So far, it seems like a good story, as far as it goes: an ex-cop appears to be telling the Mirror that NotW journalists approached him, apparently, while he was still on the force. But wait. Notice that there are no quote marks around the ex-cop’s “claims.”
Did the Mirror actually talk to the ex-cop? Or did the Mirror talk to someone else, who had spoken to the cop?
Here are the next paragraphs. Suddenly, we’re talking about an unnamed source who says he/she talked to the unnamed ex-cop. Notice these are direct quotes:
A source said: “This investigator [i.e. the ex-NYPD officer] is used by a lot of journalists in America and he recently told me that he was asked to hack into the 9/11 victims’ private phone data. He said that the journalists asked him to access records showing the calls that had been made to and from the mobile phones belonging to the victims and their relatives.
“His presumption was that they wanted the information so they could hack into the relevant voicemails, just like it has been shown they have done in the UK. The PI said he had to turn the job down. He knew how insensitive such research would be, and how bad it would look.
“The investigator said the journalists seemed particularly interested in getting the phone records belonging to the British victims of the attacks.”
Notice, NotW and News Corp. aren’t mentioned by name even by the second “source,” let alone the ex-cop source.
Is it beyond the realm of possibility that NotW reporters tried to hack 9/11 victims? Of course not. Should the FBI investigate? Sure.
Did hacking actually take place? Based on this story, the answer so far is no.
Do we even know that NotW reporters even tried?
Based on this story, no, we don’t. Third-hand information on a story of such sensitivity isn’t good enough. The Mirror should have worked harder, at least, to speak to the cop directly. What do we know about the cop? Does he really remember the name of the specific British newspaper whose reporters were asking for the information, ten years ago?
As written, it shouldn’t have run. You tell me it’s just a British tabloid, and I say I don’t care. Isn’t this how we got into this mess?
I know this is a competitive story, but tough. It’s not that NotW deserves any better, but readers do.
FBI 'probing News of the World 9/11 hacking claims'
By Mirror.co.uk 14/07/2011
The Mirror update does not add any substance re the allegations, as compared to the original story in that paper.
I see it slightly differently from Dean Starkman because I think that you have to take into account editorial judgment.
The story in itself seems to me to be modest and qualified.
If the event happened, there is likely to be objective contemporaneous evidence. No doubt that is what the FBI will want to evaluate.
#1 Posted by Clayton Burns, CJR on Thu 14 Jul 2011 at 07:33 PM
Dean Starkman: "It’s not even clear if the offending journalists were even from NotW."
"The Mirror directly quotes only an unnamed source who told the paper that he or she had been told by another unnamed person, a retired New York police officer, that he, the cop, had been approached by “journalists”—not even British journalists— and that he turned the job down. Period."
"No hacking. No NotW, even." (End of Dean Starkman).
[The pair chatted behind closed doors as a former New York cop made the 9/11 hacking claim. He alleged he was contacted by News of the World journalists who said they would pay him to retrieve the private phone records of the dead.
Now working as a private investigator, the ex-officer claimed reporters wanted the victim’s phone numbers and details of the calls they had made and received in the days leading up to the atrocity.
A source said: “This investigator is used by a lot of journalists in America and he recently told me that he was asked to hack into the 9/11 victims’ private phone data. He said that the journalists asked him to access records showing the calls that had been made to and from the mobile phones belonging to the victims and their relatives.
“His presumption was that they wanted the information so they could hack into the relevant voicemails, just like it has been shown they have done in the UK. The PI said he had to turn the job down. He knew how insensitive such research would be, and how bad it would look.
“The investigator said the journalists seemed particularly interested in getting the phone records belonging to the British victims of the attacks.”]
Dean, I don't want to get picky, but a story of this magnitude must have had an editor. Since the story says specifically that a former New York cop "alleged he was contacted by News of the World journalists," there had to have been a source for that piece of information. Either the quoted source--which is probable--or another. The writer can be criticized for lack of clarity on this point, but that does not change the fact that the article says unambiguously that the News of the World was alleged by the former cop to have been involved.
The way the Mirror material is set up, you could take the quoted material's references to "the journalists" and "they" as referring to News of the World journalists. (As in "just like it has been shown they have done in the UK.")
What you are reacting to may just be a matter of loose cohesion.
#2 Posted by Clayton Burns, CJR on Thu 14 Jul 2011 at 08:08 PM
www.m-w.com: Definition of DODGY
1
chiefly British : evasive, tricky
2
chiefly British
a : not sound, good, or reliable
b : questionable, suspicious
The Mirror story could be sound, but presented with a certain degree of carelessness or ambiguity. That would not be the same as trickery or evasion.
