21 February 2000 – The directors of the Mirror group have decided to take the advice of PressWise (see Bulletin No. 6) and have issued strict new guidelines to their staff on share-dealing. Editors, deputy editors and financial journalists will no longer be allowed to hold any shares. They have also fired the two journalists, Anil Bhoyrul and James Hipwell, who were responsible for tipping the shares which brought editor Piers Morgan a considerable profit.

Predictably, Messrs Bhoyrul and Hipwell are claiming to be scapegoats and have threatened to sue for unfair dismissal. Said their lawyer, Jonathan Silverman: “The Mirror board have acted improperly and we will be pursuing a claim. They have placed far too much importance on the letter of the Press Complaints Commission Code.”

The quote is interesting, to say the least. Every reader knows that the spirit of the PCC Code is broken almost every day of the week. Now it is being suggested by a lawyer that the letter of the Code doesn’t matter much, either. This will be an important test case for the PCC, which is currently holding its own enquiry into the affair (as is the Department of Trade and Industry). Will it take a tough line and censure Mr Morgan, or will it run true to form and exonerate him on the grounds of ignorance and coincidence?

Whichever way the decision goes, Mr Morgan (reported to be currently sunning himself on a Caribbean beach) has been cleared by his Board and may not lose too much sleep over it. Nonetheless, it will be an indicator of the effectiveness of self-regulation in the newspaper industry.

As for Anil Bhoyrul and Anthony Hipwell, their alleged transgression has already brought them the promise of a book deal and a reported offer of employment on the magazine Punch. Punch, of course, is owned by that doyen of ethical behaviour, Mr Mohammed al-Fayed.

It’s a funny old world.

Bill Norris
Associate Director

(Bulletin No. 08)