Murdoch arrives at Sun for crisis talks
Rupert Murdoch is at the offices of the Sun newspaper in east London where he is holding talks with staff about the latest crisis to hit News International.
Mr Murdoch, who flew into the UK this morning, is facing internal dissent at the Sun. Ten current and former senior reporters and executives have been arrested since November over alleged corrupt payments to public officials and journalists are angry at the role played by News International (NI) in the police investigation.
An internal management and standards committee, formed following the phone hacking scandal in order to clean up the company, gave police information that led to the arrests. Trevor Kavanagh, associate editor of The Sun, said: “There is some unease about the way some of the best journalists in Fleet Street have ended up being arrested on evidence which the MSC has handed to the police.”
Mr Murdoch promised at the weekend that he would continue to own and publish the newspaper.
The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) said it had been approached by a group of Sun journalists and was looking at ways to support them. The NUJ is not officially recognised by NI management.
If journalists are not allowed to offer protection to their sources .. the free press in the UK is dead. Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ
NUJ general secretary Michelle Stanistreet said in a statement: “It is not an exaggeration to say that if journalists are not allowed to offer protection to their sources – often brave people who are raising their heads above the parapet to disclose information – then the free press in the UK is dead.”
The police operation, known as the Elveden investigation, was launched as the phone-hacking scandal erupted last July with allegations about the now defunct News of the World targeting Milly Dowler’s mobile phone.
The last arrests saw five senior staff members arrested at their homes in London, Kent and Essex. None has been charged with an offence. The men were deputy editor Geoff Webster, chief reporter John Kay, picture editor John Edwards, chief foreign correspondent Nick Parker and John Sturgis, who is a news editor.
They were questioned on suspicion of corruption, aiding and abetting misconduct in a public office and conspiracy in relation to both these offences.
People outside the paper were also arrested in connection with the allegations. A 29-year-old serving Surrey Police officer, a 39-year-old-Ministry of Defence employee and a 36-year-old member of the armed forces were arrested in connection with making or receiving corrupt payments.
The arrests came two weeks after four former and current Sun journalists and a serving Metropolitan Police officer were arrested over alleged illegal payments. All five were released on bail.