Professor turned campaigner Brian Cathcart, executive director of Hacked Off, wrote a comment piece for the Guardian this week where he asked:
‘Does it show double standards to condemn David Miranda’s detention without criticising the arrest of journalists suspected of illegal phone hacking and bribery? There are news organisations that want us to believe it does.’
Brian, I’m afraid they are right.
I remember bringing up this exact issue with Brian when I was still working at Hacked Off. I asked him if we should not react to the fact the MSC (Management Standards Committee set up by Rupert Murdoch to hand over evidence to the Met Police) might have been giving away journalists’ sources to police. I also pointed out that I knew on good authority some police officers were being punished for nothing more than having had contact with journalists, and vice versa, in instances where no money had changed hands.
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