Leveson inquiry: Bob Crow claims press harassed him for more than 10 years

[jon0844]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/jan/25/leveson-inquiry-bob-crow?CMP=twt_fd

Bob Crow, the head of the transport union RMT, has told the Leveson inquiry he and has staff have been victimised and harassed by the press for more than 10 years.


Crow said he had been put under surveillance by Derek Webb, the private investigator hired by News of the World, as recently as January last year as well as on two occasions in October and November in 2010.


He added that he had been harassed by staff from the Sun newspaper and a freelance journalist working for the Sunday Times had rummaged through bins at a venue hosting the union's AGM looking for stories.

 

[Butts]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/jan/25/leveson-inquiry-bob-crow?CMP=twt_fd

Well now he knows what the travelling public feel like every time he intiates a mindless strike or outrageous demand for an improvement in benefits that results in industrial action.

 

[ANorthernGuard]

Well now he knows what the travelling public feel like every time he intiates a mindless strike or outrageous demand for an improvement in benefits that results in industrial action.

He does exactly what persons like myself pay the union for, he stands up for our rights and does a damn good job doing it!

The members like myself vote for industrial action (if we feel it is just) not Bob Crow, if some TOCs didn't keep trying to chip away at roles making the majority of the railway Less safe, there would not be the need for a lot of strikes, but why bother about workers rights and safety when a bit of Bob Crow bashing can take place, sheeesh

 

[Mutant Lemming]

All very well as long as the human garbage that pose as "journalists" aren't rummaging through YOUR bins or stalking YOUR family or hacking YOUR daughter's phone.

Why are people so gullible as to fall for what has so often proven to be outright lies spewed out by those vile creatures at NI ?

Is it because they tell you what you want to believe rather than the truth ?

 

[SS4]

All very well as long as the human garbage that pose as "journalists" aren't rummaging through YOUR bins or stalking YOUR family or hacking YOUR daughter's phone.

Why are people so gullible as to fall for what has so often proven to be outright lies spewed out by those vile creatures at NI ?

Is it because they tell you what you want to believe rather than the truth ?

Wasn't it Goebbels who said it's easier to build on people's prejudices than it is to challenge them?

Nobody deserves to have their private lives raided for the profit of another. Make no mistake, there is no public interest here, this is to make money for News International where the ends justify the means.

Bob Crow was harassed for doing his job. I am fully aware that I do not have a solid grasp of all the facts but it's nice to give the media a taste of their own medicine

 

[Butts]

All very well as long as the human garbage that pose as "journalists" aren't rummaging through YOUR bins or stalking YOUR family or hacking YOUR daughter's phone.

Why are people so gullible as to fall for what has so often proven to be outright lies spewed out by those vile creatures at NI ?

Is it because they tell you what you want to believe rather than the truth ?

If someone wants to do any of the above to me and I get a 50K+ payout I'll send it in the next post to them (I'll even pay the postage)

 

[Rhondda Rudie]

He does exactly what persons like myself pay the union for, he stands up for our rights and does a damn good job doing it!

The members like myself vote for industrial action (if we feel it is just) not Bob Crow, if some TOCs didn't keep trying to chip away at roles making the majority of the railway Less safe, there would not be the need for a lot of strikes, but why bother about workers rights and safety when a bit of Bob Crow bashing can take place, sheeesh

What he said.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Just look what the Press enquiry is all about. Trade union leaders are just another target such as "celebrities", sports players, MP's, etc...

The Press have revealed that anyone and everyone are "fair game" as far as they are concerned. Normal standards of behaviour seem totally foreign to their understanding of such matters.

 

[AlterEgo]

This thread took one post to go from the Leveson inquiry to an argument about unions. Even for this forum, I think that's a record... :roll:

 

[Butts]

This thread took one post to go from the Leveson inquiry to an argument about unions. Even for this forum, I think that's a record... :roll:

Let's put it "back on track" - this is RailUK Forums after all.

