False hope

Sally and Bob Dowler appeared on Monday as part of an inquiry into media ethics prompted by the phone-hacking revelations that led to the collapse of the popular News of the World tabloid - a part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation media empire.

The Dowlers' daughter, Milly, was murdered in 2002 aged 13; she was one of the phone-hacking victims. Sally Dowler told the court how she was suddenly able to leave a message on her daughter's voicemail - which had previously been full - weeks after she disappeared, prompting her to shout to her husband, "She's picked up the voice mails, Bob! She's alive!"

The voicemail messages had not been deleted by Milly Dowler, but by someone working on behalf of the News of the World tabloid.

The Dowlers also spoke of a private walk that they took, retracing their daughter's last steps, that was secretly photographed by the same publication. Unaware that they had been followed, they saw the pictures for the first time in Britain's best-selling Sunday paper.

'Time for a rethink'

"It felt like such an intrusion into a really, really private grief moment," Sally Dowler told the inquiry.

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch met with the Dowlers after the hacking was revealed to apologize in person, and the couple said the Australian "was very sincere." Nevertheless, Bob Dowler said he hoped these events would force British news outlets to reevaluate their practices.

"One would sincerely hope that News International and other media organizations would sincerely look very carefully at how they procure, how they obtain information about stories," Bob Dowler said, "because obviously the ramifications are far greater than just an obvious story in the press."

Widespread practice?

The News of the World first came under investigation for possibly tapping the phones of prominent figures like celebrities and politicians - with a story about Prince William first putting investigators on the scent. When it became apparent this July that Milly Dowler was also a target, public outrage intensified and ultimately led to the closure of the paper. The couple's 30 minutes of testimony was nationally televised in the UK.

Several celebrity witnesses also appeared at the inquiry, led by Judge Brian Leveson, on Monday, including actor Hugh Grant, an outspoken opponent of aggressive tabloid tactics. Grant told the inquiry that he believes Britain's Mail on Sunday newspaper, not a part of the Murdoch media empire, had ran a 2007 story on his love life that could only have been obtained via phone hacking.

Grant sued the paper for libel after the story was released. He won, saying that phone hacking seemed the only logical explanation - although he had no proof.

"Speculation? Ok. But … I'd love to hear the Daily Mail or the Sunday Mail's explanation of what the source was if it wasn't phone hacking," Grant said, when challenged by a cross-examiner.

A broad look at the issues

Grant also said that a break-in at his London flat in 1995, shortly after he was arrested in Los Angeles with a prostitute, also seemed suspicious to him at the time.

Other high-profile witnesses set to testify at the media ethics inquiry set up by Prime Minister David Cameron include actress Sienna Miller, Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, prominent tabloid columnist Joan Smith, and lawyer Graham Shear, who has represented several prominent footballers and actors.

While the inquiry is likely to focus heavily on the News of the World and News International, the UK arm of the global News Corporation media group, it is designed more as a broad look at current media ethics and standards.

Author: Mark Hallam (AFP, AP, Reuters)
Editor: Michael Lawton