#3 Posted by Clayton Burns, CJR on Thu 14 Jul 2011 at 08:21 PM
The LA Times: "FBI opens inquiry into Murdoch's News Corp.
The agency launches an investigation at the request of U.S. lawmakers alarmed by reports that British reporters may have tried to hack into phones and access records of Sept. 11 victims and their families, in violation of U.S. law."
By Richard A. Serrano, Jim Puzzanghera and Kim Geiger, Washington Bureau
July 14, 2011, 5:59 p.m. [...]
[Paul Browne, deputy commissioner of public information for the New York Police Department, said the officer referred to in the reports was no longer a city employee and now works as a private investigator. It was in that capacity that the newspaper was reportedly soliciting help from the ex-officer, Browne said.
"He allegedly was approached by them," Browne said.
Browne added that at this point, "we have no inquiry" underway at the NYPD, deferring instead to federal investigators.]
#4 Posted by Clayton Burns, CJR on Fri 15 Jul 2011 at 12:34 AM
Guardian UK: If News Corp hacked the phones of 9/11 families, Fox News is finished. The FBI investigation into the News Corp 9/11 hacking allegations could endanger the company's broadcast licences in the US. Megan Carpentier
guardian.co.uk, Friday 15 July 2011 11.30 BST
[As the LA Times noted, convictions among News Corp employees could potentially endanger the company's broadcast licences in the US and, as King's call for an FBI [investigation] showed, endanger the company's reputation among once-loyal conservatives. That would likely be a bigger loss to the company than even News of the World, given Fox News' near-monopoly on conservative viewers these days.]
Telegraph UK: The 9/11 phone hacking investigation: it's Murdoch and Fox News who could be destroyed, not the Republicans
By Tim Stanley US politics Last updated: July 15th, 2011
[For starters, Democratic Senators Frank Lautenberg and Barbara Boxer have called for Murdoch to be personally investigated under the terms of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act for the crime of bribing English police. If found guilty, the old man could face up to $30 million in fines and 20 years in prison.
It’s tempting to presume that this is payback time for liberals sick of being called everything from Muslims to Communists by Fox News contributors for the past 15 years. Certainly, a guilty verdict would invert the Right-wing franchise’s patriotic image and probably boost the reputation and ratings of the rival MSNBC channel.]
#5 Posted by Clayton Burns, CJR on Fri 15 Jul 2011 at 12:07 PM
Guardian UK: Les Hinton sacrificed, but the worst is yet to come for News Corp
Every time Murdoch ditches a key executive, the flames of scandal flick ever closer to him, writes Matt Wells guardian.co.uk, Friday 15 July 2011 23.03 BST
[The FBI has launched an investigation into accusations that News of the World journalists asked a former New York police officer for the phone records of relatives of 9/11 victims. If that toxic allegation is shown to have been true, one thing is certain: Fox News is finished, along with the rest of News Corporation as we know it.]
#6 Posted by Clayton Burns, CJR on Fri 15 Jul 2011 at 06:48 PM
Attorney general considers investigation into News Corp. hacking
By the CNN Wire Staff July 15, 2011 4:42 p.m. EDT
[The newspaper cited "a source" who referred to a former police officer who now works as a private investigator. "The investigator is used by a lot of journalists in America and he recently told me that he was asked to hack into the 9/11 victims' private phone data," the source reportedly told the newspaper. The source told the Mirror the request came from News of the World, the newspaper at the center of the phone-hacking scandal in Britain.
"He said that the journalists asked him to access records showing the calls that had been made to and from the mobile phones belonging to the victims and their relatives," the newspaper said. "His presumption was that they wanted the information so they could hack into the relevant voice mails, just like has been shown they have done in the UK. The PI said he had to turn the job down. He knew how insensitive such research would be, and how bad it would look.
"The investigator said the journalists seemed particularly interested in getting the phone records belonging to the British victims of the attacks."]
#7 Posted by Clayton Burns, CJR on Fri 15 Jul 2011 at 06:57 PM
LA TIMES yesterday: [Paul Browne, deputy commissioner of public information for the New York Police Department, said the officer referred to in the reports was no longer a city employee and now works as a private investigator. It was in that capacity that the newspaper was reportedly soliciting help from the ex-officer, Browne said.
"He allegedly was approached by them," Browne said.] (from my comment #4 above).
The CNN coverage today (my comment #7) seems to pass by the LAT story--Browne's comments, if they are reliable, appear to make this a real story--potentially--in a way that would not be true if Browne had said nothing.
One of the many strange byways in information coherence in this story. Journalism schools should carefully design mandatory courses so as to teach the issues in cognition, language, and IT that would professionalize information management in the media.