My view is that News International seem to be taking most of the flack, while I believe a lot of other publications are just as guilty. Hence the reason a lot of them are staying suprisingly quiet about a lot of aspects of the whole matter.

Who is really responsible ? - The journalists or the people buying the newspapers and fuelling the demand.

It is my honest contention that if NI had kept it's head down and apologised correctly the NOW would have survived - after all at it's demise it was still the UK's biggest selling newspaper.

 

[jopsuk]

Well now he knows what the travelling public feel like every time he intiates a mindless strike or outrageous demand for an improvement in benefits that results in industrial action.

Go away, read the transcript of his evidence (on the Levenson site) and then come back with something a bit more nuanced perhaps?

 

[AlterEgo]

Who is really responsible ? - The journalists or the people buying the newspapers and fuelling the demand.

Both.

I detest the tabloid news. It's usually wholly inaccurate or totally one-sided. The people who buy these papers must share some responsibility for their voyeuristic demands to know about the private lives of public figures.

Really, I could not care what Kerry Katona is doing with her life these days, nor whether Max Mosley likes getting slapped about a bit in bed. People who crave this kind of junk need to reassess their own lives, and find out why they're so boring they need to read about other people they haven't met!

 

[Badger]

Just look what the Press enquiry is all about. Trade union leaders are just another target such as "celebrities", sports players, MP's, etc...

Similarly, journalists are too just another target. Gotta take these things unbiased without assuming anything, everyone's got a right to a fair trial be they trade unionist or newspaper editor.

 

[newbie babs]

If Bob Crow and the rest want to use the press to their advantage when they think its necessary that gives the press the right to look at their life.

 

[SS4]

Let's put it "back on track" - this is RailUK Forums after all.

My view is that News International seem to be taking most of the flack, while I believe a lot of other publications are just as guilty. Hence the reason a lot of them are staying suprisingly quiet about a lot of aspects of the whole matter.

Who is really responsible ? - The journalists or the people buying the newspapers and fuelling the demand.

It is my honest contention that if NI had kept it's head down and apologised correctly the NOW would have survived - after all at it's demise it was still the UK's biggest selling newspaper.

I shall quote AlterEgo as I wholly agree with the post:

Both.

I detest the tabloid news. It's usually wholly inaccurate or totally one-sided. The people who buy these papers must share some responsibility for their voyeuristic demands to know about the private lives of public figures.

Really, I could not care what Kerry Katona is doing with her life these days, nor whether Max Mosley likes getting slapped about a bit in bed. People who crave this kind of junk need to reassess their own lives, and find out why they're so boring they need to read about other people they haven't met!

Similarly, journalists are too just another target. Gotta take these things unbiased without assuming anything, everyone's got a right to a fair trial be they trade unionist or newspaper editor.

That's not what the news would have you think. They act as judge, jury and executioner and invariably find everybody guilty. Evidence is almost a filthy a word as privacy to them.
The fact that they have paid out compensation strongly implies guilt, only the scale of it is unknown.
On top of it all this isn't even a trial and while I agree with your principle of a fair trial it is still nice to see these newspaper types getting a taste of their own medicine

If Bob Crow and the rest want to use the press to their advantage when they think its necessary that gives the press the right to look at their life.

No it doesn't. The press' job is to report the news in an unbiased way (it goes without saying that it fails miserably). It is not their job to snoop through rubbish, to camp outside his house for days, to hack phones in certain cases amongst many other things. The only place Bob Crow can speak without being censored or taken out of context is online. Normally there are legitimate reasons for it such as time or space but what these lot do is selectively quote depending on how negatively they want to portray him.

Do you really think Millie Dowler's parents deserved what they got? Or the McCanns?


News International's commitment to "news" is severely undermined by them allowing Fox News to air. The power of the press needs to be curtailed to report on the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth imo

 

[CosherB]

Serves Crow right for being such an ar5e!

