News International empire and ordinary staff at the paper are paying with their livelihoods.

“The closure of the News of the World – a newspaper that has been in print now for 168 years – is a calculated sacrifice by Rupert Murdoch to salvage his reputation and that of News International, in the hope that readers will switch allegiance to a new seven-day operation at The Sun, the government will wave through the BskyB deal and he will widen his grip on the UK’s media landscape.

“It is ironic that 25 years after the Wapping dispute it is the behaviour of Rupert Murdoch and his management that has caused the closure of the newspaper. The NUJ will offer all support to its members at the News of the World facing compulsory redundancies and will be organising an emergency meeting of all journalists at the title to offer advice and support.”

All photos © 2011 Pete Riches

Do not reproduce, alter or reblog my images without my permission.

Hi-Res versions of these files are available on application

about.me/peteriches

Anti-Murdoch flashmob demands Rebekah Brooks' sacking. London, 07.07.2011

On what proved to be a momentous day in UK press history, News International, the owners of the scandal-ridden News of The World newspaper suddenly announced the paper's shut-down following a last edition to be published this weekend. The newspaper's reputation has been destroyed by the infamous phone-hacking scandal which News International has tried desperately to underplay over the past few months, but which suddenly erupted into a fully-blown national outrage this week when it was revealed that the Metropolitan Police had evidence to suggest that not only had the newspaper's journalists been behind the hacking of murdered teenager Millie Dowler, the families of several of the victims of the 7/7 London Underground bombings and the families of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also that the News of the World had been secretly - and illegally - paying members of the Metropolitan Police to get hold of confidential data on up to a thousand people over the years to provide the paper with insider knowledge and many scoops.

These very serious allegations have been revealed against the backdrop of News International's current bid to buy the remaining 61% of shares in the pay-to-view TV company BSkyB, which had been protested vigorously by many people concerned about the unchallenged domination of Rupert Murdoch's media empire in the United Kingdom.

Today's flashmob, organised by the group 'Take Back Parliament', congregated outside the Department of Culture, Media and Sport - the domain of Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who, despite many demands for a full review of News International's suitability and trustworthiness in the light of months of revelations about the phone-hacking and News International's attempts to deceive Parliament during questioning several months ago, has ignored all the warnings and was pushing the Murdoch bid through the official channels at an indecent speed, raising suspicions that David Cameron's close relationship with News International Chief Executive Rebekah Brookes and with Rupert Murdoch himself was influencing Hunt's professional judgement.

The flashmob protesters - some wearing cutout masks of Rupert Murdoch - held up copies of today's London Evening Standard (which is not a Murdoch newspaper), displaying the front page headline "Murdoch Staff Pay Met £100K In Bribes", referring to the illegal supply of highly confidential information to reporters by trusted police officers to News of The World journalists.

Demanding an immediate and complete halt to the BSkyB bid attempt, the protesters also called for the sacking of News International's Chief Executive Rebekah Brookes who was Editor in Chief of the News of The World when all the worst offences were supposedly carried out and who, many maintain, must have known what was happening, despite her frequent denials of any knowledge of the phone-hacking offences. Also of the utmost concern is Brookes' close personal friendship with Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife, and the depth of the debt of gratitude he feels he owes to Rupert Murdoch and his media empire for the massive support he got from the Murdoch press during the last general election.

Many, many questions remain unanswered right now about "who knew what and when did they know it?", and as police enquiries commence it was announced today that five journalists will be arrested, as will ex-News of the World editor Andy Coulson who resigned when the first scandal broke after Royal Correspondent Clive Goodman was famously imprisoned for hacking into Prince William's phone. Coulson immediately became David Cameron's election strategist and press spokesman until more recent discoveries obliged him to resign his post as Cameron's spokesperson. Coulson has always maintained he had no knowledge whatsoever of the phone-hacking, but a cache of emails was handed to the police a few days ago which allegedly contradict Coulson's claims of innocence in the matter, and of the clandestine payments made to corrupt police officers, may be behind the news of Coulson's imminent arrest.

Today's shock announcement of the newspaper's sudden demise saw around 200 journalists made redundant today, almost none of whom were working on the paper during the period in question, prompting National Union of Journalist General secretary Michelle Stanistreet to make the following official statement this afternoon:

“This shows the depths to which Rupert Murdoch and his lieutenants at News International are prepared to stoop. The announcement James Murdoch should be making today is the dismissal of Rebekah Brookes as chief executive of News International. The shocking revelations this week show beyond doubt the systemic abuse and corruption at the top of the operation ran by both Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson. Yet News International has persistently lied about the extent of this scandal and tried to pass it off as a problem created by a couple of rogue reporters.

“Closing the title and sacking over 200 staff in the UK and Ireland, and putting scores more freelances and casuals out of a job, is an act of utter cynical opportunism. Murdoch is clearly banking on this drawing a line under the scandal, removing an obstacle to the BskyB deal, and letting his senior executives off the hook. That simply won’t wash. It is not ordinary working journalists who have destroyed this paper’s credibility – it is the actions of Murdoch’s most senior people.

“James Murdoch was absolutely right when he said in his statement today that ‘Wrongdoers turned a good newsroom bad.’ Yet those wrongdoers are still there today, at the top of the News International empire and ordinary staff at the paper are paying with their livelihoods.

“The closure of the News of the World – a newspaper that has been in print now for 168 years – is a calculated sacrifice by Rupert Murdoch to salvage his reputation and that of News International, in the hope that readers will switch allegiance to a new seven-day operation at The Sun, the government will wave through the BskyB deal and he will widen his grip on the UK’s media landscape.

“It is ironic that 25 years after the Wapping dispute it is the behaviour of Rupert Murdoch and his management that has caused the closure of the newspaper. The NUJ will offer all support to its members at the News of the World facing compulsory redundancies and will be organising an emergency meeting of all journalists at the title to offer advice and support.”

All photos © 2011 Pete Riches

Do not reproduce, alter or reblog my images without my permission.

Hi-Res versions of these files are available on application

about.me/peteriches

Anti-Murdoch flashmob demands Rebekah Brooks' sacking. London, 07.07.2011

On what proved to be a momentous day in UK press history, News International, the owners of the scandal-ridden News of The World newspaper

suddenly announced the paper's shut-down following a last edition to be published this weekend. The newspaper's reputation has been destroyed

by the infamous phone-hacking scandal which News International has tried desperately to underplay over the past few months, but which

suddenly erupted into a fully-blown national outrage this week when it was revealed that the Metropolitan Police had evidence to suggest that

not only had the newspaper's journalists been behind the hacking of murdered teenager Millie Dowler, the families of several of the victims

of the 7/7 London Underground bombings and the families of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also that the News of the World had

been secretly - and illegally - paying members of the Metropolitan Police to get hold of confidential data on up to a thousand people over

the years to provide the paper with insider knowledge and many scoops.

