UK Justice Forum 🇬🇧

Off Topic and General Discussions => Off topic, general discussions and the Wide Awake Club. => Topic started by: John on November 29, 2013, 02:02:19 AM

Title: Latest from the HackedOff campaign team.
Post by: John on November 29, 2013, 02:02:19 AM

Leveson Royal Charter Declaration

On 29th November 2013 the first anniversary of the Leveson Report, over 100 leading figures from the world of art and literature, science and academia, human rights and the law, launched a declaration of support for the implementation of the Leveson recommendations via the cross-party Royal Charter.

It is now open for everyone to sign here (http://hackinginquiry.org/sign-the-declaration)

“WE BELIEVE that a free press is a cornerstone of democracy. It should be fearless in exposing corruption, holding the powerful to account and championing the powerless. It has nothing to lose, and can only be enhanced, by acknowledging unethical practice in its midst and acting firmly to ensure it is not repeated.

We also believe that editors and journalists will rise in public esteem when they accept a form of self-regulation that is independently audited on the lines recommended by Lord Justice Leveson and laid down in the Royal Charter of 30 October 2013.

It is our view that this Charter safeguards the press from political interference while also giving vital protection to the vulnerable. That is why we support it and that is why we urge newspaper publishers to embrace it.”

Sign up here (http://hackinginquiry.org/sign-the-declaration)

Title: Re: Latest from the HackedOff campaign team.
Post by: John on November 29, 2013, 02:09:05 AM

Dear friend,
 
It was 2 years ago this month that I, and other victims of press abuse, gave evidence at the Leveson Inquiry. It was a year ago today that Lord Justice Leveson delivered his landmark report. It was a month ago that the Royal Charter, implementing his report, was sealed with all-party support.
 
Thanks to our supporters, we have been able to fund an advertisement in the Guardian today launching the Leveson Royal Charter Declaration, signed by over 100 leading figures from the worlds of literature and cinema, science and academia, human rights and the law.
 
The former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, the presenter Clare Balding, Sir Tom Stoppard, Ian McEwan, Gary Lineker, John Cleese, Sir Alan Ayckbourn, Alan Bennett and many others have all signed. You can see the advert in the Guardian or view it on this link. (http://hackinginquiry.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/HackedOff_Guardian291113_V7.pdf)
 
Like you, and the vast majority of the public, these signatories recognise that the Charter will deliver a free and accountable press and is in no way a threat to free expression.  The declaration is now open for signature more widely, and we would like to give you the opportunity to sign first. Just sign up here. (http://hackinginquiry.org/sign-the-declaration)
 
If we can raise enough funds we will place the advert in more national newspapers so please tick the donate box and give what you can.
 
Thanks again from all at Hacked Off.
 
Yours sincerely,
 
Christopher Jefferies
Patron of Hacked Off
 
PS There is still time to register for the Leveson Lecture this afternoon at the Free Word Centre in London, given by David Yelland (ex-editor of The Sun), with responses from a panel including playwright Michael Frayn and BBC commentator Steve Hewlett. You can register here. (https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-leveson-anniversary-lecture-2013-to-be-given-by-david-yelland-tickets-9474497477?utm_campaign=new_eventv2&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eb_email&utm_term=eventname_text)

Title: Re: Latest from the HackedOff campaign team.
Post by: John on December 04, 2014, 03:14:32 PM

Latest from the Hacked Off campaign.

Dear Supporter,
 
We all know that IPSO, the latest fake “regulator”, is a sham, just like the PCC was and whose staff and offices it employs.

With the kind help of Steve Coogan and his production company Babycow Ltd, we have made a new 90 second film to run in cinemas to tell the public that IPSO, the latest fake "regulator", is a sham. Now we just need your help to get it out there.
 
See the new advert here  (http://vimeo.com/113414348)- before anyone else. The password is 'LevesonNow'.

Title: Re: Latest from the HackedOff campaign team.
Post by: John on February 04, 2015, 03:34:53 PM

Latest from the Hacked Off campaign.

CHALLENGE OUR MPS: Invitation to Hacked Off's Parliamentary Campaign Day
25th February 2015, 12.00pm -3.30pm
 

Dear Friend,

Please join us and our supporters in Parliament to lobby MPs on Wednesday 25th February from 12.00pm to 3.30pm in Committee Room 11.

Following Prime Minister’s Questions – where we hope to put the PM on the spot - we will hear from party spokespersons, victims of press abuse and civil society organisations that work with individuals and groups who are regularly targeted or stigmatised by much of the British press.

