UK Blog Charges that Phone Hacking Occured at ‘Daily Mirror’ Under Editor Piers Morgan

By Alex Weprin 

A U.K. political blog alleges that phone hacking was not contained to News Corp.’s News of the World, and that News competitor The Daily Mirror also engaged in the practice. The editor of the Mirror at the time? Piers Morgan, now a primetime host on CNN.

The Guido Fawkes blog, led by libertarian blogger Paul Staines, charges that Morgan was aware that at least one scoop was obtained by hacking a celebrity’s voicemail, but decided to publish it anyway, in an effort to revive the brand of the paper’s gossip column:

The paper’s editor at the time, one Piers Morgan, was receiving flak for the fact that his 3AM Girls gossip section was dire rubbish and lacked any bite compared to Morgan’s old Bizarre column in News International’s Sun. Morgan decided to let 3AMGirl Jessica Callan break the illegally obtained story under her byline in order to try and rid the column of its banal reputation.

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The parent company of The Daily Mirror responded to the then rumors a few days ago, saying “Trinity Mirror’s position is clear. Our journalists work within the criminal law and the PCC code of conduct.”


Morgan weighed in on the hacking scandal to ITN News, saying he was sad to see News of the World close:

One thing is certain, this story is far from over.

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