Kirsty Walker

What the papers won’t say | 1 November 2012

The chilling effects of Lord Leveson are already being felt in every newsroom in the country — and it is the rich, powerful and influential who are reaping the benefits. I know this because after 17 years working in national newspapers, the last seven of which I spent on the Daily Mail, I have just walked away from a job I loved. The decision — one of the hardest of my life — was driven partly by a desire to spend more time with my young family. But a major factor was the menacing post-Leveson culture in which journalists are already forced to operate.

Few journalists will talk about it, but the rules of the game have changed. If you inquire about certain establishment figures or MPs, they make use of the tools they possess to intimidate you. Our political elite are using these tools all the time and appear worringly confident that the £5.6 million Leveson inquiry will hand them even more.

There is a reason why international libel lawyers refer to London as a ‘town named sue’. It’s hard for me to detail examples without running the risk of landing The Spectator in court: I had a good instance of a powerful person suppressing unpleasant information about himself from the public, but lawyers advised me that it would be too risky too print, since the person in question is known to be so litigious.

That’s how it works. Take, though, the case of Chris Huhne’s partner, Carina Trimingham, who took the Daily Mail to court for harassment because the paper had repeatedly referred to her as a bisexual — which, by the way, she is. She lost her case.

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