These very serious allegations have been revealed against the backdrop of News International's current bid to buy the remaining 61% of shares

in the pay-to-view TV company BSkyB, which had been protested vigorously by many people concerned about the unchallenged domination of Rupert

Murdoch's media empire in the United Kingdom.

Today's flashmob, organised by the group 'Take Back Parliament', congregated outside the Department of Culture, Media and Sport - the domain

of Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who, despite many demands for a full review of News International's suitability and trustworthiness in the

light of months of revelations about the phone-hacking and News International's attempts to deceive Parliament during questioning several

months ago, has ignored all the warnings and was pushing the Murdoch bid through the official channels at an indecent speed, raising

suspicions that David Cameron's close relationship with News International Chief Executive Rebekah Brookes and with Rupert Murdoch himself

was influencing Hunt's professional judgement.

The flashmob protesters - some wearing cutout masks of Rupert Murdoch - held up copies of today's London Evening Standard (which is not a

Murdoch newspaper), displaying the front page headline "Murdoch Staff Pay Met £100K In Bribes", referring to the illegal supply of highly

confidential information to reporters by trusted police officers to News of The World journalists.

Demanding an immediate and complete halt to the BSkyB bid attempt, the protesters also called for the sacking of News International's Chief

Executive Rebekah Brookes who was Editor in Chief of the News of The World when all the worst offences were supposedly carried out and who,

many maintain, must have known what was happening, despite her frequent denials of any knowledge of the phone-hacking offences. Also of the

utmost concern is Brookes' close personal friendship with Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife, and the depth of the debt of gratitude

he feels he owes to Rupert Murdoch and his media empire for the massive support he got from the Murdoch press during the last general

election.

Many, many questions remain unanswered right now about "who knew what and when did they know it?", and as police enquiries commence it was

announced today that five journalists will be arrested, as will ex-News of the World editor Andy Coulson who resigned when the first scandal

broke after Royal Correspondent Clive Goodman was famously imprisoned for hacking into Prince William's phone. Coulson immediately became

David Cameron's election strategist and press spokesman until more recent discoveries obliged him to resign his post as Cameron's

spokesperson. Coulson has always maintained he had no knowledge whatsoever of the phone-hacking, but a cache of emails was handed to the

police a few days ago which allegedly contradict Coulson's claims of innocence in the matter, and of the clandestine payments made to corrupt

police officers, may be behind the news of Coulson's imminent arrest.

Today's shock announcement of the newspaper's sudden demise saw around 200 journalists made redundant today, almost none of whom were working

on the paper during the period in question, prompting National Union of Journalist General secretary Michelle Stanistreet to make the

following official statement this afternoon:

“This shows the depths to which Rupert Murdoch and his lieutenants at News International are prepared to stoop. The announcement James

Murdoch should be making today is the dismissal of Rebekah Brookes as chief executive of News International. The shocking revelations this

week show beyond doubt the systemic abuse and corruption at the top of the operation ran by both Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson. Yet News

International has persistently lied about the extent of this scandal and tried to pass it off as a problem created by a couple of rogue

reporters.

“Closing the title and sacking over 200 staff in the UK and Ireland, and putting scores more freelances and casuals out of a job, is an act

of utter cynical opportunism. Murdoch is clearly banking on this drawing a line under the scandal, removing an obstacle to the BskyB deal,

and letting his senior executives off the hook. That simply won’t wash. It is not ordinary working journalists who have destroyed this

paper’s credibility – it is the actions of Murdoch’s most senior people.

“James Murdoch was absolutely right when he said in his statement today that ‘Wrongdoers turned a good newsroom bad.’ Yet those wrongdoers

are still there today, at the top of the News International empire and ordinary staff at the paper are paying with their livelihoods.

“The closure of the News of the World – a newspaper that has been in print now for 168 years – is a calculated sacrifice by Rupert Murdoch to

salvage his reputation and that of News International, in the hope that readers will switch allegiance to a new seven-day operation at The

Sun, the government will wave through the BskyB deal and he will widen his grip on the UK’s media landscape.

“It is ironic that 25 years after the Wapping dispute it is the behaviour of Rupert Murdoch and his management that has caused the closure of

the newspaper. The NUJ will offer all support to its members at the News of the World facing compulsory redundancies and will be organising

an emergency meeting of all journalists at the title to offer advice and support.”

All photos © 2011 Pete Riches

Do not reproduce, alter or reblog my images without my permission.

Hi-Res versions of these files are available on application

about.me/peteriches

Anti-Murdoch flashmob demands Rebekah Brooks' sacking. London, 07.07.2011

On what proved to be a momentous day in UK press history, News International, the owners of the scandal-ridden News of The World newspaper suddenly announced the paper's shut-down following a last edition to be published this weekend. The newspaper's reputation has been destroyed by the infamous phone-hacking scandal which News International has tried desperately to underplay over the past few months, but which suddenly erupted into a fully-blown national outrage this week when it was revealed that the Metropolitan Police had evidence to suggest that not only had the newspaper's journalists been behind the hacking of murdered teenager Millie Dowler, the families of several of the victims of the 7/7 London Underground bombings and the families of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also that the News of the World had been secretly - and illegally - paying members of the Metropolitan Police to get hold of confidential data on up to a thousand people over the years to provide the paper with insider knowledge and many scoops.

These very serious allegations have been revealed against the backdrop of News International's current bid to buy the remaining 61% of shares in the pay-to-view TV company BSkyB, which had been protested vigorously by many people concerned about the unchallenged domination of Rupert Murdoch's media empire in the United Kingdom.

Today's flashmob, organised by the group 'Take Back Parliament', congregated outside the Department of Culture, Media and Sport - the domain of Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who, despite many demands for a full review of News International's suitability and trustworthiness in the light of months of revelations about the phone-hacking and News International's attempts to deceive Parliament during questioning several months ago, has ignored all the warnings and was pushing the Murdoch bid through the official channels at an indecent speed, raising suspicions that David Cameron's close relationship with News International Chief Executive Rebekah Brookes and with Rupert Murdoch himself was influencing Hunt's professional judgement.

The flashmob protesters - some wearing cutout masks of Rupert Murdoch - held up copies of today's London Evening Standard (which is not a Murdoch newspaper), displaying the front page headline "Murdoch Staff Pay Met £100K In Bribes", referring to the illegal supply of highly confidential information to reporters by trusted police officers to News of The World journalists.

