In the wake of News of the World and other press scandals, Lord Justice Leveson has called for a new statute-backed system to regulate the British media. To some, such a move would constitute a reversal of a proud free-press tradition dating back to the 17th century. But Minister of Parliament Nadhim Zahawi tells Bob that the UK's self-policing press has been drinking at the "Last Chance Saloon" for too long.

Billy Brag & Wilco - Union Prayer

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.

In the aftermath of the News of the World phone hacking scandal, British Prime Minister David Cameron declared that a public government inquiry would look into the practices and ethics of the British press. For weeks now, the Leveson Inquiry has been hearing testimony from witnesses like Hugh Grant, J.K. Rowling and the parents of Milly Dowler, the 13-year-old murder victim whose phone was hacked by NOTW back in 2002.

On Tuesday, one of the most shocking and eye-opening testimonies was given by former NOTW deputy features editor Paul McMullan, who openly talked about some of the questionable techniques he utilized as a tabloid reporter, like posing as a teenage prostitute to entrap a priest. We managed to track down McMullan, who spoke to Brooke by phone from the cellar of a pub he owns in Dover, England.

James Murdoch is currently testified before parliament this morning about the News of the World voicemail scandal that erupted earlier this summer. Parliament is streaming the hearing live via its website, and you can follow the Twitter reaction to the hearings right here. If we find an embeddable live stream of the hearings we will embed it on this site as well. See below for the Parliament hearings.

Since last week, the British tabloid phone hacking scandal has worked its way into the highest levels of power in England.  The Metropolitan Police Commissioner has resigned, and even British Prime Minister David Cameron has come under intense public pressure.  The Murdoch family, however, seems to have survived, mostly unscathed. Reuters’ finance blogger Felix Salmon talks to Bob about Rupert and James Murdoch’s unlikely endurance. 

The U.S. media has been fascinated with the British tabloid phone hacking scandal and its widespread fallout. But according to polling by the Pew Research Center, the public doesn’t share the media’s obsession. Brooke speaks to Pew Research Center President Andrew Kohut, who says that when  the public was asked which story they were following most closely, only 4 percent chose the phone hacking story.

Earlier this week, Rupert Murdoch joined a long list of powerful people who’ve had pies thrown in their face. Thomas Friedman, Bill Gates, and Anita Bryant have all been victims of the classic prank. Brooke talked with Jacques Servin (a.k.a. Andy Bichlbaum) of The Yes Men, a group with a long history of executing public pranks on the mighty, about why pie-rs pie and what pie-ing does to the pie-d.

As the effects from the News of the World phone hacking continue to ripple throughout Britain, many are still wondering how those journalists and private investigators managed to do it.  This may not have been their method, but for WNYC's John Keefe, voicemail hacking was surprisingly (and shockingly) easy.  He tells Brooke all you need is a computer, a phone number, and $10.

As a Brit sitting here in New York watching News International implode I found myself reliving a bit of my youth. Murdoch’s influence was so pervasive, and so intertwined with my memories of growing up in London in the 80’s. In those days the nightly news was all IRA bombings, the miners’ strike and of course, Wapping.

Rupert Murdoch, his son James and others will field questions before parliament Tuesday about the mushrooming phone-hacking scandal at the now-shuttered News of the World tabloid.

It's the first time the pair has faced public questioning about the scandal that most recently resulted in the arrest of a former top-ranking Murdoch aide Rebekah Brooks and the resignations of London's police chief and assistant commissioner.

First, I hacked my own voice mail. Then, when colleagues came around to see, several volunteered their phones, too.

With a few clicks of a mouse, we accessed our mobile phone voice mails from a desktop computer. No password needed. No cellphone needed.

It was surprisingly easy.

Here's a little-known (at least here in the US) tidbit that's re-emerged in the News of the World scandal. British singer Billy Bragg has weighed in on the scandal engulfing Rupert Murdoch's media empire with his new song "Never Buy The Sun."

The song is a broad critique of British media practices ("someone's hiding in the bushes/ with a telephoto lens") but one line of the refrain requires a bit of historical context. Bragg sings "The Scousers never buy The Sun."

The who? Why do they never buy The Sun?

This weekend, we covered the News of the World phone hacking scandal on our show (for the second time). This story has been developing so quickly that it's been hard to keep up. Fortunately, in yesterday's New York Times, Sarah Lyall took a fascinating look at the tense relationship between British Parliament and the British Tabloids, explaining that recent criticisms of News of the World are certainly uncommon in the British Political firmament.