Ironically, the best introduction to cohesion in English is in Murdoch's COBUILD English Grammar, chapter 9. However, he seems to have trouble understanding the value of John Sinclair's work. Mark Ashcraft's powerful "Cognition" should be the standard text on that subject for journalism students at Columbia. I also recommend the new MacBook Pro as the standard student computer.
It seems that journalism students all over the world are struggling to assimilate international media reading cycles--I don't see evidence that they are on top of Australian, American, and UK media--collating the articles and developing their powers of perception.
It seems to me that the teaching of psychology, linguistics, and IT in journalism lacks the traction that would produce the attention to detail and interpretive strength that would match the challenges of the future.
#8 Posted by Clayton Burns, CJR on Sat 16 Jul 2011 at 01:36 AM
Telegraph UK: By Patrick Sawer
5:30PM BST 16 Jul 2011
News of the World phone hacking scandal: live
All the latest on the News of the World phone-hacking scandal which has engulfed Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation media empire.
Latest
16.45 There are rumours that tomorrow's New York Times will contain something "juicy" about the News of the World scandal and that it could be relevant to claims 9/11 families were hacked.
Rumor: New York Times has something juicy tomorrow on #NOTW. Could be 9/11 connection.
less than a minute ago via TweetDeck Favorite Retweet Reply
Michael Wolff
MichaelWolffNYC
#9 Posted by Clayton Burns, CJR on Sat 16 Jul 2011 at 12:57 PM
Telegraph UK: Weekend of turmoil: after Hinton, more pressure on James Murdoch By Patrick Sawer 5:30PM BST 16 Jul 2011
[14.45 There is an interesting examination in The Washington Post of the allegation that families of the 9/11 victims may have been hacked, a claim which catapulted the scandal across the Atlantic and has now prompted the launch of an FBI investigation into the matter.]
Despite questionable reporting, 9/11-victim hacking allegations generate frenzy By Paul Farhi Published July 15 Washington Post.
[The report appears to be based on a shaky foundation. The Mirror names no specific sources in its reporting, and it relies on a single anonymous second-hand source for its account.
The story also appears to undercut its central premise — that phones may have been hacked.
The anonymous source is quoted later in the story saying that the information about hacking came from a former New York City police officer (also unidentified), who said he was approached by News of the World reporters seeking phone records of victims and their relatives. The News reporters were particularly interested in obtaining phone records belonging to British victims, according to the Mirror.
In any case, the paper said, no hacking took place.
“The [former policeman] said he had to turn the job down,” the Mirror quoted its source as saying. “He knew how insensitive such research would be, and how bad it would look.”]
LA Times: FBI opens inquiry into Murdoch's News Corp.
The agency launches an investigation at the request of U.S. lawmakers alarmed by reports that British reporters may have tried to hack into phones and access records of Sept. 11 victims and their families, in violation of U.S. law.
By Richard A. Serrano, Jim Puzzanghera and Kim Geiger, Washington Bureau
July 14, 2011, 5:59 p.m.
[Paul Browne, deputy commissioner of public information for the New York Police Department, said the officer referred to in the reports was no longer a city employee and now works as a private investigator. It was in that capacity that the newspaper was reportedly soliciting help from the ex-officer, Browne said.
"He allegedly was approached by them," Browne said.
Browne added that at this point, "we have no inquiry" underway at the NYPD, deferring instead to federal investigators.]
Despite the fact that both Paul Farhi and the LA Times appear to have been reporting from Washington, Farhi's story ignores the LAT quotes from Browne. Noes does Sawer pay any attention to that aspect of the story. As far as I can see, the LAT report remains uncorrected.
#10 Posted by Clayton Burns, CJR on Sat 16 Jul 2011 at 01:49 PM
The LAT has a strong op-ed today by Tim Rutten on American responsibilities in the Murdoch matters. However, the effect is somewhat attenuated by a weak editorial in the same paper--an editorial which seems not to have been collated either with the Rutten op-ed or the paper's own excellent news coverage from Washington:
LA Times Op-Ed. Rutten: America's Murdoch problem:
It would be outrageous if the U.S. ignored allegations that an American company used our territory as a haven from which to subvert the laws and democratic processes of Britain. By Tim Rutten July 16, 2011
[News Corp., despite its global reach, is an American company, headquartered in New York; its shares are traded on our exchange. Murdoch was born in Australia, but he obtained U.S. citizenship so that he could further enrich himself by acquiring broadcast properties here. Having availed himself of American opportunity, he and his subordinates are now accountable to U.S. law, and there is every evidence that the chain of culpability for this scandal extends high up into News Corp. As Niri Shan, a leading London media lawyer, said, given the extraordinary severity of British libel law, "it [is] hard to believe that the editor or other people in the organization didn't know the provenance of the information" Murdoch's papers illegally obtained.