Seriously, that sort of press attention goes with the territory if you are a militant communist in charge of a major union. He should stop moaning and think of the massive salary he gets to compensate him for stuff like that.

if some TOCs didn't keep trying to chip away at roles making the majority of the railway Less safe,

The railways have never been as safe as they are today. It is disingenuous to say that TOCs are trying to undermine safety. The evidence points the other way.

 

[SS4]

Serves Crow right for being such an ar5e!

Seriously, that sort of press attention goes with the territory if you are a militant communist in charge of a major union. He should stop moaning and think of the massive salary he gets to compensate him for stuff like that.

:roll: I forgot standing up for workers rights was communism

What if it was someone of the right? Oh silly me, I forgot they only care about themselves

 

[sonorguy]

No it doesn't. The press' job is to report the news in an unbiased way (it goes without saying that it fails miserably). It is not their job to snoop through rubbish, to camp outside his house for days, to hack phones in certain cases amongst many other things. The only place Bob Crow can speak without being censored or taken out of context is online. Normally there are legitimate reasons for it such as time or space but what these lot do is selectively quote depending on how negatively they want to portray him.

Do you really think Millie Dowler's parents deserved what they got? Or the McCanns?


News International's commitment to "news" is severely undermined by them allowing Fox News to air. The power of the press needs to be curtailed to report on the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth imo

One of the roles of the press is to hold public figures to account, especially if there's a whiff of hypocrisy going round (there is with many union leaders, including Bob Crow, as well as politicians).

It's naive to think that their job is report in an unbiased way or that they'll ever do it, it simply isn't and no newspaper has ever done this, that's more the remit of the BBC, which is by its own admission is left-leaning anyway.

That's why plurality of ownership is so important so that NI, for example, can't push one agenda over all others.

That said, whilst they have every right to investigate if they suspect hypocrisy or malfeasance or whatever, it has to be done in a legal way and that is what Mr. Crow is complaining about (rightly in my opinion). This doesn't mean that he or anyone else who is a public figure shouldn't have to account for some of his actions if they appear unusual.

 

[jopsuk]

Serves Crow right for being such an ar5e!

Seriously, read this. Tell me with a straight face that the bus parked outside his house; the stalking on holiday (one that he'd gone to pains to try to protect the privacy of his partner) and the bin raking are really morally justifiable acts to take against the democratically elected head of democratic, legal, union? Seriously?

 

[SS4]

One of the roles of the press is to hold public figures to account, especially if there's a whiff of hypocrisy going round (there is with many union leaders, including Bob Crow, as well as politicians).

Where does it end? What is the boundary between investigating and harassment?

It's naive to think that their job is report in an unbiased way or that they'll ever do it, it simply isn't and no newspaper has ever done this, that's more the remit of the BBC, which is by its own admission is left-leaning anyway.

It is not naive to expect fair reporting. Vastly idealistic on the other hand is more like it and I know full well it'll never happen but one can dream.

That's why plurality of ownership is so important so that NI, for example, can't push one agenda over all others.

That said, whilst they have every right to investigate if they suspect hypocrisy or malfeasance or whatever, it has to be done in a legal way and that is what Mr. Crow is complaining about (rightly in my opinion). This doesn't mean that he or anyone else who is a public figure shouldn't have to account for some of his actions if they appear unusual.

Plurality of ownership is vital but they seem to all be in cahoots making a mockery of plurality. In the world of press The Guardian is the only significant paper of the left and even the BBC doesn't seem to like Crow nowadays (although Serwotka of PCS is the current hate figure).
It's the way they're resorting to these methods as a direct route that gets me.

 

[Oswyntail]

We have to separate the "victims" out, IMHO. There are those like the Dowlers who have been treated abominably, and deserve some compensation. Then there are those like (eg) Jude Law who have had their privacy infringed but no real harm done to them (indeed, publicity gained) - IMHO token compensation should be awarded there.
Then there are those, mainly politicians like Crow, Prescott and others. It is painfully obvious that they themselves use the press to suit themselves, with leaks, negative briefings and the like. I have less sympathy for them when the beast turns round and bites them. What I find utterly distasteful is when members of this group claim they have been as violated as the Dowlers. They are simply trying to muddy the waters.

