Dish the Dirty Digger!

The Dirty Digger

When the history of UK Media comes to be written then the “Tale of the Dirty Digger” Rupert Murdoch will come to be writ large. This was no uneducated yokel who clawed his way up; rather he is the Oxford educated scion of a wealthy Australian Newspaper owner who more than anybody else has been singled handedly responsible for destroying the integrity of the media in Australia, Britain and the United States (of which, ever the opportunist, he became a citizen) whilst corrupting and vulgarising society. The corruption was through political patronage and endorsement, the vulgarising was through his trashy Tabloids and his corrupting of the News agenda with Fox News and the right wing Chav politics of the Sun and the News of the World or “News of the Screws” as it is known from its main fare, trashy exposes often with the help of illegal eavesdropping or subterfuge such as its notorious “False Sheik.”


The delightful Rebecca Brooks who like all News of the World editors knew nothing about phone hacking

So widespread illegality and criminality occurred seemingly untroubled by the long arm of the Law or indeed the laughable “voluntary” Press Complaints Council whose motto seems to be “Scum regulating the Scum” although it is careful to pay good money to have as its head a plausible “Lord Frontman.”

Indeed the original investigation into phone hacking was led by none other than our old friend “shy” Andy Hayman who is now on News International’s payroll, writing without any discernible hint of irony on “Policing Issues.” But now the years of rampage have come home to roost as pressure piles on News International;


Shy and sensitive Andy Hayman

Read about "shy" Andy;

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2007/12/policemans-lot.html

Police warned Holly and Jessica families their phones may have been hacked by News of the World private eye

Car giant scraps adverts as Npower and Halifax 'consider' following suit

Scotland Yard contacted schoolgirls' parents in connection with hacking scandal, it has emerged


Rupert Murdoch's Long Island mansion - naturally any stalkers, paparazzi, hackers or prowlers here will be dealt with using the full force of the law. How dare they intrude on the Boss's privacy!

Revelation comes on day of claims murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler also had her phone tapped by the paper

Questions raised over whether it could have hampered police investigation into Milly's disappearance in 2002

Ed Miliband has led calls for former editor Rebekah Brooks to resign

Ms Brooks says she is 'appalled and shocked' over allegations Milly's voicemail was hacked

John Prescott has called on the Culture Secretary to block News Corp's proposed takeover of BSkyB

Shamed private investigator Glenn Mulcaire apologises to victims


The News of the Screws

This from anti-Murdoch Group 38 Degrees

How much lower can Rupert Murdoch's media empire sink? Today, one of his papers stands accused of hacking the phone of murdered teenager Milly Dowler, causing her family even more pain, and risking a police inquiry. [1]

Rupert Murdoch's empire is now under investigation by the police. [2] But at the same time, he’s getting ready to take even more control of our media. This week, Murdoch’s expecting to get the green light from David Cameron’s government for his takeover of BSkyB. [3]

If we work together, we can make sure this week doesn't end with Murdoch getting awarded even more power. Let's stand together for higher media standards and against Murdoch's latest power grab. Help break Murdoch's grip, sign the petition now:

https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/murdoch-deal-petition

The final government inquiry into Murdoch's power grab ends this Friday at midday. [4] We'll deliver a copy of the petition to the inquiry - demanding that the phone hacking allegations are taken into account and the deal is halted.


PR Dave and Andy Coulson

The government wants to approve Murdoch’s BSkyB takeover. They say that Murdoch promises to respect media independence, so there's nothing to fear from giving him even more control. They want us to trust Rupert Murdoch! [5] But how can we trust Murdoch when his paper stands accused of hacking into the phone of a murdered teenager?

We’ve got until noon on Friday to prove to the government that the public wants the brakes put on Murdoch’s power grab. Let's get over 100,000 signatures by then – add your name now:

https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/murdoch-deal-petition

Yesterday, Murdoch's empire thought this deal was in the bag. Our people-powered campaign had helped delay things - but they had just one hurdle left. The minister in charge, Jeremy Hunt, was clearly on Murdoch’s side. Murdoch's backing for the Conservatives at the election and his executives’ cosy dinners with David Cameron all seemed to be paying off.

