Leveson Inquiry: state regulation of the press "offensive", says Sir Christopher Meyer

Regulation of the press by the state would be a "slippery slope" towards a less liberal society, Sir Christopher Meyer, the former chairman of the Press Complaints Commission, has told the Leveson Inquiry.

Sir Christopher Meyer gives evidence at the Leveson Inquiry 

Sir Christopher, who served as Britain's Ambassador to Washington under Tony Blair, said state regulation of the press would be "offensive to the principle of freedom of expression".

"Once you allow the state into this area, whatever the best intentions may have been, you are by definition standing on the top of a slippery slope," said Sir Christopher, who also served as a press secretary to John Major.

"Twenty, twenty-five years later, things change, politics change. It is quite possible a less permissive and liberal state, less conscious of our freedoms, might try to take advantage of that legislation to do things that would be offensive to the principle of freedom of expression," he said.

In some of the most combative scenes since Lord Justice Leveson began the inquiry in the ethics of the press, Sir Christopher defended the record of the PCC in handling public grievances.

He defended a 2007 report into phone hacking conducted by the PCC which found there was "no evidence" of widespread voicemail interception beyond Clive Goodman, the jailed Royal reporter, saying it was "widely welcomed" at the time. It was "entirely fanciful" to suggest the PCC should have realised the police had not got to the truth.

"I was strongly of the view that it would not have been a useful or possible objective of the PCC to try to duplicate the police inquiry. Two men had gone to jail. An editor had lost its job. That at the time seemed pretty draconian," he said.

He said the PCC had offered to help Kate and Gerry McCann, the parents of the missing infant who were libelled by the Daily Express, but the couple chose instead to take legal action. He said it could only act if the wronged party asked for help. "There is a time for the courts and there is a time for the PCC instead," Sir Christopher said in his written evidence.

Sir Christoper grew irate at the suggestion the PCC had failed because some newspapers continue to print misleading stories rather than "analyse the facts."

He said: "It's like saying to the police, you're a useless organisation because you can't stop crime. Or saying to the bishops, we've still got sin, you'd better go. It's a ridiculous set of arguments."

He argued the News of the World story about Max Mosley's orgies could have been halted if the F1 tycoon had approached the PCC. The body would have challenged the tabloid as to whether it had a public interest defence, he said. "It is possible had he come to us it is possible the whole thing might have taken a different course. Possible."

In the most testy exchanges of the morning, Sir Christopher said he had asked the Information Commissioner, Richard Thomas, at a lunch meeting to provide him with the names and newspapers of journalists found to have used a private detective to illegally 'blag' people's private information.

He said Mr Thomas failed to provide the information or prosecute the journalists.

"I was repeating the message like a parrot. Where's the beef? If you want me to home in on miscreants, I must have some evidence... He was unwilling to do that."

"I said, where is the beef Mr Thomas? Give me names! Give me newspapers!"

"Do you think I would have spent good PCC money to take him to a restaurant in Wellington Street to hear him burbling away? I wanted red meat... I went on and on at him about detail."

He said the resulting convictions of "one or two" private investigators was "a bit of an anti-climax."

Leveson Inquiry: Press Complaints Commission 'not a regulator'

Tim Toulmin, who was in the post from 2004 to 2009, said the PCC was set up by the industry as an ombudsman.

He said the PCC did not investigate what had happened at the News of the World over phone hacking but instead ran a "forward looking exercise".

Mr Toulmin was in the post when Royal editor Clive Goodman was jailed.

He was asked if the PCC had discussed whether to ask Andy Coulson questions after he resigned as editor of the News of the World over phone hacking.

But he said the PCC had decided its powers would have "held little traction with him".

"I later accepted this was a mistake," he said.

But he added that this had not been his decision.

Lord Justice Leveson said it would have been "extremely powerful" if Mr Coulson had refused to speak to the PCC.

Mr Toulmin told the inquiry the PCC could "react quickly to complainants or to events".

