Friday 10 July 2009

News International claims Guardian phone hacking allegations 'misled' public

BBC and Sky News both running stories saying News International deny the allegations of widespread phone hacking published in the Guardian.
BBC News website says: "The News of the World's publisher has said it will "refute" allegations of widespread illegal phone tapping. News International's new chief executive Rebekah Wade said it welcomed the chance to appear before MPs on the Commons culture committee on 21 July. Ms Wade said editor Colin Myler and News International's legal counsel Tom Crone would represent the company to answer questions about the claims."
BBC also says: "Ms Wade, who is currently editor of the Sun but will take on the News International post in September, said the company believed the Guardian coverage had substantially - and likely deliberately - misled the British public.
"In a letter to the culture, media and sport committee's chairman John Whittingdale, she said: "It [the Guardian] is rushing out high volumes of coverage and repeating allegations by such sources as unnamed Met officers implying that 'thousands' of individuals were the object of illegal phone hacking, an assertion that is roundly contradicted by the Met Assistant Commissioner's statement yesterday."
Met Assistant Commissioner John Yates said on Thursday that no new evidence had emerged since an original inquiry into phone hacking saw News of the World royal editor Clive Goodman and a private investigator jailed in 2007.
BBC says Guardian stands by its story.
As Andrew Neil said on his BBC blog this story will run and run.
News International statement is here.

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