Demanding an immediate and complete halt to the BSkyB bid attempt, the protesters also called for the sacking of News International's Chief Executive Rebekah Brookes who was Editor in Chief of the News of The World when all the worst offences were supposedly carried out and who, many maintain, must have known what was happening, despite her frequent denials of any knowledge of the phone-hacking offences. Also of the utmost concern is Brookes' close personal friendship with Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife, and the depth of the debt of gratitude he feels he owes to Rupert Murdoch and his media empire for the massive support he got from the Murdoch press during the last general election.

Many, many questions remain unanswered right now about "who knew what and when did they know it?", and as police enquiries commence it was announced today that five journalists will be arrested, as will ex-News of the World editor Andy Coulson who resigned when the first scandal broke after Royal Correspondent Clive Goodman was famously imprisoned for hacking into Prince William's phone. Coulson immediately became David Cameron's election strategist and press spokesman until more recent discoveries obliged him to resign his post as Cameron's spokesperson. Coulson has always maintained he had no knowledge whatsoever of the phone-hacking, but a cache of emails was handed to the police a few days ago which allegedly contradict Coulson's claims of innocence in the matter, and of the clandestine payments made to corrupt police officers, may be behind the news of Coulson's imminent arrest.

Today's shock announcement of the newspaper's sudden demise saw around 200 journalists made redundant today, almost none of whom were working on the paper during the period in question, prompting National Union of Journalist General secretary Michelle Stanistreet to make the following official statement this afternoon:

“This shows the depths to which Rupert Murdoch and his lieutenants at News International are prepared to stoop. The announcement James Murdoch should be making today is the dismissal of Rebekah Brookes as chief executive of News International. The shocking revelations this week show beyond doubt the systemic abuse and corruption at the top of the operation ran by both Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson. Yet News International has persistently lied about the extent of this scandal and tried to pass it off as a problem created by a couple of rogue reporters.

“Closing the title and sacking over 200 staff in the UK and Ireland, and putting scores more freelances and casuals out of a job, is an act of utter cynical opportunism. Murdoch is clearly banking on this drawing a line under the scandal, removing an obstacle to the BskyB deal, and letting his senior executives off the hook. That simply won’t wash. It is not ordinary working journalists who have destroyed this paper’s credibility – it is the actions of Murdoch’s most senior people.

“James Murdoch was absolutely right when he said in his statement today that ‘Wrongdoers turned a good newsroom bad.’ Yet those wrongdoers are still there today, at the top of the News International empire and ordinary staff at the paper are paying with their livelihoods.

“The closure of the News of the World – a newspaper that has been in print now for 168 years – is a calculated sacrifice by Rupert Murdoch to salvage his reputation and that of News International, in the hope that readers will switch allegiance to a new seven-day operation at The Sun, the government will wave through the BskyB deal and he will widen his grip on the UK’s media landscape.

“It is ironic that 25 years after the Wapping dispute it is the behaviour of Rupert Murdoch and his management that has caused the closure of the newspaper. The NUJ will offer all support to its members at the News of the World facing compulsory redundancies and will be organising an emergency meeting of all journalists at the title to offer advice and support.”

All photos © 2011 Pete Riches

Do not reproduce, alter or reblog my images without my permission.

Hi-Res versions of these files are available on application

about.me/peteriches

Anti-Murdoch flashmob demands Rebekah Brooks' sacking. London, 07.07.2011

On what proved to be a momentous day in UK press history, News International, the owners of the scandal-ridden News of The World newspaper

suddenly announced the paper's shut-down following a last edition to be published this weekend. The newspaper's reputation has been destroyed

by the infamous phone-hacking scandal which News International has tried desperately to underplay over the past few months, but which

suddenly erupted into a fully-blown national outrage this week when it was revealed that the Metropolitan Police had evidence to suggest that

not only had the newspaper's journalists been behind the hacking of murdered teenager Millie Dowler, the families of several of the victims

of the 7/7 London Underground bombings and the families of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also that the News of the World had

been secretly - and illegally - paying members of the Metropolitan Police to get hold of confidential data on up to a thousand people over

the years to provide the paper with insider knowledge and many scoops.

These very serious allegations have been revealed against the backdrop of News International's current bid to buy the remaining 61% of shares

in the pay-to-view TV company BSkyB, which had been protested vigorously by many people concerned about the unchallenged domination of Rupert

Murdoch's media empire in the United Kingdom.

Today's flashmob, organised by the group 'Take Back Parliament', congregated outside the Department of Culture, Media and Sport - the domain

of Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who, despite many demands for a full review of News International's suitability and trustworthiness in the

light of months of revelations about the phone-hacking and News International's attempts to deceive Parliament during questioning several

months ago, has ignored all the warnings and was pushing the Murdoch bid through the official channels at an indecent speed, raising

suspicions that David Cameron's close relationship with News International Chief Executive Rebekah Brookes and with Rupert Murdoch himself

was influencing Hunt's professional judgement.

The flashmob protesters - some wearing cutout masks of Rupert Murdoch - held up copies of today's London Evening Standard (which is not a

Murdoch newspaper), displaying the front page headline "Murdoch Staff Pay Met £100K In Bribes", referring to the illegal supply of highly

confidential information to reporters by trusted police officers to News of The World journalists.

Demanding an immediate and complete halt to the BSkyB bid attempt, the protesters also called for the sacking of News International's Chief

Executive Rebekah Brookes who was Editor in Chief of the News of The World when all the worst offences were supposedly carried out and who,

many maintain, must have known what was happening, despite her frequent denials of any knowledge of the phone-hacking offences. Also of the

utmost concern is Brookes' close personal friendship with Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife, and the depth of the debt of gratitude

he feels he owes to Rupert Murdoch and his media empire for the massive support he got from the Murdoch press during the last general

election.

Many, many questions remain unanswered right now about "who knew what and when did they know it?", and as police enquiries commence it was

announced today that five journalists will be arrested, as will ex-News of the World editor Andy Coulson who resigned when the first scandal

broke after Royal Correspondent Clive Goodman was famously imprisoned for hacking into Prince William's phone. Coulson immediately became

David Cameron's election strategist and press spokesman until more recent discoveries obliged him to resign his post as Cameron's

spokesperson. Coulson has always maintained he had no knowledge whatsoever of the phone-hacking, but a cache of emails was handed to the

police a few days ago which allegedly contradict Coulson's claims of innocence in the matter, and of the clandestine payments made to corrupt

police officers, may be behind the news of Coulson's imminent arrest.

