In the aftermath of the News of the World phone hacking scandal, the British government launched an investigation known as the Leveson Inquiry to look into the practices and ethics of the British press. This week, one of the most shocking testimonies of the inquiry came from former NOTW reporter Paul McMullan. Brooke speaks to McMullan about his testimony and why he thinks deceptive reporting tactics are necessary.


Comments [15]
Having followed the Republican primary debates closely, I am pretty inured to depravity. But nothing has prompted greater outrage on my part than listening Paul McMullan explain how he 'regrets' that a young woman committed suicide after he lured her into prostitution and publicized it in the newspaper.
As a die-hard atheist and unrepentant sinner, I pray that there is a Hell so that Paul McMullan can burn in it eternally.
Since the latest Virginia Tech serial murders are being reported in my earshot as I write, I can only wish that a Murdoch publication stateside would get caught phone-hacking someone involved so as to raise our national anger and zeal for prosecution at him!
Anybody can make anything sound right but that doesn't make it right. Even murderers, rapists, and pedophiles justify there act. MacMullen, and his ilk, have a convoluted way of convincing themselves that taking from others, for their own profit, is okay. He even admitted it when he was talking about how he wanted to impress his boss.
Someday, I hope someone actually tests to see if McMullan and his vile ilk value their own privacy.
This must be the "if there was a hell..." episode of "On The Media," starring Paul McMullan and Hunter Moore.
Just because people spend money on the slime these two people produce doesn't mean they're "filling a need." They're just pandering -- profiting from the worst of human nature.
Paul McMullan still thinks that selling a lot of newspapers justifies hacking into cell phones and offering celebrities money for sex in order to get nude pictures of them.
Hey On-the-Media, I think its time for a big covery story on this question of to what extent media reflects society versus driving society. It seems that the mantra, "we're just giving the public what it wants", is being used as a cover for all sorts of things -- not just journalism, but also TV and movies that push the "envelope of propriety" (whatever that means). Does the public really want this? Or is there, perhaps, some psychological factor that is being played upon? (Fascination with the bizarre or macabre, for example.) Maybe On the Media and RadioLab could get together on this one... Would love to hear it!
After listening to that interview, I want to scrub my brain out with a toilet brush.
What an utterly disgusting human being.
And this man calls himself a journalist? In light of Jennifer Denholm's suicide, I'd call him partially responsible for the death of a young woman.
After learning more details of more incidents outside the phone hacking, I wonder how tightly those in command at News Of The World must have covered their eyes and ears and intellect to pretend they didn't know how these stories were gathered. They knew and they condoned it. Thank you for a mindblowing interview, and hats off to your professional cool during it, Ms. Gladstone
There was one point that Mr. McMullan made that is being overlooked...people buy papers that print this type of information. The UK versions may be more salacious and fabricated, but the same thing exists in the US as well. Mr. McMullan may have actually done the things that ultimately led to Jennifer Denholm's suicide, but the public that purchased the paper would be equally culpable. Of course, it's obvious to everyone that he's completely amoral. We forget that we vote with our dollars.
"We're just a mirror of the society we report on," claims Mr. McMullan
Bollocks. What he produced is "manufactured demand" of the most sordid kind.
I think both of the men you interviewed fit the recent definition of a psychopath by Jon Ronson in The Psychopath Test.
I'm glad I don't run in the circles where I might meet either of them.
What a horrific and morally bankrupt human being Paul McMullan is.
Phenomenal interview. I don't think I understood the phone hacking scandal until now. Journalism really is doomed.
Did Piers Morgan know what McMullan did to Denholm Elliott daughter? Could OTM ask Piers Morgan what he knew about this subject? This story made me physically ill. I have never heard of a reporter that was so morally bankrupt. There should be outrage.
People need their privacy to use the toilet, take a shower, and make babies. I guess your guest doesn't think these are good things.
Leave a Comment
Register for your own account so you can vote on comments, save your favorites, and more. Learn more.
Please stay on topic, be civil, and be brief.
Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments. Names are displayed with all comments. We reserve the right to edit any comments posted on this site. Please read the Comment Guidelines before posting. By leaving a comment, you agree to New York Public Radio's Privacy Policy and Terms Of Use.