Looks like we’re overdue for one.
Hackgate: Rabid Weasels All the Way Down
(Jeff Danziger’s website)
H/t commentor PeakVT for the link to Reuter’s report that Rebekah Brooks was not a nice person to work for:
When Brooks became editor, at age 31, she had a brief to broaden the paper’s appeal by intensifying the focus on celebrity and showbusiness news and publishing fewer of the harder stories the paper had been known for…
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At the same time, the pressure to get exclusive stories was so intense that dubious practices were barely questioned. “They were ‘dodgy business HQ’. I’m not sure if people even realised it was illegal. It was a don’t-get-caught culture,” said the reporter of seven years’ standing. New staff would be given the cold shoulder until they’d proved themselves to be “thoroughly disreputable” so their colleagues could trust them.
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“It was no place for anyone to pipe up and say: ‘This doesn’t seem ethical to me.’ That would have made you a laughing stock.”
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Journalists didn’t explicitly ask for private investigators to get involved in their work, but help would be provided if a reporter got stuck on a promising story. “How it arrived on your desk was a bit of a mystery. You didn’t know and you didn’t ask,” said the reporter. “Every week, somebody’s mobile phone records, somebody’s landline records, sometimes even somebody’s medical records. It was common enough not to be notable.”
Much more disreputable detail at the link. Hoocoodanode seems less and less a defensible legal strategy.
If you prefer something inspirational on a Monday morning, Adweek has a nice little piece on “The Ben Bradlee of Phone Hacking:’Guardian’ editor Alan Rusbridger wouldn’t let investigation die”. (Complete with quotes from the NYT‘s Bill Keller sneering that the Guardian ain’t got no dolla-dolla, and should hurry up and die already.)
And another wonderful tidbit via commentor whose name I’ve misplaced JGabriel (thanks, Sharl!):
Hackgate: Rabid Weasels All the Way DownPost + Comments (54)
Open Thread
The party was a smashing hit, I think my parents hand a good time, and my sister was invaluable with the set-up and clean-up. I wanted to choke my brother out with a strap-on for demanding I make him a mojito and then parading around the god damned party and causing everyone to want one, but other than that, everything went well.
The usual suspects are now hanging around and we are getting our drink on.
BTW- I love this. QUIT DYING SEAN BEAN:
Don’t ever get emotionally attached to a Sean Bean character.
Open thread
You don’t have to prove to me that you’re beautiful to strangers.
T-1 Hour
One hour to go on the ribs before I let them rest:
I’ve been babying these things since noon. Spritzing with an apple juice/honey spray. I’m salivating.
Women’s World Cup Championship Open Thread
This is it. Share your thoughts on who is going to win.
Women’s World Cup Championship Open ThreadPost + Comments (323)
Open Thread: Sunday Garden Chat
This afternoon we’re planning the annual expedition to Seawright Gardens, where we’ll upgrade our daylily holdings via the highly scientific process of wandering through the rows going “Oooh, I like that one!”. My preferences run to pale peach and near-cream (usually labelled lavender) blooms; the Spousal Unit likes maroons and deep golds. If I look askance, he’ll remind me who picked out the pale-yet-vibrant lemon-colored My My that’s been brightening our doorstep for the last couple weeks.
Afterwards, there will be ice cream at Kimball Farm.
Image: Dahlias, Shelburne Museum, 2008. (This is why you guys should email pics to [email protected])
So… what’s on everyone’s agenda for a fine summer Sunday?