But now, we have a real chance to stop this power grab. [6] Across the UK, people are shocked at how one of Rupert Murdoch’s papers is accused of heartlessly abusing a family facing one of the worst situations any of us can imagine. Let’s work together to make sure this is a turning point in the battle for higher media standards in Britain.

Please sign the petition now:

https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/murdoch-deal-petition

Thanks for being involved,

David, Hannah, Johnny, Becky, Cian, Marie and the 38 Degrees team

PS: Would you take a promise from Rupert Murdoch at face value? Help break Murdoch's grip, add your name to the petition now:

>https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/murdoch-deal-petition

NOTES:

[1] http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/jul/04/milly-dowler-voicemail-hacked-news-of-world
[2] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/8617299/News-of-the-World-executives-to-meet-police-over-Milly-Dowler-phone-hacking-claims.html
[3] http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/01a242ce-a2df-11e0-a9a4-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1REVIppSL
[4] http://www.culture.gov.uk/news/media_releases/8258.aspx
[5] http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jun/30/news-corp-bskyb-bis-jeremy-hunt-approval
[6] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14023233

A SCANDAL THAT JUST WON'T GO AWAY – The Diary of Shame




November 2005 The NoW publishes a story about Prince William's knee injury, prompting fears that his aides' phone voicemail messages are being intercepted. Complaints by three royal staff members spark a police inquiry.

August 2006 Detectives arrest the News of the World's royal editor Clive Goodman and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire.

January 2007 Goodman is jailed for four months and Mulcaire for six months after they admit intercepting voicemail messages on royal aides' phones, including some left by Prince William. News of the World editor Andy Coulson resigns from his post, saying he 'deeply regrets' what happened and takes 'ultimate responsibility' for it.

May 2007 The Press Complaints Commission says in a report that it is satisfied no-one else at the News of the World knew Goodman and Mulcaire were tapping phone messages.

July 9 2009 The Crown Prosecution Service announces an urgent review of material provided by the police in 2006.

July 21 2009 Mr Coulson tells MPs on the Culture, Media and Sport Committee things went 'badly wrong' under his editorship of the News of the World, but insists he knew nothing about alleged phone tapping by his journalists.

November 9 2009 The Press Complaints Commission says it has seen no new evidence to suggest anyone at the News of the World other than Goodman and Mulcaire hacked phone messages, or that the paper's executives knew what the pair were doing.

February 24 2010 A Culture, Media and Sport Committee report finds no evidence that Mr Coulson knew phone hacking was taking place at the News of the World, but says it is 'inconceivable' that no-one apart from Goodman was aware of it.


John "well I be buggered" Prescott

November 4 2010 Mr Coulson is interviewed as a witness by Metropolitan Police detectives investigating the phone tapping allegations. He is not cautioned or arrested.

December 10 2010 The Crown Prosecution Service says no further charges will be brought over the News of the World phone hacking scandal because witnesses refused to co-operate with police.

January 5 2011 News of the World suspends its news editor Ian Edmondson.

January 7 2011 Scotland Yard asks the News of the World for any new material they may have in relation to hacking.

January 26 2011 The Met Police launch a fresh investigation after receiving 'significant new information' about activities at the News of the World. Ian Edmondson, is sacked.

9 February 2011 The Met Police release a statement saying officers have identified more potential victims of hacking while reviewing files relating to the original Goodman and Mulcaire case.

18 February 2011 A judge rules that Glenn Mulcaire must provide information about whether other journalists at the NoW were involved in hacking.

5 April 2011 News of the World chief reporter Neville Thurlbeck and former news editor Ian Edmondson are arrested on suspicion of unlawfully intercepting voicemail messages. They are released on bail until September.

8 April 2011 News International announces it will offer an unreserved apology and admission of liability to those suing over alleged phone hacking.

10 April 2011 The News of the World apologises for intercepting voicemails between 2004 and 2006 and says its past behaviour was a 'matter of genuine regret'.

14 April 2011 News of the World journalist James Weatherup is arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to unlawfully intercept communications.

7 June 2011 At a brief hearing at London's High Court, News Group - the owner of the News of the World - formally apologises to Sienna Miller for hacking into several of her mobile phones. The actress, who does not attend, formally settles for £100,000 damages and legal costs.

22 June 2011 Football pundit Andy Gray accepts £20,000 in compensation from the News of the World owner News Group Newspapers, plus undisclosed costs, over voicemail interceptions.