It will be an opportunity for you to hear whether and how the main political parties intend to keep their promises to deliver Leveson, to meet some of our well-known supporters, and - if you choose - to lobby your own MP on a one-to–one basis.

If you can come, it would be very helpful (but not essential) for us if you would sign up here (http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/challenge-our-mps-hacked-offs-parliamentary-campaign-day-tickets-15599880663) so that we can estimate numbers of attendees. Also please do let us know if you any questions.

We will be in touch again soon with more details.

Thank you for your continuing support - it really does make a difference to the success of the campaign.

Best wishes,
 
The Hacked Off Team


Copyright © 2015 Hacked Off Campaign, All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:
campaign@hackinginquiry.org

Title: Re: Latest from the HackedOff campaign team.
Post by: John on May 03, 2015, 05:10:09 PM

(http://gallery.mailchimp.com/36889d82a90d38e0b25c84b47/images/HO_LOGO_K_RED_Strap.1.jpg)

May 2nd 2015

Dear supporter,
 
Thanks to your efforts in helping us campaign, in the last few weeks the political parties have set out their manifesto commitments in relation to press regulation and implementing Leveson.

While most manifestos were positive, the Conservative manifesto fails to support the full implementation of Leveson. And last week Sajid Javid, Conservative Culture Secretary, told the Daily Mail that the press are entitled to just ignore Leveson. This contradicts what the Prime Minister has said in the past.

We are asking everyone (whether or not you are a Conservative supporter) to write to your local Conservative candidate to ask whether David Cameron is still willing to fulfil his promise to the victims of press abuse.
   
Whether or not you are considering voting Conservative (but especially if you are), please write to your candidate here. All you need is your postcode.

As long as voluntary Leveson is rejected by the press, the current system is no improvement and fails the test. So why is Javid now saying that the press can have a veto over Leveson, in spite of the wishes of Parliament and the public and all that those who testified at Leveson went through?
   
Whether or not you are considering voting Conservative (but especially if you are), please write to your candidate here. All you need is your postcode.
 
We are and remain a fully cross-party campaign and this request comes to you from Hacked Off campaigners who between us are members of the Conservatives, Labour and the Lib Dems.
 
 Best wishes,

Joan Smith – Executive Director
Terrence Tehranian – Board Director
Evan Harris – Associate Director

 

Read Press Release in full (http://us5.campaign-archive1.com/?u=36889d82a90d38e0b25c84b47&id=6285600da0&e=58fbdaece9)

Title: Re: Latest from the HackedOff campaign team.
Post by: John on May 06, 2015, 12:02:35 PM

A cross party message – please act

(http://i.imgur.com/GdsUiRq.jpg?1)

Dear friends,
 
 Right now, the Daily Mail and Rupert Murdoch’s media machines are feeding readers a never-ending diet of fear, smear and misinformation. 
 
 Forget any kind of balance or deliberative debate on policies -- research led by campaign group Avaaz and openDemocracy shows that the right-wing media has preferred engaging with dirty personal attacks over serious discussion on policies.
 
 The reason is that the Murdoch and Mail media mafia fear that a Parliament which has a clear majority of pro- Leveson parties would introduce fair and effective press regulation, and finally deliver the Leveson Report to help unclench their grip over Britain’s democracy.

 Avaaz has launched a social media campaign to fight the Murdoch-Dacre stranglehold over this election.

Let’s come together with Avaaz to make this Murdoch’s last stand, urging undecided voters to cast their votes according to the policies they believe in -- not out of Murdoch-inspired fear and suspicion.
 
 And if this is something that matters to you, then join me and many other leading figures from the creative world in signing the Leveson Royal Charter Declaration.

 Best wishes,
 
 Irvine Welsh
 John Cleese
 Joan Smith
 Peter Tatchell
 Steve Coogan


http://us5.campaign-archive2.com/?u=36889d82a90d38e0b25c84b47&id=12a63d997a&e=58fbdaece9

Title: Re: Latest from the HackedOff campaign team.
Post by: Angelo222 on February 18, 2017, 03:44:57 PM

The Murdoch's are at it again according to the latest e-mail from the Hacked Off Campaign.


Dear Friends,
 
Many of the executives who presided over phone-hacking and used the results in their newspapers are still in charge and the Murdochs are at it again: launching a take-over bid for Sky whilst the Leveson Part 2 investigation into Rupert and James Murdoch’s knowledge and actions around phone-hacking remains in abeyance – thanks no doubt to their lobbying of the Government.
 