We Americans owe our most fundamental democratic traditions and respect for the rule of law to Britain. It would be outrageous if we now stood idly by and ignored credible allegations that an American company used our territory as a haven from which to subvert the laws and democratic processes of our closest cultural and political ally, as Murdoch's firm allegedly has. Moreover, as Philip Shenon reported in the Daily Beast this week, federal law enforcement officials have become increasingly wary of sharing information involving prominent personalities or celebrities with their British counterparts because of what the Americans regard as their colleagues' inappropriate relationship with London's tabloid press.]
LA TIMES EDITORIAL: A U.S. connection to Britain's tabloid scandal?
Finding an American angle to extend the investigation of News Corp. might be a stretch. Some of the fervor here may be sparked by dislike of Rupert Murdoch.
July 16, 2011
[One supposed connection between the scandal and the United States is that News of the World employees reportedly sought the phone records of 9/11 victims and survivors in this country. Rep. Peter T. King (R-N.Y.) said he was aware of reports that they had solicited a New York police officer "to gain access to the content of private phone records" of 9/11 victims. But for the moment at least, there is scant evidence that such activity took place.
Another attempt to create a connection with the United States involves the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, a law that forbids U.S. businesses to bribe foreigners. The theory is that because Murdoch's parent company is located in the United States, British reporters might have run afoul of the act if they bribed British police. It's an ingenious but unpersuasive idea.]
The original Mirror story could have been more decisively coherent. The LAT could have made sure that op-ed matched editorial matched news. The various reporters could have contemplated the Browne comments. No wonder it took so long for the media to orient to the Murdoch excesses.
#11 Posted by Clayton Burns, CJR on Sat 16 Jul 2011 at 02:23 PM
News Corp scandal divides US along party lines. Claims of illegal attempt to gain 9/11 victims' numbers bring outrage from Democrats and caution from Republicans Paul Harris in New York guardian.co.uk, Saturday 16 July 2011 18.13 BST
[The Washington Post yesterday criticised the Mirror report, saying it "appears to be based on a shaky foundation. The Mirror names no specific sources in its reporting, and it relies on a single anonymous second-hand source for its account."]
#12 Posted by Clayton Burns, CJR on Sat 16 Jul 2011 at 02:52 PM
Telegraph UK: Jude Law claims he was victim of News of the World phone hacking in US
--The News of the World allegedly hacked into the mobile phones of Jude Law and his personal assistant while they were in New York, opening the way for News International to be prosecuted in the United States.--
By Patrick Sawer, and Philip Sherwell in New York 9:00PM BST 16 Jul 2011 [...]
[In its story, published on Sept 7, 2003, a reporter from the News of the World watched as Law – then married to Sadie Frost – and Mr Jackson arrived at JFK.
Using information allegedly gleaned by hacking into Law's mobile phone voicemail as he waited in the baggage reclaim hall, the paper told how the actor had sent Mr Jackson ahead to check for waiting photographers, with instructions to ring him if it was safe to emerge.]
#13 Posted by Clayton Burns, CJR on Sat 16 Jul 2011 at 05:40 PM
Scotland on Sunday:
Blair aides fear phones were hacked
Published Date: 17 July 2011
By Eddie Barnes and Tom Peterkin [...]
Elsewhere, the scale of the unfolding crisis was underlined by rumours from the US last night that evidence would emerge to show the 9/11 victims had had their phones hacked. Such a move would add to fears within the company that the scandal could affect Murdoch's lucrative business in the US and put his position at the helm in doubt.
Last Updated: 17 July 2011 12:26 AM
#14 Posted by Clayton Burns, CJR on Sat 16 Jul 2011 at 08:41 PM
http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-committees/culture-media-sport/CMS-transcript-phonehacking-110718.pdf
Q225 Jim Sheridan: It is understood that the FBI is investigating 9/11 victims. Have you commissioned an investigation into these allegations?
Rupert Murdoch: We have seen no evidence of that at all, and as far as we know, the FBI haven’t, either. If they do, we will treat it in exactly the same way as we treat it here. I cannot believe it happened from anyone in America. Whether someone at the News of the World or Mr Mulcaire took it on himself to do it, I don’t know.
#15 Posted by Clayton Burns, CJR on Tue 19 Jul 2011 at 11:44 PM
only the September 11 families
that asked too many questions
were spied on
#16 Posted by NadePaulKuciGravMcKi, CJR on Fri 22 Jul 2011 at 06:35 PM