Today's shock announcement of the newspaper's sudden demise saw around 200 journalists made redundant today, almost none of whom were working

on the paper during the period in question, prompting National Union of Journalist General secretary Michelle Stanistreet to make the

following official statement this afternoon:

“This shows the depths to which Rupert Murdoch and his lieutenants at News International are prepared to stoop. The announcement James

Murdoch should be making today is the dismissal of Rebekah Brookes as chief executive of News International. The shocking revelations this

week show beyond doubt the systemic abuse and corruption at the top of the operation ran by both Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson. Yet News

International has persistently lied about the extent of this scandal and tried to pass it off as a problem created by a couple of rogue

reporters.

“Closing the title and sacking over 200 staff in the UK and Ireland, and putting scores more freelances and casuals out of a job, is an act

of utter cynical opportunism. Murdoch is clearly banking on this drawing a line under the scandal, removing an obstacle to the BskyB deal,

and letting his senior executives off the hook. That simply won’t wash. It is not ordinary working journalists who have destroyed this

paper’s credibility – it is the actions of Murdoch’s most senior people.

“James Murdoch was absolutely right when he said in his statement today that ‘Wrongdoers turned a good newsroom bad.’ Yet those wrongdoers

are still there today, at the top of the News International empire and ordinary staff at the paper are paying with their livelihoods.

“The closure of the News of the World – a newspaper that has been in print now for 168 years – is a calculated sacrifice by Rupert Murdoch to

salvage his reputation and that of News International, in the hope that readers will switch allegiance to a new seven-day operation at The

Sun, the government will wave through the BskyB deal and he will widen his grip on the UK’s media landscape.

“It is ironic that 25 years after the Wapping dispute it is the behaviour of Rupert Murdoch and his management that has caused the closure of

the newspaper. The NUJ will offer all support to its members at the News of the World facing compulsory redundancies and will be organising

an emergency meeting of all journalists at the title to offer advice and support.”

All photos © 2011 Pete Riches

Do not reproduce, alter or reblog my images without my permission.

Hi-Res versions of these files are available on application

about.me/peteriches

Anti-Murdoch flashmob demands Rebekah Brooks' sacking. London, 07.07.2011

On what proved to be a momentous day in UK press history, News International, the owners of the scandal-ridden News of The World newspaper suddenly announced the paper's shut-down following a last edition to be published this weekend. The newspaper's reputation has been destroyed by the infamous phone-hacking scandal which News International has tried desperately to underplay over the past few months, but which suddenly erupted into a fully-blown national outrage this week when it was revealed that the Metropolitan Police had evidence to suggest that not only had the newspaper's journalists been behind the hacking of murdered teenager Millie Dowler, the families of several of the victims of the 7/7 London Underground bombings and the families of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also that the News of the World had been secretly - and illegally - paying members of the Metropolitan Police to get hold of confidential data on up to a thousand people over the years to provide the paper with insider knowledge and many scoops.

These very serious allegations have been revealed against the backdrop of News International's current bid to buy the remaining 61% of shares in the pay-to-view TV company BSkyB, which had been protested vigorously by many people concerned about the unchallenged domination of Rupert Murdoch's media empire in the United Kingdom.

Today's flashmob, organised by the group 'Take Back Parliament', congregated outside the Department of Culture, Media and Sport - the domain of Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who, despite many demands for a full review of News International's suitability and trustworthiness in the light of months of revelations about the phone-hacking and News International's attempts to deceive Parliament during questioning several months ago, has ignored all the warnings and was pushing the Murdoch bid through the official channels at an indecent speed, raising suspicions that David Cameron's close relationship with News International Chief Executive Rebekah Brookes and with Rupert Murdoch himself was influencing Hunt's professional judgement.

The flashmob protesters - some wearing cutout masks of Rupert Murdoch - held up copies of today's London Evening Standard (which is not a Murdoch newspaper), displaying the front page headline "Murdoch Staff Pay Met £100K In Bribes", referring to the illegal supply of highly confidential information to reporters by trusted police officers to News of The World journalists.

Demanding an immediate and complete halt to the BSkyB bid attempt, the protesters also called for the sacking of News International's Chief Executive Rebekah Brookes who was Editor in Chief of the News of The World when all the worst offences were supposedly carried out and who, many maintain, must have known what was happening, despite her frequent denials of any knowledge of the phone-hacking offences. Also of the utmost concern is Brookes' close personal friendship with Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife, and the depth of the debt of gratitude he feels he owes to Rupert Murdoch and his media empire for the massive support he got from the Murdoch press during the last general election.

Many, many questions remain unanswered right now about "who knew what and when did they know it?", and as police enquiries commence it was announced today that five journalists will be arrested, as will ex-News of the World editor Andy Coulson who resigned when the first scandal broke after Royal Correspondent Clive Goodman was famously imprisoned for hacking into Prince William's phone. Coulson immediately became David Cameron's election strategist and press spokesman until more recent discoveries obliged him to resign his post as Cameron's spokesperson. Coulson has always maintained he had no knowledge whatsoever of the phone-hacking, but a cache of emails was handed to the police a few days ago which allegedly contradict Coulson's claims of innocence in the matter, and of the clandestine payments made to corrupt police officers, may be behind the news of Coulson's imminent arrest.

Today's shock announcement of the newspaper's sudden demise saw around 200 journalists made redundant today, almost none of whom were working on the paper during the period in question, prompting National Union of Journalist General secretary Michelle Stanistreet to make the following official statement this afternoon:

“This shows the depths to which Rupert Murdoch and his lieutenants at News International are prepared to stoop. The announcement James Murdoch should be making today is the dismissal of Rebekah Brookes as chief executive of News International. The shocking revelations this week show beyond doubt the systemic abuse and corruption at the top of the operation ran by both Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson. Yet News International has persistently lied about the extent of this scandal and tried to pass it off as a problem created by a couple of rogue reporters.

“Closing the title and sacking over 200 staff in the UK and Ireland, and putting scores more freelances and casuals out of a job, is an act of utter cynical opportunism. Murdoch is clearly banking on this drawing a line under the scandal, removing an obstacle to the BskyB deal, and letting his senior executives off the hook. That simply won’t wash. It is not ordinary working journalists who have destroyed this paper’s credibility – it is the actions of Murdoch’s most senior people.

“James Murdoch was absolutely right when he said in his statement today that ‘Wrongdoers turned a good newsroom bad.’ Yet those wrongdoers are still there today, at the top of the News International empire and ordinary staff at the paper are paying with their livelihoods.

“The closure of the News of the World – a newspaper that has been in print now for 168 years – is a calculated sacrifice by Rupert Murdoch to salvage his reputation and that of News International, in the hope that readers will switch allegiance to a new seven-day operation at The Sun, the government will wave through the BskyB deal and he will widen his grip on the UK’s media landscape.