Will you join us in Parliament on Wednesday 15th March, from 2-3.30pm to tell your MP that you won’t stand for it?
   
We will be joined by press victims and free speech and media groups who are campaigning for Leveson Part 2 to take place.

Thank you,
Daisy and Evan
Joint Executive Directors, Hacked Off

http://us5.campaign-archive2.com/?u=36889d82a90d38e0b25c84b47&id=402810a4df&e=58fbdaece9

Title: Re: Latest from the HackedOff campaign team.
Post by: John on June 22, 2017, 09:55:39 AM

Theresa May tried to bury this bombshell while Britain was distracted by grief. Now it might blow up in her face.

(https://www.thecanary.co/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/May_stark_firefighter-770x470.png)

In recent weeks, a series of man-made tragedies have struck Britain. From terror attacks to the Grenfell Tower inferno. UK citizens have been grieving for the victims, and fighting to prevent future tragedies. Meanwhile, Theresa May was busy elsewhere – trying to seal a deal for the wholesale takeover of UK media by Rupert Murdoch.

The Sky deal

Rupert Murdoch tried to take full control of Sky in 2011. But the phone hacking scandal and revelations from the Leveson inquiry forced the government to withdraw support. And the deal fell through.

Just a few years later, Murdoch is at it again. This time, 21st Century Fox is putting up £11.7bn to buy out the 61% of Sky that the Murdochs don’t already own. The deal would give Murdoch an unprecedented ownership of UK media. Labour MP David Winnick expressed serious concern about the near-monopoly this would create for Murdoch, saying “it would be simply unacceptable that the amount of media ownership he already controls should be increased”.

The Murdochs have expressed confidence that, this time, the deal will go though. So have industry insiders. They’re pleased this time that other events are keeping the deal well away from the front pages.

Culture Secretary Karen Bradley issued a press release without fanfare on Tuesday 20 June, announcing that a judgement will be made on the buyout in just a week’s time. Bradley will decide whether or not to refer the takeover to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) for a more in-depth ‘phase 2’ investigation.

We should care because the ownership of UK media is central to the issues of bias, smear and fake news that have blighted us for decades. The Media Reform Coalition published a report in 2015 entitled Who owns the UK media?. They found that just three corporations own 71% of national newspaper circulation.

The purpose of monopoly

These corporations use their media power to leverage government to serve their interests. As The Canary‘s James Wright wrote in September 2016:

Murdoch – owner of The Times, The Sun and Sky News in the UK – has backed every single election winner since 1979. This record has earned the press baron the title of ‘Kingmaker’.

Straight after being named Labour leader, Blair travelled halfway across the world to speak at an annual News Corp meeting. They ended up fostering such a close relationship that Murdoch named Blair as the godfather to one of his children.

Continuing the trend, the powerful billionaire backed David Cameron over Gordon Brown in the 2010 election. After gaining insider information from a former Murdoch journalist, actor Hugh Grant claimed that Cameron’s relationship with former Sun editor Rebekah Brooks (née Wade) was crucial to his victory:

Cameron is very much in debt to Rebekah Wade for helping him not quite win the election.
May acted no differently. She held a secret meeting with Rupert Murdoch in New York, the same month Murdoch announced his takeover bid for Sky. Since then, May has dutifully followed through on the deal. And unsurprisingly, Murdoch gave May the full backing of his fleet of news outlets.

The fightback

Unfortunately for May and Murdoch, there was a new factor in this election that they hadn’t counted on. New media. And an array of new, progressive outlets put up a fight that the establishment hadn’t reckoned upon. This time, Murdoch’s support was only able to deliver May a hung parliament.

This deal is about the establishment trying to expand its control over the media, and prevent this happening again. Because if we can begin to break up these media monopolies, who knows what will be possible in future elections?

The behaviour of the Murdochs, the Barclay brothers, and our other media moguls have led us to a shameful status quo. The incestuous relationship between political and media power has dragged Britain to the humiliating rank of 40th in the 2017 Press Freedom Index. This puts the UK behind Costa Rica, Samoa, Surinam and Andorra. The Sky bid will make things worse rather than better. And everyone who cares about a free press should unite to shut this deal down.

Get Involved!

– Sign the 38 degrees petition to block the deal

– Write urgently to your MP to oppose the deal

https://www.thecanary.co/2017/06/21/theresa-may-tried-bury-bombshell-britain-distracted-grief-now-might-blow-face/