Group Managing Editor of the Belfast Telegraph at time of Inquiry and until 2014. Journalist and Media Consultant. Connolly's career has covered many aspects of print and digital news-gathering from reporting to senior management. Gave evidence on the ethical standards of the company. Said that private investigators were not used by the Belfast Telegraph or Community Telegraph though small payments had been made by Sunday Life to a private investigating agency.
Chief Executive Officer of ITN at time of Inquiry. Asked to provide comprehensive details of corporate governance and editorial practice at ITN.
Managing Editor at the Financial Times at the time of giving evidence. Provided a voluntary statement on the editorial code of practice and the FT's investment register. Reported that the FT had decided in 2010 to remind all staff of their obligations under the paper's code of practice with specific reference to the Investment Register.
CEO of the Financial Times Group. At the time of giving evidence, he had been with the FT for 25 years in both editorial and executive positions. Ethical journalism was central to the FT's strategy and success and had been for 120 years, he told the Inquiry. A founding and current principle of the newspaper was, he said, that it would report "without fear and without favour".
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is the UK Government department responsible for aspects of the media throughout the UK, including broadcasting and internet. Jonathan Stephens, Permanent Secretary at the time of the Inquiry, gave evidence on how the DCMS operated, the role of special advisers and how this worked at the time of the bid by News Corporation to increase its holdings in BskyB, responsibility for which had been unexpectedly transferred to the DCMS. Stephens spoke of his regret that one special adviser, Adam Smith, had to resign when it emerged he had had extensive communications with a News Corporation lobbyist while the deal was under discussion.
As well as individual evidence, Alan Rusbridger, editor at the time of the Inquiry, and other Guardian staff gave submissions on plurality of the press. A Core Participant in the Inquiry, GNM was in addition asked by the Inquiry to identify five recently published investigations which it considered to be particularly illustrative both of the value of public-interest journalism and the difficulties it can face. GNM told the Inquiry that any new system of press regulation had to consider the impact of ownership and plurality, arguing that regulation which allowed the continuing concentration of ownership in the hands of billionaire proprietors would impoverish society.
First issued in 1986. From 2010 owned by Alexander Lebedev and from 2016 ceased print editions and became online only. Nicknamed the Indy, it began life as a broadsheet, but changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition of The Independent was published Saturday 26 March 2016, leaving only its digital editions. Manish Malhotra, employed by parent company IPL, gave evidence in his capacity as Finance Director, telling the Inquiry of anti-bribery measures at the papers. Chris Blackhurst, editor at the time of giving evidence, told the Inquiry that he and The Independent were broadly in support of the Lord Black proposals but had some areas of concern. See also Andrew Grice, Andrew Mullins and Paul Peachey, who all gave evidence, and Independent on Sunday.
Independent regulator for the print and digital media in Ireland, aiming to provide the public with a quick, fair and free method of resolving complaints in relation to member publications of the Press Council of Ireland. John Horgan, Ombudsman at the time of the Inquiry, gave evidence.
LA-based entertainment news and photography agency, founded 1990, providing candid celebrity photography and video content to worldwide entertainment print, online and broadcast media outlets. Gary Morgan, Senior Vice President of Splash News and Picture Agency at the time, gave evidence on quality assurance measures in place at the agency.
Trinity Mirror was one of Britain's biggest newspaper groups at the time of the Inquiry, publishing 240 regional papers as well as the national Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and People, and the Scottish Sunday Mail and Daily Record, all of which gave evidence to the Inquiry. Chief Executive at the time was Sly Bailey, who had been appointed in 2003, and who gave extensive evidence on hacking and the ethical practices and procedures in place. In 2012, following substantial drops in circulation and profits, Trinity Mirror asked her to resign. The use of private investigators was banned after the convictions of Clive Goodman and Glenn Mulcaire, Bailey told the Inquiry.
