Ex-Sun editor admits ‘bullish’ approach – Leveson

Kelvin MacKenzie, who edited The Sun from 1981 to 1994, told the Leveson inquiry that there is no “certainty” in journalism, and that truth – in law as well as in journalism – is relative.

“The journalists try to get things right. People tell you lies – sometimes they think it’s the truth, and you drill down into it, and you think it’s the truth,” he said. “And then you get a phone call the next day and somebody says, ‘that’s completely wrong, they weren’t there’. People get things wrong. There’s no absolute truth in any newspaper.”

Lord Justice Leveson replied that this was “not an excuse for not having a go” at getting to the truth.

The current editor, as well as the royal, picture and showbiz editors also gave evidence on the first day of the Leveson inquiry following the Christmas break. The paper’s royal editor, Duncan Larcombe, told the inquiry he was unaware of phone hacking taking place, adding that “the culture is, and always has been, to get stories right.”

The journalists try to get things right. People tell you lies. Sometimes they think it’s the truth, and you drill down into it, and you think it’s the truth. Kelvin MacKenzie, former editor of The Sun

However Mr MacKenzie said he stood by the comments he made to the inquiry in October, that “if it sounded right it was probably right and therefore we should lob it in,” adding: “The point I’m making is that we thought about something, and then put it in.”

He described his style of journalism as “rather bullish”, and when asked if he had any regard for privacy while heading the daily tabloid, he replied: “No, not really.”

The former editor said the leadership of Rebekah Brooks and subsequently of the current editor Dominic Mohan was “more cautious” and that they were “probably right” to be so.

Read more: See Kelvin MacKenzie’s full witness statement to the Leveson inquiry

Speaking on Monday afternoon after his predecessor, the current editor of the The Sun said that he considered many different factors before publishing a story. “At the moment I feel almost every story has to be considered in terms of the Bribery Act, privacy and, of course, the PCC,” said Mr Mohan. “So there are many, many discussions happening in the white heat of a news operation.”

He told the inquiry that The Sun managers are considering appointing an ombudsman to deal with complaints about stories – something he said would be “useful in terms of some internal self-regulation”.

‘Snobbery’ in journalism

Mr MacKenzie said different standards applied to different newspapers: “People view The Sun at the bottom of the pile and for as long as it exists I think they view papers like the Guardian as the top of the pile.”

He also referred to “snobbery” in the industry and said that press standards are “really defined by outcome, not by the income”.

He told the Leveson inquiry that The Sun would have come “very, very, very close to being shut down” if they had “got the Milly Dowler story wrong”, referring to a Guardian article claiming that private investigator Glenn Mulcaire, who worked for the the News of the World, was responsible for deleting messages from the missing teenager’s voicemail.

Lord Justice Leveson said it was “interesting” that Mr MacKenzie called the Guardian stories “completely wrong”.

Journalist Joan Smith was called as a witness to the Leveson inquiry after police told her that her phone had been hacked. She tells Channel 4 News why she disagrees with the former tabloid editor.

“I’ve been a journalist for 30-odd years. I think there is a much more rigorous questioning of ethics and morals that goes on than Kelvin MacKenzie’s comments suggest. Even to do with the choice of the stories themselves. But then I think journalists apply different standards to ourselves. I’ve always thought that what I do is very different to what tabloids do.

“At the time my phone was hacked by the News of the World, I was writing for the Times among other publications. I thought it was completely bizarre: one part of the empire was employing me, while another part was spying on me.

“MacKenzie says that there is no ‘certainty’ of truth in journalism. It seems to me that there is actually a very small area of doubt, and journalists do get that wrong sometimes. But it’s a terrible form of moral relativism to say that truth in newspapers is itself, not absolute.

“We provide a factual account of what we believe happened at a certain time. Of course you will get things wrong – people’s memories fail for example – but we provide the first draft of history.”

Relationship with the Murdoch family

When discussing the £1m payout in damages to Elton John for publishing a story claiming that the singer hired rent boys, Mr MacKenzie said that the paper’s owner and News Corporation Chief Executive, Rupert Murdoch, was furious.

“Let’s put it this way – he wasn’t pleased,” he said.

The former editor said he sent a fax to Mr Murdoch, and then received a 40-minute phone call of “non-stop abuse”.

The Sun was “much more important” to Mr Murdoch in the 1980s, said Mr MacKenzie, who added that he spoke to his boss almost every day.

We provide a factual account of what we believe happened at a certain time. Of course you will get things wrong – people’s memories fail for example – but we provide the first draft of history. Joan Smith, journalist and Leveson inquiry witness

Mr Mohan, the current editor of The Sun, said that News International chairman James Murdoch did not have a “huge involvement” in the day-to-day running of the newspaper, but that Rupert Murdoch rings him on a fairly regular basis, depending on what was happening, to discuss everything from the day’s news to the paper’s online strategy.

Kelvin MacKenzie was behind some of the Sun’s most controversial front page stories, including “Freddie Starr Ate My Hamster” and “Gotcha” during the Falklands War in May 1982. Mr MacKenzie previously described the Leveson inquiry as “ludicrous” and suggested that the reason it is being held is because of Prime Minister David Cameron’s “obsessive arse-kissing” of Rupert Murdoch.

The Leveson inquiry to investigate the culture and ethics of journalism, will also this week hear testimony from the editors of the Daily Telegraph, the Financial Times, the Independent, the Mail on Sunday and the Daily Express.