27 June 2011 Police arrest Laura Elston, who covers royal stories for the Press Association news agency.

July 4 2011 Lawyers for the parents of Milly Dowler confirm Scotland Yard told them the murdered teenager's phone was hacked by an investigator for the News of The World.


The murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler

John Prescott has called on the Culture Secretary to block News Corp's proposed takeover of BSkyB

Read more:

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2011182/Milly-Dowler-News-World-phone-hacking-Police-warned-Soham-families.html%23ixzz1RGdhyBfn

A Wandering Sage

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2. Marrakech, Morocco


3. Salzburg, Austria


4. Prague, Czech Republic


5. Oxford, United Kingdom


6. Arras, France


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8. Kalimnos, Greece


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10. Lixouri, Greece


11. Amalfi, Italy


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14. Turin, Italy


15. Monchique, Portugal


16. La Orotava, Spain


17. Kandersteg, Switzerland


18. Niagara-on-the-Lake, Canada


19. Quebec City, Canada


20. Bridgetown, Barbados


21. Chicago, IL, USA

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Paparazzi Insight

Last night walking across St James Park, the Carlton Steps and up Regent Street to Piccadilly I obtained an insight into the slime ball world of the paparazzi, those hungry photographers who feel anybody is fair game for the “money shots” which appear in newspapers the next day. Here was the coverage and the photos in today’s papers

“LILY Allen was the talk of the GQ 20th anniversary dinner last night at St Alban. She arrived in one outfit, changed before dinner got under way and by the end of the evening had slipped into a third costume. No wonder she laddered her tights in the process. As the Veuve Clicquot flowed, guests, who included Nancy Dell'Olio and David Walliams, were still digesting the results of the American election. Historian Andrew Roberts revealed he had been to five parties on election night cementing his reputation as London's most ubiquitous party goer.”

And here is the panting porno prose description from the restaurant’s web site;

“St Alban is the latest restaurant from Chris Corbin and Jeremy King, owners of The Wolseley and former proprietors of Le Caprice, The Ivy and J. Sheekey. The restaurant's comfortable, contemporary interior has been realised by Stiff & Trevillion in collaboration with Michael Craig-Martin, whose murals decorate the walls and windows and complement the artwork of Damien Hirst. His works are displayed throughout the restaurant and include the gloriously titled 'Jubilation'. The 22ft long painting is made up of hundreds of butterfly wings in a mandala-like pattern, and expands on the iconic motif of the butterfly as a symbol of beauty, love and fragility.”


St. Alban

Well that is the glamorous public image and what appears in the papers but from what I saw last night the reality of paparazzi London which results in these pictures in the papers is very different. Indeed it provoked sympathy for Lily Allen, Amy Winehouse, Naomi Campbell, Sienna Miller and others who are subject to continuous intrusion from that most parasitic of occupations the paparazzi. Indeed I would applaud Sienna Miller who has launched a legal battle against News International and photo agency Big Pictures at the High Court.


Amy Winehouse battling with Paparazzi outside her flat

Law firm Carter-Ruck has served a writ for breach of privacy against the News of the World, the Sun, and the Big Pictures agency relating to a series of articles about the star. It is believed that the writ relates to two articles that appeared in the Sun where Big Pictures contributed photos. The stories and pictures reported on Miller's holiday in Italy and also referred to her friendship with Balthazar Getty, heir to the Getty oil fortune. Miller is taking action over a further two articles that appeared in the News of The World.



In March 2009 year media specialists Carter-Ruck obtained a legal injunction to protect pop star Lily Allen from harassment by Big Pictures and rival agency Matrix Photos. Carter-Ruck also obtained an injunction "restraining further harassment" by other paparazzi photographers in a case which was presented to the high court by barrister David Sherborne, who also represented Winehouse.



Allen's move followed a collision outside her London home between her car and that of a photographer, after which cameramen continued to follow her. Photographers covered by the order have been ordered not to pursue or follow Allen by any means or approach her within 100 metres of her home. They are also forbidden from taking pictures of her at her home or at the homes of any members of her family or friends.


