Full text of the Guardian editor's Orwell lecture on journalism and the phone-hacking scandal, given at University College, London
Thank you for asking me to give this lecture.
I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have become a journalist were it not for George Orwell. His collected Essays, Journalism and Letters appeared in a four volume Penguin edition in 1968, when I was about 15. I bought them one at a time with my saved pocket money … and read every word. And, with each essay and article, I learned more about politics; about observation; and about how to write. I doubt that I have ever managed to match his clarity of thought and prose – but he was certainly a model of both, and so it's a great honour to be here speaking in his name.
The invitation to speak tonight came just after the extraordinary events of the summer. I know you wanted the...
Thank you for asking me to give this lecture.
I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have become a journalist were it not for George Orwell. His collected Essays, Journalism and Letters appeared in a four volume Penguin edition in 1968, when I was about 15. I bought them one at a time with my saved pocket money … and read every word. And, with each essay and article, I learned more about politics; about observation; and about how to write. I doubt that I have ever managed to match his clarity of thought and prose – but he was certainly a model of both, and so it's a great honour to be here speaking in his name.
The invitation to speak tonight came just after the extraordinary events of the summer. I know you wanted the...
- 11/11/2011
- by Alan Rusbridger
- The Guardian - Film News
This week's news in the arts
Private detectives may usually work in, well, private – but their shady shenanigans have this week been thrust into the limelight. On Tuesday, the News of the World apologised to actor Sienna Miller for having paid detective Glenn Mulcaire to intercept her phone calls. Yesterday, it was alleged that detective Jonathan Rees had targeted Tony Blair and Kate Middleton on behalf of News International.
Entirely coincidentally, a private investigator has loomed large on the small screen this week: Case Histories, the BBC six-parter drawn from Kate Atkinson's bestselling thriller, stars Jason Isaacs as Jackson Brodie, police officer turned Pi and classic tough-nut-with-a-heart. Brodie doesn't tap phones, but he does spend a lot of time running around with his top off. It's the sort of detective work pioneered by Tom Selleck in the 1980s: his Magnum, Pi sported a series of daringly navel-grazing Hawaiian print shirts.
Private detectives may usually work in, well, private – but their shady shenanigans have this week been thrust into the limelight. On Tuesday, the News of the World apologised to actor Sienna Miller for having paid detective Glenn Mulcaire to intercept her phone calls. Yesterday, it was alleged that detective Jonathan Rees had targeted Tony Blair and Kate Middleton on behalf of News International.
Entirely coincidentally, a private investigator has loomed large on the small screen this week: Case Histories, the BBC six-parter drawn from Kate Atkinson's bestselling thriller, stars Jason Isaacs as Jackson Brodie, police officer turned Pi and classic tough-nut-with-a-heart. Brodie doesn't tap phones, but he does spend a lot of time running around with his top off. It's the sort of detective work pioneered by Tom Selleck in the 1980s: his Magnum, Pi sported a series of daringly navel-grazing Hawaiian print shirts.
- 6/8/2011
- by Laura Barnett
- The Guardian - Film News
Newly-minted royal Kate Middleton was targeted, along with former Prime Minister Tony Blair, by phone hackers working with a private investigator with ties to Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. This according to a new article in the U.K.'s Guardian newspaper.
Jonathan Rees, a private investigator, reportedly hacked into the phones of Middleton, Blair and others while working for Murdoch owned companies The Mirror and News of the World.
Middleton's privacy was allegedly compromised when she was dating Prince William. Previous targets named in the investigation include Eric Clapton, Mick Jagger, George Michael and Sarah "Fergie" Ferguson.
In 1999, Rees was sentenced to seven years in prison for "conspiring to plant cocaine" on a woman so that her husband would win a child custody battle.
Jonathan Rees, a private investigator, reportedly hacked into the phones of Middleton, Blair and others while working for Murdoch owned companies The Mirror and News of the World.
Middleton's privacy was allegedly compromised when she was dating Prince William. Previous targets named in the investigation include Eric Clapton, Mick Jagger, George Michael and Sarah "Fergie" Ferguson.
In 1999, Rees was sentenced to seven years in prison for "conspiring to plant cocaine" on a woman so that her husband would win a child custody battle.
- 6/8/2011
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Pop2it
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