“It is ironic that 25 years after the Wapping dispute it is the behaviour of Rupert Murdoch and his management that has caused the closure of the newspaper. The NUJ will offer all support to its members at the News of the World facing compulsory redundancies and will be organising an emergency meeting of all journalists at the title to offer advice and support.”

All photos © 2011 Pete Riches

Do not reproduce, alter or reblog my images without my permission.

Hi-Res versions of these files are available on application

about.me/peteriches

Anti-Murdoch flashmob demands Rebekah Brooks' sacking. London, 07.07.2011

On what proved to be a momentous day in UK press history, News International, the owners of the scandal-ridden News of The World newspaper suddenly announced the paper's shut-down following a last edition to be published this weekend. The newspaper's reputation has been destroyed by the infamous phone-hacking scandal which News International has tried desperately to underplay over the past few months, but which suddenly erupted into a fully-blown national outrage this week when it was revealed that the Metropolitan Police had evidence to suggest that not only had the newspaper's journalists been behind the hacking of murdered teenager Millie Dowler, the families of several of the victims of the 7/7 London Underground bombings and the families of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also that the News of the World had been secretly - and illegally - paying members of the Metropolitan Police to get hold of confidential data on up to a thousand people over the years to provide the paper with insider knowledge and many scoops.

These very serious allegations have been revealed against the backdrop of News International's current bid to buy the remaining 61% of shares in the pay-to-view TV company BSkyB, which had been protested vigorously by many people concerned about the unchallenged domination of Rupert Murdoch's media empire in the United Kingdom.

Today's flashmob, organised by the group 'Take Back Parliament', congregated outside the Department of Culture, Media and Sport - the domain of Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who, despite many demands for a full review of News International's suitability and trustworthiness in the light of months of revelations about the phone-hacking and News International's attempts to deceive Parliament during questioning several months ago, has ignored all the warnings and was pushing the Murdoch bid through the official channels at an indecent speed, raising suspicions that David Cameron's close relationship with News International Chief Executive Rebekah Brookes and with Rupert Murdoch himself was influencing Hunt's professional judgement.

The flashmob protesters - some wearing cutout masks of Rupert Murdoch - held up copies of today's London Evening Standard (which is not a Murdoch newspaper), displaying the front page headline "Murdoch Staff Pay Met £100K In Bribes", referring to the illegal supply of highly confidential information to reporters by trusted police officers to News of The World journalists.

Demanding an immediate and complete halt to the BSkyB bid attempt, the protesters also called for the sacking of News International's Chief Executive Rebekah Brookes who was Editor in Chief of the News of The World when all the worst offences were supposedly carried out and who, many maintain, must have known what was happening, despite her frequent denials of any knowledge of the phone-hacking offences. Also of the utmost concern is Brookes' close personal friendship with Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife, and the depth of the debt of gratitude he feels he owes to Rupert Murdoch and his media empire for the massive support he got from the Murdoch press during the last general election.

Many, many questions remain unanswered right now about "who knew what and when did they know it?", and as police enquiries commence it was announced today that five journalists will be arrested, as will ex-News of the World editor Andy Coulson who resigned when the first scandal broke after Royal Correspondent Clive Goodman was famously imprisoned for hacking into Prince William's phone. Coulson immediately became David Cameron's election strategist and press spokesman until more recent discoveries obliged him to resign his post as Cameron's spokesperson. Coulson has always maintained he had no knowledge whatsoever of the phone-hacking, but a cache of emails was handed to the police a few days ago which allegedly contradict Coulson's claims of innocence in the matter, and of the clandestine payments made to corrupt police officers, may be behind the news of Coulson's imminent arrest.

Today's shock announcement of the newspaper's sudden demise saw around 200 journalists made redundant today, almost none of whom were working on the paper during the period in question, prompting National Union of Journalist General secretary Michelle Stanistreet to make the following official statement this afternoon:

“This shows the depths to which Rupert Murdoch and his lieutenants at News International are prepared to stoop. The announcement James Murdoch should be making today is the dismissal of Rebekah Brookes as chief executive of News International. The shocking revelations this week show beyond doubt the systemic abuse and corruption at the top of the operation ran by both Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson. Yet News International has persistently lied about the extent of this scandal and tried to pass it off as a problem created by a couple of rogue reporters.

“Closing the title and sacking over 200 staff in the UK and Ireland, and putting scores more freelances and casuals out of a job, is an act of utter cynical opportunism. Murdoch is clearly banking on this drawing a line under the scandal, removing an obstacle to the BskyB deal, and letting his senior executives off the hook. That simply won’t wash. It is not ordinary working journalists who have destroyed this paper’s credibility – it is the actions of Murdoch’s most senior people.

“James Murdoch was absolutely right when he said in his statement today that ‘Wrongdoers turned a good newsroom bad.’ Yet those wrongdoers are still there today, at the top of the News International empire and ordinary staff at the paper are paying with their livelihoods.

“The closure of the News of the World – a newspaper that has been in print now for 168 years – is a calculated sacrifice by Rupert Murdoch to salvage his reputation and that of News International, in the hope that readers will switch allegiance to a new seven-day operation at The Sun, the government will wave through the BskyB deal and he will widen his grip on the UK’s media landscape.

“It is ironic that 25 years after the Wapping dispute it is the behaviour of Rupert Murdoch and his management that has caused the closure of the newspaper. The NUJ will offer all support to its members at the News of the World facing compulsory redundancies and will be organising an emergency meeting of all journalists at the title to offer advice and support.”

All photos © 2011 Pete Riches

Do not reproduce, alter or reblog my images without my permission.

Hi-Res versions of these files are available on application

about.me/peteriches

British actor Hugh Grant at a rally for media reform organised by Hacked Off and the Co-ordinating Centre for Media Reform in London's Centra Hall Westminster United Kingdom 17.May. 2012

British actor Hugh Grant with Harriet vHarman MP at a rally for media reform organised by Hacked Off and the Co-ordinating Centre for Media Reform in London's Centra Hall Westminster United Kingdom 17.May. 2012

Our latest 'Free Speech Cafe' for PEN members tackled the issue of press regulation in the context of the News of the World phone hacking scandal.

PEN members were joined by Stephen Abell, Director of the Press Complaints Commission, and journalist Brian Cathcart, founder of the Hacked Off Campaign. The discussion was chaired by Rowenna Davis.

