Police drop sources order

London's Metropolitan police wanted a court order to force the newspaper's reporters to reveal confidential sources for articles disclosing that murdered teenager Milly Dowler's phone was hacked on behalf of the News of the World. They claimed a reporter could have incited a source to break the Official Secrets Act.

Tuesday’s Scotland Yard announcement came not long after hundreds of media people discussed the police initiative and other press freedom issues. The event, chaired by Reuters editor-at-large Sir Harold Evans, was attended by a top-level contingent from Thomson Reuters including chairman David Thomson, CEO Tom Glocer, pictured, editor-in-chief Stephen Adler, and other editors and executives.

Police left open the possibility the so-called production order could be applied for again, but a senior police source said: “It’s off the agenda. There will be some hard reflection. This was a decision made in good faith, but with no appreciation for the wider consequences. Obviously the last thing we want to do is to get into a big fight with the media. We do not want to interfere with journalists.”

Editors speaking at the Thomson Reuters event recognised Fleet Street had to mend its ways but appealed to the government not to crush Britain's cherished free speech with draconian laws. Top lawyers, editors and politicians agreed during the debate on “The Press We Deserve” that Britain’s existing Press Complaints Commission, a voluntary self-regulatory body, had failed in its duty to keep the press honest but differed sharply over the solution.

Evans said the British press was in its greatest danger since two journalists were jailed for not revealing their sources in 1963.

Editor’s note: The original version of this report headed “Police drop sources order after Thomson Reuters debate” erroneously implied that the police announcement was a consequence of the Thomson Reuters debate. It was not. It was a coincidence. Mea culpa.

PHOTO: Julie Mollins

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