Last week IPI released a statement about an attempt – made under the Official Secrets Act – to compel the Guardian newspaper to reveal a confidential source from its coverage of the News Of The World hacking scandal.
The newspaper said Scotland Yard applied for a production order this month “in order to seek evidence of offences connected to potential breaches relating to misconduct in public office and the Official Secrets Act”.
Metropolitan police reportedly claim that Guardian journalist Amelia Hill – who has been involved in reporting on a number of the Guardian’s key phone-hacking revelations – notably that the voicemail of murdered 11-year-old schoolgirl Milly Dowler was illegally accessed – may have “incited” a source to violate the Act.
Hill was questioned “under caution” on the matter earlier this month, raising concerns about the possible criminalization of contact between journalists and unidentified sources.
We spoke to Amelia Hill, the Guardian’s reporter in the spotlight, about lessons learned from the hacking scandal, about media regulation and the relationship between government and media, and why the Metropolitan Police may actually have done us all a favour.
The reporter was in Taiwan to speak at the IPI World Congress Breaking News Session, “Poisoning the Fight for Press Freedom: The News of the World Scandal”.