British PM Expands Phone-Hacking Inquiry to Broadcasters

LONDON: British Prime Minister David Cameron announced today that the phone-hacking inquiry he has established, sparked by the News of the World scandal, will be extended beyond newspapers to broadcasters and social media.

"We’ve set up a wide-ranging and independent judicial inquiry under Lord Justice Leveson to establish what went wrong, why and what we need to do to ensure it never happens again," Cameron told the House of Commons today.

Cameron today named the six executives who will work with Leveson on the inquiry. They are Shami Chakrabarti, director of Liberty, a civil-liberties group; Sir Paul Scott-Lee, former West Midlands chief constable; Lord David Currie, a former chairman of Ofcom; Elinor Goodman, formerly of Channel 4 News; George Jones, ex-Daily Telegraph political editor; and Sir David Bell, former FT chairman.

"These people have been chosen not only for their expertise in the media, broadcasting, regulation and policing, but for their complete independence from the interested parties," Cameron stated.

Noting that amendments had been made to the remit of inquiry, Cameron said, "We have also made clear that the inquiry should look at not just the press but other media organizations—including broadcasters and social media—if there is any evidence that they have been involved in criminal activities."

A report is planned within 12 months.