I haven’t been obsessed with the Hack-gate trial(s) and the enormous, rolling clusterwhoops of information that’s come to light over the past few years. But I have paid attention, I’ve come away disturbed by several realizations: more often than not, it seemed like the Met Police and Scotland Yard were in league with various media outlets, and that many cops were accepting regular payoffs for information, or to look the other way. I’ve also been disturbed by the revelations about just how many celebrities, royals and average citizens had their phones and answering services hacked. While Rupert Murdoch’s empire has certainly taken the most hits, other UK newspapers have unclean hands as well.

Anyway, a few years ago, there was an investigation/inquiry into the media’s myriad violations of privacy and outright illegal behavior. It was called The Leveson Inquiry, and in 2013, they came out with a report outlining what steps the UK media outlets should take to reorganize, reprioritize and review their own conduct. But it was a lot larger than that – go here to read the Wiki entry. So, that was 2012/13. Has much changed in the UK media? Eh. The News of the World is gone and I’ll buy that most newspapers aren’t actively wiretapping people anymore, but really… not much has changed. So British celebrities are forcing the issue. Celebrities like… Benedict Cumberbatch!

‎A group of more than 200 British celebrities and personalities, including Benedict Cumberbatch, Alfonso Cuaron, Maggie Smith and current Doctor Who lead Peter Capaldi, has urged newspaper owners to embrace strict U.K. press regulation, which political parties had agreed on a year ago.

Hacked Off, a group that has been campaigning ‎on behalf of victims of press abuse with Hugh Grant as one of its public faces, ran ads in several U.K. papers on Tuesday to mark the one-year anniversary of the political agreement that calls for a so-called royal charter to underpin a system of self-regulation. The ads cited a declaration supported by a who’s who of famous Brits that called for acceptance of the charter, which was based on the findings of the Leveson Inquiry into U.K. media ethics and standards that was launched amid the phone-hacking scandal.

Some newspaper groups, including Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp’s News UK unit, have focused on starting an alternative self regulator, saying that a royal charter could ultimately give politicians too much oversight‎ of the press. The back-and-forth debate has delayed the launch of any new regulatory system.

Among the other celebrities supporting Tuesday’s declaration for press regulation were former Doctor Who star David Tennant, Russell Brand, Ian McKellen, Steve Coogan and Bob Geldof; directors Danny Boyle, Sam Mendes, Stephen Daldry, Stephen Frears, Guy Ritchie and Mike Leigh‎; TV talk star Graham Norton; Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling‎ and Monty Python members John Cleese, Michael Palin and Eric Idle. Other famous supporters include James Blunt, ‎Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh and entrepreneur Richard Branson. Some of them, including Cleese and Rowling, have also signed previous‎ Hacked Off declarations.

The Hacked Off ads appeared in The Guardian, The Independent, The Spectator and other papers. The signatories of the declaration urged newspapers to embrace the royal charter system of regulation.

“We believe that a free press is a cornerstone of democracy,” the declaration said. “It should be fearless in exposing corruption, holding the powerful to account and championing the powerless. It has nothing to lose, and can only be enhanced, by acknowledging unethical practice in its midst and acting firmly to ensure it is not repeated.”

It added that the royal charter “safeguards the press from political interference while also giving vital protection to the vulnerable. That is why we support it, and that is why we urge newspaper publishers to embrace it.”

In a statement, Cleese said: “The big newspaper bosses are lying though their teeth about the Leveson recommendations. They say their freedom is being threatened, but when anyone points out what self-serving rubbish this is, they ignore these arguments and instead attack the people who are trying to get the truth heard. Their unscrupulousness is breathtaking.”

[From THR]

If you’re an American, this might make your head spin a little bit. Great Britain does NOT have a first amendment, you know? They don’t have an explicit right to a free press or freedom of speech. They have all these little press boards and press inquiries and “unwritten rules of press conduct” and “royal charters.” God knows. Even though so many American newspapers are crippled because of falling readership and ad sales, I do think we do the whole free-press thing a lot better.

Anyhoodle… just an excuse to publish photos of Cumberbatch. There are some new photos of him which we do not have – you can see them here. I’m throwing in Peter Capaldi for good measure too.

Photos courtesy of WENN.