Photo: Robert Sharp / English PEN

Anti-Murdoch flashmob demands Rebekah Brooks' sacking. London, 07.07.2011

On what proved to be a momentous day in UK press history, News International, the owners of the scandal-ridden News of The World newspaper suddenly announced the paper's shut-down following a last edition to be published this weekend. The newspaper's reputation has been destroyed by the infamous phone-hacking scandal which News International has tried desperately to underplay over the past few months, but which suddenly erupted into a fully-blown national outrage this week when it was revealed that the Metropolitan Police had evidence to suggest that not only had the newspaper's journalists been behind the hacking of murdered teenager Millie Dowler, the families of several of the victims of the 7/7 London Underground bombings and the families of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also that the News of the World had been secretly - and illegally - paying members of the Metropolitan Police to get hold of confidential data on up to a thousand people over the years to provide the paper with insider knowledge and many scoops.

These very serious allegations have been revealed against the backdrop of News International's current bid to buy the remaining 61% of shares in the pay-to-view TV company BSkyB, which had been protested vigorously by many people concerned about the unchallenged domination of Rupert Murdoch's media empire in the United Kingdom.

Today's flashmob, organised by the group 'Take Back Parliament', congregated outside the Department of Culture, Media and Sport - the domain of Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who, despite many demands for a full review of News International's suitability and trustworthiness in the light of months of revelations about the phone-hacking and News International's attempts to deceive Parliament during questioning several months ago, has ignored all the warnings and was pushing the Murdoch bid through the official channels at an indecent speed, raising suspicions that David Cameron's close relationship with News International Chief Executive Rebekah Brookes and with Rupert Murdoch himself was influencing Hunt's professional judgement.

The flashmob protesters - some wearing cutout masks of Rupert Murdoch - held up copies of today's London Evening Standard (which is not a Murdoch newspaper), displaying the front page headline "Murdoch Staff Pay Met £100K In Bribes", referring to the illegal supply of highly confidential information to reporters by trusted police officers to News of The World journalists.

Demanding an immediate and complete halt to the BSkyB bid attempt, the protesters also called for the sacking of News International's Chief Executive Rebekah Brookes who was Editor in Chief of the News of The World when all the worst offences were supposedly carried out and who, many maintain, must have known what was happening, despite her frequent denials of any knowledge of the phone-hacking offences. Also of the utmost concern is Brookes' close personal friendship with Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife, and the depth of the debt of gratitude he feels he owes to Rupert Murdoch and his media empire for the massive support he got from the Murdoch press during the last general election.

Many, many questions remain unanswered right now about "who knew what and when did they know it?", and as police enquiries commence it was announced today that five journalists will be arrested, as will ex-News of the World editor Andy Coulson who resigned when the first scandal broke after Royal Correspondent Clive Goodman was famously imprisoned for hacking into Prince William's phone. Coulson immediately became David Cameron's election strategist and press spokesman until more recent discoveries obliged him to resign his post as Cameron's spokesperson. Coulson has always maintained he had no knowledge whatsoever of the phone-hacking, but a cache of emails was handed to the police a few days ago which allegedly contradict Coulson's claims of innocence in the matter, and of the clandestine payments made to corrupt police officers, may be behind the news of Coulson's imminent arrest.

Today's shock announcement of the newspaper's sudden demise saw around 200 journalists made redundant today, almost none of whom were working on the paper during the period in question, prompting National Union of Journalist General secretary Michelle Stanistreet to make the following official statement this afternoon:

“This shows the depths to which Rupert Murdoch and his lieutenants at News International are prepared to stoop. The announcement James Murdoch should be making today is the dismissal of Rebekah Brookes as chief executive of News International. The shocking revelations this week show beyond doubt the systemic abuse and corruption at the top of the operation ran by both Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson. Yet News International has persistently lied about the extent of this scandal and tried to pass it off as a problem created by a couple of rogue reporters.

“Closing the title and sacking over 200 staff in the UK and Ireland, and putting scores more freelances and casuals out of a job, is an act of utter cynical opportunism. Murdoch is clearly banking on this drawing a line under the scandal, removing an obstacle to the BskyB deal, and letting his senior executives off the hook. That simply won’t wash. It is not ordinary working journalists who have destroyed this paper’s credibility – it is the actions of Murdoch’s most senior people.

“James Murdoch was absolutely right when he said in his statement today that ‘Wrongdoers turned a good newsroom bad.’ Yet those wrongdoers are still there today, at the top of the News International empire and ordinary staff at the paper are paying with their livelihoods.

“The closure of the News of the World – a newspaper that has been in print now for 168 years – is a calculated sacrifice by Rupert Murdoch to salvage his reputation and that of News International, in the hope that readers will switch allegiance to a new seven-day operation at The Sun, the government will wave through the BskyB deal and he will widen his grip on the UK’s media landscape.

“It is ironic that 25 years after the Wapping dispute it is the behaviour of Rupert Murdoch and his management that has caused the closure of the newspaper. The NUJ will offer all support to its members at the News of the World facing compulsory redundancies and will be organising an emergency meeting of all journalists at the title to offer advice and support.”

All photos © 2011 Pete Riches

Do not reproduce, alter or reblog my images without my permission.

Hi-Res versions of these files are available on application

about.me/peteriches

Anti-Murdoch flashmob demands Rebekah Brooks' sacking. London, 07.07.2011

On what proved to be a momentous day in UK press history, News International, the owners of the scandal-ridden News of The World newspaper suddenly announced the paper's shut-down following a last edition to be published this weekend. The newspaper's reputation has been destroyed by the infamous phone-hacking scandal which News International has tried desperately to underplay over the past few months, but which suddenly erupted into a fully-blown national outrage this week when it was revealed that the Metropolitan Police had evidence to suggest that not only had the newspaper's journalists been behind the hacking of murdered teenager Millie Dowler, the families of several of the victims of the 7/7 London Underground bombings and the families of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also that the News of the World had been secretly - and illegally - paying members of the Metropolitan Police to get hold of confidential data on up to a thousand people over the years to provide the paper with insider knowledge and many scoops.

These very serious allegations have been revealed against the backdrop of News International's current bid to buy the remaining 61% of shares in the pay-to-view TV company BSkyB, which had been protested vigorously by many people concerned about the unchallenged domination of Rupert Murdoch's media empire in the United Kingdom.

Today's flashmob, organised by the group 'Take Back Parliament', congregated outside the Department of Culture, Media and Sport - the domain of Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who, despite many demands for a full review of News International's suitability and trustworthiness in the light of months of revelations about the phone-hacking and News International's attempts to deceive Parliament during questioning several months ago, has ignored all the warnings and was pushing the Murdoch bid through the official channels at an indecent speed, raising suspicions that David Cameron's close relationship with News International Chief Executive Rebekah Brookes and with Rupert Murdoch himself was influencing Hunt's professional judgement.

The flashmob protesters - some wearing cutout masks of Rupert Murdoch - held up copies of today's London Evening Standard (which is not a Murdoch newspaper), displaying the front page headline "Murdoch Staff Pay Met £100K In Bribes", referring to the illegal supply of highly confidential information to reporters by trusted police officers to News of The World journalists.

