To hack or not to hack?

MY colleague Jason Moore addressed the subject on Tuesday and quite right he was too. But what I have been surprised at over the past few days since the Leveson Inquiry opened is that the people who have been called before the commission have all had major axes to grind with the media, some with bonafide reasons, others because they were simply caught out by the press and are using this inquiry as their way of getting back and taking a swipe at the media, in particular the tabloid press.

For decades, long before the technology was available to hack telephones, tabloid journalists were known as ‘hacks' and in cartoons even depicted as ‘ pigs'.

Max Mosley, caught in a very embarrassing situation, yesterday used words like ‘scavengers' and ‘hyenas' when referring to the practice of some members of the print media.

I am not trying to defend my profession, some individuals have clearly over stepped the mark.
But, rifling through dust bins or trying to dupe people into giving you information and the likes is nothing knew.
What I consider unfair is that the Leveson Inquiry has called before it key people who are in the public eye and are known to have a major beef with the media.

Hugh Grant may have been amusing in his second session but, as the commission quite often kept telling him, his evidence was somewhat thin. The media should not be on trial by conjecture.