Hislop supports Murdoch over regulation and free content

PRIVATE EYE editor Ian Hislop has come out against press regulation at the Leveson Inquiry and revealed himself to be an unlikely ally of Rupert Murdoch by stating that he did not think that journalism should be given away for free on the internet.

Hislop, who is also a panellist on the BBC comedy show Have I Got News For You, said that there was no need for a raft of new laws to govern the press.

"Most of the heinous crimes that come up and have made such a splash at this inquiry are already illegal," he said, pointing out that practices like phone hacking, paying police officers and being in contempt of court were against the law. He said the relationship between the police and News International was the main problem.

While his testimony, as befits the editor of a satirical magazine and TV personality, was littered with quips and wisecracks he did acknowledge that newspapers had a role to play in society.

He said he feared the worst after the shocking evidence from celebrities about newspapers' behaviour at the start of the inquiry. He said the press was made to look "utterly revolting" but added "I hope this inquiry doesn't throw out the baby with the bathwater".

Hislop accepted that the Murdoch family had become "deeply embedded in our political class" and now felt it could do "whatever it liked".

However he also made it clear that it was not a one-way street and that it had delivered a popular service to its readers. "I do hope you're going to call some members of the public, ask them why they bought the News of the World and what they thought they were getting," he said.

Hislop even sided with Murdoch, who has erected a paywall around The Times and The Sunday Times' websites, on the issue of free content. He said that Private Eye had only a rudimentary website and that he was envious of his French counterparts at the magazine Le Canard Enchaine. Its website simply tells visitors "Go and buy the paper."

"I can't see why journalism, which at its best is a noble craft, should be given away," said Hislop. ·