Paparazzi break Lily Allen's car window outside The Groucho Club, Soho

As I walked up the road I was nearly knocked over by a Vauxhall Astra reversing at speed off Regent Street into a side road by a young driver who turned out to be one of the Paps. When I berated him for his dangerous driving he was abusive, as obviously I was interfering with his right to run over pedestrians and park illegally on a corner whilst driving without a seatbelt in pursuit of the “money shot”. At the next corner where there is the entrance to St. Alban there was a scrum of 12 photographers already waiting. The Restaurant keeps its entrance clear with two rope barriers so the photographers blocked the pavement and pedestrians were forced onto the road.


Victoria and David Beckham leaving St Alban

As I crossed to the far side of the road a Mercedes with a driver and a passenger in the back drew up and there was roaring and shouting and an outburst of flashes. A small and rather beautiful young woman got out of the back – it was Lily Allen looking in the flesh somewhat lovelier than she does in photos wearing a beautiful ruffled light pink number. A scooter with a photographer and an “L” plate on it pulled up behind Lily Allen’s car and the guy jumped off leaving his scooter running in the middle of the road – he had obviously been following Lily from her home. The Pack of Paps crowded around her pushing each other out of the way and sticking lenses into her face and flashing away all the time while barking in braying unison “here Lily” “ Smile Lily” “This way Lily”. Lily performed, smiled and eventually they parted slightly as the bouncers led her on a zig zag route into St. Alban. No doubt if Lily had scowled, inadvertently showed some underwear or tripped that would have been the next morning’s “money shot” no doubt with a fabricated heading such as “Lily’s love agony” or “Lily shows the strain” or some such nonsense.



Looking back there were two car parked on double yellow lines on the corner with photographer’s boards on the dash – it occurred to me these were deliberately illegally parked on a corner so drop offs to St. Alban could only take place (also on a double yellow) in front of the Paps lenses. Public space is just that and belongs to us all and should not be stolen from us be it by the Paps or Tesco. Just one block away from St. Alban is the club “Tiger, Tiger” where currently there is a trial underway about two car bombs which were similarly illegally parked. So what are the Metropolitan Police and Westminster Council doing about the danger of public space being abused, telling us that if something else happens in the west End they’ll have good CCTV pictures to show us after the fact?



Singer Amy Winehouse fought back against paparazzi photographers keen to record every aspect of her troubled private life, winning a high court anti-harassment injunction and posting the ruling outside her new home in the London suburbs.
Winehouse, who has been a ubiquitous presence in the tabloids ever since her Mercury-nominated album Frank was released secured the injunction in May 2009 to prevent her being pursued by photographers after her move earlier this year from her central London home to a more sedate neighbourhood.


Paparazzi record the delivery of a sunbed to Amy Winehouse's home in March 2009. The anti-harassment ruling has now been posted outside the house in north London.

The order bans leading paparazzi agency Big Pictures from following Winehouse but also refers to any "persons unknown" seeking to photograph the musician outside her home and in other public places if they have pursued her.

A source close to Winehouse's management team said that the injunction was sought because press attention had made her life "unsafe".

"Every time she got in her car she was chased or was jostled, and it has become unsafe not just for her, but the people around her," the source said. "We don't have the problem with the press doing their job but it has been mayhem a couple of times and Amy had to do something."

So, good luck to Naomi Campbell,Amy Winehouse, Sienna Miller and others who are taking firm action against this appalling intrusion and harassment. As for Lily Allen I truly felt sorry for her having to endure this rubbish everywhere she goes and making a Faustian pact with the Shabby Pap Pack to keep smiling, grit her teeth and hope for the best in next mornings papers. So shame on the toothless and useless Press Complaints Commission and to the supine editors who buy and publish the shoddy goods of the Pap Pack 10 years after they hounded Princess Diana to her death.

Shame on;

Veronica Wadley, Evening Standard
Rebekah Wade, The Sun
Paul Dacre, Daily Mail
Richard Wallace, Daily Mirror
Lloyd Embley, People
Colin Myler, News of the World
Sarah Ivens, OK Magazine
Miranda Priestly, Hello Magazine
Melinda Shaw, Heat Magazine


Rebekah Wade, The Sun

Shame on them all in their plush offices and false respectability whilst financing the Pap Goon Squad and its tawdry trade. And shame on the Paps who have so little respect for themselves and those around them. But there again from what I saw, lack of self respect seems to be a qualification for being a Paparazzi in the first place!