Demanding an immediate and complete halt to the BSkyB bid attempt, the protesters also called for the sacking of News International's Chief Executive Rebekah Brookes who was Editor in Chief of the News of The World when all the worst offences were supposedly carried out and who, many maintain, must have known what was happening, despite her frequent denials of any knowledge of the phone-hacking offences. Also of the utmost concern is Brookes' close personal friendship with Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife, and the depth of the debt of gratitude he feels he owes to Rupert Murdoch and his media empire for the massive support he got from the Murdoch press during the last general election.

Many, many questions remain unanswered right now about "who knew what and when did they know it?", and as police enquiries commence it was announced today that five journalists will be arrested, as will ex-News of the World editor Andy Coulson who resigned when the first scandal broke after Royal Correspondent Clive Goodman was famously imprisoned for hacking into Prince William's phone. Coulson immediately became David Cameron's election strategist and press spokesman until more recent discoveries obliged him to resign his post as Cameron's spokesperson. Coulson has always maintained he had no knowledge whatsoever of the phone-hacking, but a cache of emails was handed to the police a few days ago which allegedly contradict Coulson's claims of innocence in the matter, and of the clandestine payments made to corrupt police officers, may be behind the news of Coulson's imminent arrest.

Today's shock announcement of the newspaper's sudden demise saw around 200 journalists made redundant today, almost none of whom were working on the paper during the period in question, prompting National Union of Journalist General secretary Michelle Stanistreet to make the following official statement this afternoon:

“This shows the depths to which Rupert Murdoch and his lieutenants at News International are prepared to stoop. The announcement James Murdoch should be making today is the dismissal of Rebekah Brookes as chief executive of News International. The shocking revelations this week show beyond doubt the systemic abuse and corruption at the top of the operation ran by both Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson. Yet News International has persistently lied about the extent of this scandal and tried to pass it off as a problem created by a couple of rogue reporters.

“Closing the title and sacking over 200 staff in the UK and Ireland, and putting scores more freelances and casuals out of a job, is an act of utter cynical opportunism. Murdoch is clearly banking on this drawing a line under the scandal, removing an obstacle to the BskyB deal, and letting his senior executives off the hook. That simply won’t wash. It is not ordinary working journalists who have destroyed this paper’s credibility – it is the actions of Murdoch’s most senior people.

“James Murdoch was absolutely right when he said in his statement today that ‘Wrongdoers turned a good newsroom bad.’ Yet those wrongdoers are still there today, at the top of the News International empire and ordinary staff at the paper are paying with their livelihoods.

“The closure of the News of the World – a newspaper that has been in print now for 168 years – is a calculated sacrifice by Rupert Murdoch to salvage his reputation and that of News International, in the hope that readers will switch allegiance to a new seven-day operation at The Sun, the government will wave through the BskyB deal and he will widen his grip on the UK’s media landscape.

“It is ironic that 25 years after the Wapping dispute it is the behaviour of Rupert Murdoch and his management that has caused the closure of the newspaper. The NUJ will offer all support to its members at the News of the World facing compulsory redundancies and will be organising an emergency meeting of all journalists at the title to offer advice and support.”

All photos © 2011 Pete Riches

Do not reproduce, alter or reblog my images without my permission.

Hi-Res versions of these files are available on application

about.me/peteriches

Anti-Murdoch flashmob demands Rebekah Brooks' sacking. London, 07.07.2011

On what proved to be a momentous day in UK press history, News International, the owners of the scandal-ridden News of The World newspaper

suddenly announced the paper's shut-down following a last edition to be published this weekend. The newspaper's reputation has been destroyed

by the infamous phone-hacking scandal which News International has tried desperately to underplay over the past few months, but which

suddenly erupted into a fully-blown national outrage this week when it was revealed that the Metropolitan Police had evidence to suggest that

not only had the newspaper's journalists been behind the hacking of murdered teenager Millie Dowler, the families of several of the victims

of the 7/7 London Underground bombings and the families of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also that the News of the World had

been secretly - and illegally - paying members of the Metropolitan Police to get hold of confidential data on up to a thousand people over

the years to provide the paper with insider knowledge and many scoops.

These very serious allegations have been revealed against the backdrop of News International's current bid to buy the remaining 61% of shares

in the pay-to-view TV company BSkyB, which had been protested vigorously by many people concerned about the unchallenged domination of Rupert

Murdoch's media empire in the United Kingdom.

Today's flashmob, organised by the group 'Take Back Parliament', congregated outside the Department of Culture, Media and Sport - the domain

of Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who, despite many demands for a full review of News International's suitability and trustworthiness in the

light of months of revelations about the phone-hacking and News International's attempts to deceive Parliament during questioning several

months ago, has ignored all the warnings and was pushing the Murdoch bid through the official channels at an indecent speed, raising

suspicions that David Cameron's close relationship with News International Chief Executive Rebekah Brookes and with Rupert Murdoch himself

was influencing Hunt's professional judgement.

The flashmob protesters - some wearing cutout masks of Rupert Murdoch - held up copies of today's London Evening Standard (which is not a

Murdoch newspaper), displaying the front page headline "Murdoch Staff Pay Met £100K In Bribes", referring to the illegal supply of highly

confidential information to reporters by trusted police officers to News of The World journalists.

Demanding an immediate and complete halt to the BSkyB bid attempt, the protesters also called for the sacking of News International's Chief

Executive Rebekah Brookes who was Editor in Chief of the News of The World when all the worst offences were supposedly carried out and who,

many maintain, must have known what was happening, despite her frequent denials of any knowledge of the phone-hacking offences. Also of the

utmost concern is Brookes' close personal friendship with Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife, and the depth of the debt of gratitude

he feels he owes to Rupert Murdoch and his media empire for the massive support he got from the Murdoch press during the last general

election.

Many, many questions remain unanswered right now about "who knew what and when did they know it?", and as police enquiries commence it was

announced today that five journalists will be arrested, as will ex-News of the World editor Andy Coulson who resigned when the first scandal

broke after Royal Correspondent Clive Goodman was famously imprisoned for hacking into Prince William's phone. Coulson immediately became

David Cameron's election strategist and press spokesman until more recent discoveries obliged him to resign his post as Cameron's

spokesperson. Coulson has always maintained he had no knowledge whatsoever of the phone-hacking, but a cache of emails was handed to the

police a few days ago which allegedly contradict Coulson's claims of innocence in the matter, and of the clandestine payments made to corrupt

police officers, may be behind the news of Coulson's imminent arrest.

