Tuesday 1 February 2011

Poll shows public concern over phone hacking


A ComRes poll for the Independent today shows the public's hostility to phone hacking and how it has undermined support for self regulation of the press.

Asked whether it is acceptable for journalists to hack into celebrities' voicemail messages, 94 per cent of people said no, while 5 per cent said yes and 1 per cent did not know. The findings were almost identical when the same question was asked about politicians' messages: 92 per cent did not think hacking was acceptable, while 7 per cent did and 1 per cent did not know.

Some 67 per cent believe the hacking allegations show that the newspaper industry should no longer regulate itself, while 24 per cent disagree with this statement.

The Independent's political editor Andrew Grice comments: "This finding is a setback for the Press Complaints Commission, the industry's self-regulatory body, which has been criticised by some MPs for not intervening over the hacking controversy."

ComRes poll results

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