23 April 2012

Ofcom Investigates Sky News For Hacking

Ofcom has launched an investigation into email hacking by Sky News following an admission that they accessed the accounts of "canoe man" John Darwin and his wife Anne; and a suspected paedophile.

The head of Sky News, John Ryley, has admitted to the Leveson Inquiry they technically broke the law.

But he said: "It's highly unlikely... that we would be doing this sort of thing in the future."

"I think it's highly unlikely in the future that Sky will consider breaking the law… I'm pretty much ruling it out," he told the inquiry into press practices on Monday.

But he added: "Journalism is at time a tough business and at times we need to shed light on wrongdoing."

After admitting to hacking accounts of John Darwin, who faked his own death in a canoe, and his wife Anne, Sky had said the action was in the public interest and amounted to "responsible journalism", and that the evidence discovered was handed to police.

An Ofcom spokesperson said: "Ofcom is investigating the fairness and privacy issues raised by Sky News' statement that it had accessed without prior authorisation private email accounts during the course of its news investigations. We will make the outcome known in due course."

Ofcom's broadcasting code includes a clause - Rule 8.1 - which states that: "Any infringement of privacy in programmes, or in connection with obtaining material included in programmes, must be warranted."

The regulator has a range of potential sanctions for breaches of its code, varying from a warning, through to a fine or the revocation of a licence in the most serious circumstances.

(H)