Today's shock announcement of the newspaper's sudden demise saw around 200 journalists made redundant today, almost none of whom were working

on the paper during the period in question, prompting National Union of Journalist General secretary Michelle Stanistreet to make the

following official statement this afternoon:

“This shows the depths to which Rupert Murdoch and his lieutenants at News International are prepared to stoop. The announcement James

Murdoch should be making today is the dismissal of Rebekah Brookes as chief executive of News International. The shocking revelations this

week show beyond doubt the systemic abuse and corruption at the top of the operation ran by both Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson. Yet News

International has persistently lied about the extent of this scandal and tried to pass it off as a problem created by a couple of rogue

reporters.

“Closing the title and sacking over 200 staff in the UK and Ireland, and putting scores more freelances and casuals out of a job, is an act

of utter cynical opportunism. Murdoch is clearly banking on this drawing a line under the scandal, removing an obstacle to the BskyB deal,

and letting his senior executives off the hook. That simply won’t wash. It is not ordinary working journalists who have destroyed this

paper’s credibility – it is the actions of Murdoch’s most senior people.

“James Murdoch was absolutely right when he said in his statement today that ‘Wrongdoers turned a good newsroom bad.’ Yet those wrongdoers

are still there today, at the top of the News International empire and ordinary staff at the paper are paying with their livelihoods.

“The closure of the News of the World – a newspaper that has been in print now for 168 years – is a calculated sacrifice by Rupert Murdoch to

salvage his reputation and that of News International, in the hope that readers will switch allegiance to a new seven-day operation at The

Sun, the government will wave through the BskyB deal and he will widen his grip on the UK’s media landscape.

“It is ironic that 25 years after the Wapping dispute it is the behaviour of Rupert Murdoch and his management that has caused the closure of

the newspaper. The NUJ will offer all support to its members at the News of the World facing compulsory redundancies and will be organising

an emergency meeting of all journalists at the title to offer advice and support.”

All photos © 2011 Pete Riches

Do not reproduce, alter or reblog my images without my permission.

Hi-Res versions of these files are available on application

about.me/peteriches

Our latest 'Free Speech Cafe' for PEN members tackled the issue of press regulation in the context of the News of the World phone hacking scandal.

PEN members were joined by Stephen Abell, Director of the Press Complaints Commission, and journalist Brian Cathcart, founder of the Hacked Off Campaign. The discussion was chaired by Rowenna Davis.

Photo: Robert Sharp / English PEN

Our latest 'Free Speech Cafe' for PEN members tackled the issue of press regulation in the context of the News of the World phone hacking scandal.

PEN members were joined by Stephen Abell, Director of the Press Complaints Commission, and journalist Brian Cathcart, founder of the Hacked Off Campaign. The discussion was chaired by Rowenna Davis.

Photo: Robert Sharp / English PEN

Our latest 'Free Speech Cafe' for PEN members tackled the issue of press regulation in the context of the News of the World phone hacking scandal.

PEN members were joined by Stephen Abell, Director of the Press Complaints Commission, and journalist Brian Cathcart, founder of the Hacked Off Campaign. The discussion was chaired by Rowenna Davis.

Photo: Robert Sharp / English PEN

Our latest 'Free Speech Cafe' for PEN members tackled the issue of press regulation in the context of the News of the World phone hacking scandal.

PEN members were joined by Stephen Abell, Director of the Press Complaints Commission, and journalist Brian Cathcart, founder of the Hacked Off Campaign. The discussion was chaired by Rowenna Davis.

Photo: Robert Sharp / English PEN

Our latest 'Free Speech Cafe' for PEN members tackled the issue of press regulation in the context of the News of the World phone hacking scandal.

PEN members were joined by Stephen Abell, Director of the Press Complaints Commission, and journalist Brian Cathcart, founder of the Hacked Off Campaign. The discussion was chaired by Rowenna Davis.

Photo: Robert Sharp / English PEN

Our latest 'Free Speech Cafe' for PEN members tackled the issue of press regulation in the context of the News of the World phone hacking scandal.

PEN members were joined by Stephen Abell, Director of the Press Complaints Commission, and journalist Brian Cathcart, founder of the Hacked Off Campaign. The discussion was chaired by Rowenna Davis.

Photo: Robert Sharp / English PEN

British actor Hugh Grant at a rally for media reform organised by Hacked Off and the Co-ordinating Centre for Media Reform in London's Centra Hall Westminster United Kingdom 17.May. 2012

Bishop Peter Gunning reclining in the Baroque style.

May I echo the words of my friend, Bob when I say that I have no political axe to grind as far as the hacking inquiry goes. Except that I was appalled by what was revealed, and after reading the editorials of both the Daily (Hate) Mail and Daily Torygraph, that anything they're against, I'm in favour of.

Things have to change, and all it would mean by implementing the recommendations of Leveson is that the British editions of our daily newspapers would be subject to the same rules as their Irish editions. The world did not end in Ireland, and will not end here; the free for all, self-regulation print and be damned culture has to stop to protect the innocent and grieving.

hackinginquiry.org/petition/

Our latest 'Free Speech Cafe' for PEN members tackled the issue of press regulation in the context of the News of the World phone hacking scandal.

PEN members were joined by Stephen Abell, Director of the Press Complaints Commission, and journalist Brian Cathcart, founder of the Hacked Off Campaign. The discussion was chaired by Rowenna Davis.

Photo: Robert Sharp / English PEN

From left: Lord Prescott, Hugh Grant, Lord Cunningham, Lord Fowler, Adrian Sanders MP.

365 Days - my trusty fuji s5500 died today after a blow to the head. RIP. Hopefully (fingers crossed) it can be replaced quickly via insurance.

update - it can't =(

Hacked Off drawing attention to their campaign to persuade the Prime Minister to implement proposals in the Leveson Report (commissioned by the PM himself). You read can more about it, and sign the petition, by going to hackinginquiry.org/

www.theguardian.com/media/2017/nov/14/sayeeda-warsi-accus...

youtu.be/P7evZShaEaE

Hacked Off drawing attention to their campaign to persuade the Prime Minister to implement proposals in the Leveson Report (commissioned by the PM himself)

You read can more about it, and sign the petition, by going to

hackinginquiry.org/

Sorry, Maria Miller. We still won’t sign | @frasernelson via @spectator_ch #HackedOff #skypapers ow.ly/pCUM9 The very fact that a Cabinet member has stood up in the House of Commons to make a statement on the future of newspapers suggests there's something...

Nonsensical Guardian remains enemy of a free press - The Commentator: via @TheCommentator #HackedOff #Leveson #bbcqt ow.ly/qrIPu Our view is that outside the Common Law there should be no restrictions at all on a free media. That means an end to all forms of licensing for...