Brian Cathcart, hacked off at the hackers

Brian Cathcart, a Reuters graduate trainee who went on to become a newspaper editor and professor of journalism, has written an e-book about Britain’s newspaper phone-hacking scandal.

Cathcart, pictured, is a founder of Hacked Off, a campaign for a free and accountable media. He says: “I don't stand to make money from the book because royalties go to Hacked Off. There is almost no chance of publicity or reviews in most of the press, where my views are unpopular. And I believe the need is urgent.”

Cathcart tells friends who may be interested in the subject: “I am not assuming that you agree with me, but if you have any sympathy for these views or if you feel they at least deserve a hearing at a time when almost all the national press is determined to prevent that, then I would be most grateful if you would buy it, read it, recommend it to your friends, tweet it or just talk about it. And if you are moved to support Hacked Off, let me know. We need all the help we can get.” 

The blurb of his book - titled Everybody’s Hacked Off and with an introduction by actor Hugh Grant - states: “When most of the British press conspired to cover up the phone-hacking scandal at the News of the World, what did that tell us? That the rest of them also had something to hide. And when the Leveson Inquiry lifted the lid on their activities we saw what it was: illegal practices, dishonesty, a disregard for the rights of ordinary people and an arrogant assumption of unaccountability. Now the battle is on to decide whether anything will change and the editors and proprietors, with their vast propaganda power, are determined to ensure nothing will. This book, by a long-time journalist who is a founder of the Hacked Off campaign, paints a damning picture of press corruption and makes a passionate case for journalism that doesn’t bully and lie – journalism that is truly answerable to the public while remaining free from government interference. We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get this right, and we must not allow powerful media corporations to snatch that chance from us.”  

Cathcart joined Reuters as a trainee in 1978, working in Paris, London and The Hague before leaving in 1986 to join The Independent at its launch. He says: “I strongly believe that I received a first-class on-the-job ethical education from my elders and betters at Reuters that stands me in good stead to this day, and I suspect that today young reporters in newsrooms with fewer grey heads around miss out on a lot of that wisdom.” He then moved to The Independent on Sunday, becoming deputy editor before leaving in 1997 to write books. His titles are Were You Still Up for Portillo? (1997), The Case of Stephen Lawrence (1999), Jill Dando, Her Life and Death (2001), Rain (2002), and The Fly in the Cathedral (2004). Cathcart worked for the New Statesman as associate editor and media columnist and in 2005 he became professor of journalism at Kingston University London. 

“A combination of the teaching and the media column led me into the field of press ethics and regulation, and in 2008-10 I was specialist adviser to the House of Commons select committee on culture, media and sport when it was investigating phone hacking, the McCann case and the Press Complaints Commission. After the report was published (accusing News International of ‘selective amnesia’) I began blogging about the unfolding hacking scandal and eventually became a campaigner for a public inquiry, co-founding Hacked Off in spring 2011. The new book is my attempt to draw together various elements I have observed since about 2007.”

Everybody’s Hacked Off can be bought for £1.99. A print-on-demand version in the classic Penguin Special style is also available.

Hacked Off ■