Editors admonished

The PCC members did not regard themselves as defending the press, but helping the public remedy problems they had with free press, he said.

The PCC had sent "letters of admonishment" maybe six times to editors if they had been slow to respond to the organisation or had not published a ruling with sufficient prominence.

Mr Toulmin said he thought the PCC did "test the boundaries of its powers" with regards examining phone hacking.

He said editors on the PPC helped give the PCC power because of peer pressure.

Lord Justice Leveson asked if it was an error everyone had made in calling the PCC a self-regulating body when it was not a regulator at all, to which Mr Toulmin replied "yes".

The inquiry is also due to hear evidence on Monday from current Press Complaints Commission director Stephen Abell.

On Tuesday the witnesses will include Sir Christopher Meyer, a former PCC chairman and former BBC and ITV chairman Michael Grade, who is one of the public members of the PCC.

The Leveson Inquiry was set up by Prime Minister David Cameron in July 2011 amid new revelations of phone hacking at the now-defunct News of the World.

The first phase is examining the practices and ethics of the press. A second phase of the inquiry, after a police investigation into phone hacking at the News of the World is complete, will focus on unlawful conduct by the press and the police's initial hacking investigation.

Information Commissioner tells Leveson Inquiry: no evidence of phone hacking since 2006

Information Commissioner Christopher Graham tells the Leveson Inquiry he has seen no evidence of breaches of the data protection act by the press since 2006.

Mr Graham, who took over as Information Commissioner in June 2009, was giving evidence at the Leveson Inquiry into press standards when he said he was not aware any repetition of the breaches of the data protection laws that had been uncovered by Operation Motorman.

Operation Motorman was the 2003 investigation by the Information Commissioner's Office into allegations of offences under the Data Protection Act by the British press.

The Information Commissioner said he believed his office would have been informed if new breaches had come to light, especially ones covered by Section 55, which refers to illegally obtaining or using an individual's personal information.

Mr Graham said: "This is an issue of such high salience, many investigative journalists working in the area, great rivalry between newspaper groups, lots of campaigners, that if there was evidence of further breaches of Section 55 by the press, it would have been drawn to my attention and it hasn't been."

How the hacking saga unfolded

A fascinating exploration of the anatomy of a parliamentary campaign. I squeezed into the Macmillan Room in Portcullis House on Wednesday night to hear the Parliamentary Affairs Annual Lecture, given by Tom Watson, the Labour former minister, who led the charge on the hacking inquiry on the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee.
All sorts of interesting nuggets emerged, including the revelation that Mr Watson was on the verge of quitting Parliament when the hacking stories began to appear in The Guardian and his select committee decided to revisit its earlier inquiry into media misconduct. He was rather bruised by his interlude as a minister and joined the committee, he said, because he enjoyed films, karaoke and football… but I do find myself doubting if such a hardened politico would have gone through with it and given up Parliament, in the end.
His account of the campaign which followed, to lift the lid on the News of the World's activities, detailed how a group of MPs decided to keep the issue live through constant questions to the prime minister and other ministers, points of order and pointed questioning at committee inquiries. But, most interestingly, he said that use of Freedom of Information requests were now probably a more important tool that parliamentary questions, and he now used them more, because they usually revealed more information than ministers would normally disgorge.
He said that FoI requests for details of the registers of hospitality received by key figures in the Metropolitan Police and Crown Prosecution Service had proved particularly revealing. Perhaps an indicator of where the hacking inquiry will go next?
Mr Watson argued for more powers for select committees to summon witnesses - because where the hearings are likely to be adversarial, witnesses often play hard to get, and the Commons' powers to summon them are obscure and out of date. He also suggested that committees needed the ability to use a barrister to spearhead cross examinations in those circumstances - because most MPs did not have those skills, and their questioning was seldom well-co-ordinated.
And interestingly, he wanted Labour to campaign to beef up the Freedom of Information laws to bring more transparency to the work of government. He argued that this was one way to empower citizens in an age of austerity… and since he is a vice chair of the Labour Party we can assume this is more than just a bit of speculative plugging of a pet cause.
Meanwhile, the CMS Select Committee will meet again next Thursday for its third attempt at finalising its report on the hacking inquiry - it has been taking a while because, I understand, the committee is pretty polarised.
It will have to decide whether it believes it has been lied to by any of the witnesses who gave conflicting accounts of events in News Corp. Shades of expression between "it beggars belief that.." and "we have no reason to accept…" will be scrutinised very closely, when the report finally emerges - which could take quite a while yet.

