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Neil John Wallis | |
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| Born | October 4, 1950 |
| Occupation | Journalist |
Neil John Wallis (born 4 October 1950) [1] is a British former newspaper editor. He is currently a media consultant and media commentator.
|
Neil John Wallis | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 4, 1950 |
| Occupation | Journalist |
Neil John Wallis (born 4 October 1950) [1] is a British former newspaper editor. He is currently a media consultant and media commentator.
 | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (July 2011) |
Wallis was born in Lincolnshire. [2] He attended Skegness Grammar School. [3] Wallis left school with four O Levels, an AS Level and an A Level. [3]
Wallis gained his first employment working for the Skegness Standard, leaving after six months to work for the Worksop Guardian as part of a National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) scheme, during which he also studied at Richmond College of Further Education in Sheffield. Having passed his NCTJ exams, Wallis worked for The Northern Echo (in its Durham office) before becoming a senior reporter for the Manchester Evening News . At this point in his career, Wallis became a Crime Reporter, giving talks to police officers on police-media relations, whilst also freelancing for The Sunday People , progressing from the paper's Manchester desk to its London office. Wallis later said: "During this time I travelled extensively throughout Britain and the world as both a hard news reporter and as an investigator. This included lengthy periods in the USA, the Middle East and Northern Ireland during the 'Troubles' - where I was hospitalised after being caught up in a particularly violent riot. I spent six months in Argentina during the Falklands War including spells in Buenos Aires and Commadorio Rivadavia, the invasion base of the Argentinean Junta. I also spent time in most countries in Europe and the Mediterranean". [3] Wallis then became the paper's Chief Investigative Reporter, responsible for conducting investigations into "murders, show business scandals, corruption, crime in general, drugs, spying and politics". [3]
In December 1986, he joined News International's UK tabloid newspaper The Sun where he served in a series of assistant and editorial roles before becoming Deputy Editor [3] in 1993. He left The Sun in 1998 and took up the editorship of The People . In 2003, he moved to become Deputy Editor of the News of the World , and in 2007 he became Executive Editor of the paper. In May 2009, he announced that he would be leaving his post later in the year. [4] He was known as "The Wolfman" by fellow journalists. [5]
Wallis is a former member of the Editors' Code of Practice Committee at the Press Complaints Commission. [6] Wallis currently works regularly as a media commentator for both television and radio stations such as talkRADIO [7]
After leaving journalism he worked for the Outside Organisation, a company specialising in public relations, [8] becoming Managing Director in 2010. [9] Wallis' own company, Chamy Media, provided "strategic communication advice and support" to the Metropolitan Police on a part-time basis from October 2009 to September 2010 whilst the Met's Deputy Director of Public Affairs was on extended sick leave. [10] [11]
It is alleged that while recovering from illness Sir Paul Stephenson, head of the Metropolitan Police, accepted a free extended stay (worth £12,000) at a Champneys health spa, a company which then employed Wallis for PR work. [12] Upon announcing his resignation from the Metropolitan Police on 17 July 2011, Stephenson acknowledged that his decision to resign was "in particular in relation to Neil Wallis". [13]
On 14 July 2011, Wallis was arrested by the Metropolitan Police investigating the News of the World phone hacking scandal. [14]
At this development, the Outside Organisation edited their website, removing his listing as MD and a part of his biography which had stated "What he [Wallis] doesn’t know about journalism and media isn’t worth knowing". [15] In February 2013, it emerged the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) would not be charging Wallis over phone hacking. [16]
This changed on 30 July 2014, when the CPS announced that it had authorised the Metropolitan Police to charge Wallis with conspiring to hack phones to listen to voicemails between January 2003 and January 2007. [17] The charges were brought as part of Operation Pinetree into ex-News of the World features staff, a separate inquiry to the one into hacking by the paper's newsroom staff which resulted in the jailing of ex-News of the World editor Andy Coulson. In its statement the CPS said it had been decided there was "sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction and that a prosecution is in the public interest". The paper's former features editor Jules Stenson was also charged and was scheduled to appear with Wallis before Westminster Magistrates' Court on 21 August 2014. [18] They both subsequently appeared at a case management hearing at the Old Bailey in December 2014 at which Wallis pleaded not guilty to the charges against him and Stenson pleaded guilty. [19] Wallis' trail began at the Old Bailey in June 2015, he was represented by Phil Smith of Tuckers Solicitors; [20] He denied the charges against him. [21] [22] On 1 July 2015, Wallis was unanimously cleared by the jury after it had spent four days considering the charges against him. Speaking outside the court Wallis said he was feeling "very emotional", adding that the case against him had been part of a "vicious politically driven campaign" against the press. He claimed that fighting the claims against him had cost him his life savings, damaged his health and career, and taken a toll on his family. [23]
Rebekah Mary Brooks is a British media executive and former journalist and newspaper editor. She has been chief executive officer of News UK since 2015. She was previously CEO of News International from 2009 to 2011 and was the youngest editor of a British national newspaper at News of the World, from 2000 to 2003, and the first female editor of The Sun, from 2003 to 2009. Brooks married actor Ross Kemp in 2002. They divorced in 2009 and she married former racehorse trainer and author Charlie Brooks.
Andrew EdwardCoulson is an English journalist and political strategist.