 

[ANorthernGuard]

We have to separate the "victims" out, IMHO. There are those like the Dowlers who have been treated abominably, and deserve some compensation. Then there are those like (eg) Jude Law who have had their privacy infringed but no real harm done to them (indeed, publicity gained) - IMHO token compensation should be awarded there.
Then there are those, mainly politicians like Crow, Prescott and others. It is painfully obvious that they themselves use the press to suit themselves, with leaks, negative briefings and the like. I have less sympathy for them when the beast turns round and bites them. What I find utterly distasteful is when members of this group claim they have been as violated as the Dowlers. They are simply trying to muddy the waters.

I don't think politicians ect. should get
Compensation, however the privacy laws of this country are a joke, Bob does exactly what we voted him in for, and regardless whether he is hated or whatever should still have the same rights as everyone else

 

[jopsuk]

Indeed. He's entitled for example to go on holiday at his own expense without being followed by journalists and photographers, especially journalists that use corrupt means to find out when and where he is. There's nothing "hypocritical" about going on a cruise. That he can afford expensive holidays is a reflection of his salary which is a matter that should solely be the concern of mebers of the RMT; after all, he's not a public servant.

 

[Butts]

Seriously, read this. Tell me with a straight face that the bus parked outside his house; the stalking on holiday (one that he'd gone to pains to try to protect the privacy of his partner) and the bin raking are really morally justifiable acts to take against the democratically elected head of democratic, legal, union? Seriously?

Perhaps you would care to elaborate the suttle difference of such an act between a Union Leader and a normal member of the public. If there is none why place such an emphasis or even include his status.

 

[jopsuk]

there is no difference- but some seem to feel that his position justifies these acts.

 

[Butts]

there is no difference- but some seem to feel that his position justifies these acts.

I suppose it relates to whether a "target" is deemed newsworthy or not.

As I mentioned previously anyone is welcome to examine the contents of my refuse bin or mobile phone for a fee of £50k plus - So far I have had no offers

 

[jon0844]

Do you really think Millie Dowler's parents deserved what they got? Or the McCanns?

The Dowler case is valid, but the McCann's had near total control over the UK media and nearly every story was pro-McCann and nobody ever dared to question whether perhaps we should allow two potential (and then actual) suspects to be given the ability to just say what they thought as fact (as in Madeleine was definitely abducted).

It was only when it became clear that they might have had something to do with the disappearance that the press started to push a bit harder - and then they got sued. I really wish the press hadn't settled so quickly and easily, but the family have some friends in high places. One day, I suspect we'll get to the truth over the whole thing - but it probably won't come from the UK press.

I personally feel the McCann's have jumped on to this inquiry merely to get publicity they are failing to get any other way. I am sure the money going into their company is pretty much all gone now, so they need to top it up quite urgently.

As for hounding Bob Crow (if of course it is true - as I suspect many people are claiming they were hacked, followed or harassed as it's not really possible to confirm or deny), I wonder why anyone had to do this? He pretty much speaks his mind, so what you see is what you get. What exclusive story would you get from going through his bins? That he's an outspoken militant? He'd tell you that to your face!!

 

[CosherB]

Seriously, read this.

I did. It said "Sorry, this page has not been found. Please try again".

Hmm. I'm really impressed. You might have tried it yourself before posting it.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

:roll: I forgot standing up for workers rights was communism

Is it? That's news to me.

All I said was that Crow is a Communist. He is proud of it and says so himself. So what's your point?

 

[jon0844]

Yes, I find it hard to imagine that calling Bob Crow a communist could be considered an insult, or slanderous!

I don't like the man, but I don't think he pretends to be anything he isn't. I have to respect that.

 

[CosherB]

From a non-rail forum, and not a post from me....

The real success is that Bob Crowe has made the business case for driverless trains a no brainer.....