Clive Goodman is an English journalist, former royal editor and reporter for the News of the World. He was arrested in August 2006 and jailed in January 2007 for intercepting mobile phone messages involving members of the Royal household.
The News International phone hacking scandal was a controversy involving the now-defunct News of the World and other British newspapers owned by Rupert Murdoch. Employees of the newspaper were accused of engaging in phone hacking, police bribery, and exercising improper influence in the pursuit of stories. Whilst investigations conducted from 2005 to 2007 appeared to show that the paper's phone hacking activities were limited to celebrities, politicians, and members of the British royal family, in July 2011 it was revealed that the phones of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler, relatives of deceased British soldiers, and victims of the 7 July 2005 London bombings had also been hacked. The resulting public outcry against News Corporation and its owner Rupert Murdoch led to several high-profile resignations, including that of Murdoch as News Corporation director, Murdoch's son James as executive chairman, Dow Jones chief executive Les Hinton, News International legal manager Tom Crone, and chief executive Rebekah Brooks. The commissioner of London's Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), Sir Paul Stephenson, also resigned. Advertiser boycotts led to the closure of the News of the World on 10 July 2011, after 168 years of publication. Public pressure forced News Corporation to cancel its proposed takeover of the British satellite broadcaster BSkyB.
Ian Edmondson is a British tabloid journalist. He was the news editor at the News of the World. Edmondson was arrested by the Metropolitan Police in April 2011 during the Operation Weeting phone-hacking investigation.
Operation Weeting was a British police investigation that commenced on 26 January 2011, under the Specialist Crime Directorate of the Metropolitan Police Service into allegations of phone hacking in the News of the World phone hacking affair. The operation was conducted alongside Operation Elveden, an investigation into allegations of inappropriate payments to the police by those involved with phone hacking, and Operation Tuleta, an investigation into alleged computer hacking for the News of the World. All three operations are led by Deputy Assistant Commissioner Sue Akers, Head of Organised Crime & Criminal Networks within the Specialist Crime Directorate.
Operation Elveden was a British police investigation into allegations of inappropriate payments to police officers and other public officials. It was opened as a result of documents provided by News International to the Operation Weeting investigation.
James Weatherup is an English newspaper journalist, news reporter, newspaper editor and PR Director.
Sean Matthew Hoare was a British entertainment journalist. He contributed to articles on show business, from actors to reality television stars. He played a central role in contributing to exposing the News International phone hacking scandal.
The News of the World royal phone hacking scandal was a scandal which developed in 2005 to 2007 around the interception of voice mail relating to the British royal family by a private investigator working for a News of the World journalist. It formed a prelude to the wider News International phone hacking scandal which developed in 2009 and exploded in 2011, when it became clear that the phone hacking had taken place on a much wider scale. Early indications of this in the police investigation were not followed through, and the failures of the police investigation would go on to form part of the wider scandal in 2011.
The News Corporation scandal involves phone, voicemail, and computer hacking that were allegedly committed over a number of years. The scandal began in the United Kingdom, where the News International phone hacking scandal has to date resulted in the closure of the News of the World newspaper and the resignation of a number of senior members of the Metropolitan Police force.
The News of the World phone hacking scandal investigations followed the revelations in 2005 of voicemail interception on behalf of News of the World. Despite wider evidence of wrongdoing, the News of the World royal phone hacking scandal appeared resolved with the 2007 conviction of the News of the World royal editor Clive Goodman and the private investigator Glenn Mulcaire, and the resignation of editor Andy Coulson. However, a series of civil legal cases and investigations by newspapers, parliament and the police ultimately saw evidence of "industrial scale" phone hacking, leading to the closure of the News of the World on 10 July 2011. However, the affair did not end there, developing into the News Corporation ethics scandal as wrongdoing beyond the News of the World and beyond phone hacking came to light.
Stuart Kuttner is a former newspaper editor. He worked as the news editor for the London Evening Standard before joining the News of the World newspaper in 1980 first as a deputy editor, then as managing editor. He held the position for 22 years before stepping down from his post in 2009 and retiring to Woodford Green. He was arrested on 2 August 2011, in connection with the News International phone hacking scandal, but has now been acquitted. He was 71 at the time of his arrest.
The news media phone hacking scandal is a controversy over illegal acquisition of confidential information by news media organizations that reportedly occurred in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia between 1995 and 2011. This article includes reference lists for various topics relating to that scandal.
This article provides a narrative beginning in 1999 of investigations by the Metropolitan Police Service (Met) of Greater London into the illegal acquisition of confidential information by agents in collaboration with the news media that is commonly referred to as the phone hacking scandal. The article discusses seven phases of investigations by the Met and several investigations of the Met itself, including critiques and responses regarding the Met's performance. Separate articles provide an overview of the scandal and a comprehensive set of reference lists with detailed background information.
By 2002, the practice of publications using private investigators to acquire confidential information was widespread in the United Kingdom, with some individuals using illegal methods. Information was allegedly acquired by accessing private voicemail accounts, hacking into computers, making false statements to officials to obtain confidential information, entrapment, blackmail, burglaries, theft of mobile phones and making payments to officials in exchange for confidential information. The kind of information acquired illegally included private communication, physical location of individuals, bank account records, medical records, phone bills, tax files, and organisational strategies.
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