Phone hacking: Jude Law, Lord Prescott and Sara Payne get payouts

 

Law's phone was hacked repeatedly between 2003 and 2006

Jude Law and Lord Prescott are among the latest people given payouts over phone hacking by the News of the World.

Actor Law received £130,000 ($200,000) and his ex-wife Sadie Frost £50,000. The ex-deputy PM got £40,000, the High Court was told.
Sara Payne, mother of murdered schoolgirl Sarah, and Shaun Russell, whose wife and daughter were murdered in 1996, were given undisclosed sums.
News International apologised in court but said it would not comment further.
As details emerged of the latest 36 cases, lawyers said most people pursuing damages had now settled out of court.
Law's phone was repeatedly hacked between 2003 and 2006. Frost said she had distrusted him because journalists always knew where she would be, the court heard.

A packed court, standing room only, heard 18 statements read out by victims of phone-hacking. Each time the media company admitted its guilt, it offered "its sincerest apologies" and paid up in damages
Actress Sadie Frost, who got £50,000, said journalists always seemed to know where she was. She suspected her husband, actor Jude Law, was leaking information. This was a common theme, highlighting the distrust among friends and families that hacking created.
Another major concern was the breach of security the practice created. Joan Hammell, special adviser to John Prescott, was cleared to the highest security level because she was privy to "highly sensitive information", but was hacked anyway. Damages £40,000
The only hacking victim in court was Chris Bryant MP who stood calmly with his arms crossed as News International apologised.
These cases are the bulk of those outstanding, but 10 cases may still go to trial.

In a statement issued after the hearing, Law said: "I was suspicious about how information concerning my private life was coming out in the press.

"I changed my phones, I had my house swept for bugs but still the information kept being published. I started to become distrustful of people close to me."
In total 16 articles were published containing Law's personal information. His personal assistant Ben Jackson was also awarded £40,000, while his public relations consultant Ciara Parkes got £35,000.
The News of the World had placed Mr Prescott under surveillance, the court heard.
The peer told the Hull Daily Mail the settlement "brought clarity, apology and compensation" and followed years of "aggressive denials and a cavalier approach to private information and the law".
Other payouts included an undisclosed sum to footballer Ashley Cole, £40,000 to Welsh rugby union star Gavin Henson (the former partner of singer Charlotte Church) and the same sum to entrepreneur and friend of Princes William and Harry, Guy Pelly.
Mr Pelly said in a statement read in court he had phoned his voicemail to find it engaged.
The judge heard statements on behalf of 18 of the 36. It is expected more will follow at a later date.
No statement was read for Ms Payne, from Surrey, who became a child protection campaigner after her daughter's murder in West Sussex in 2000. Likewise Mr Russell, from Gwynedd, whose wife Lyn and daughter Megan were attacked with a hammer in a Kent country lane.
BBC legal correspondent Clive Coleman said some commentators were viewing the latest settlements as News International "waving the white flag".
'Utmost distress' There did not seem to be a huge appetite on News International's part to put journalists and editors in the witness box, he said.
But he added: "The Metropolitan Police have said there were around 800 victims of phone hacking. Potentially each of those victims has a claim to bring."

 

Lord Prescott had been placed under surveillance by the News of the World

 

Labour MP Chris Bryant, who was awarded £30,000, said in a court statement it was "a matter of utmost distress" to discover he was a victim.
Joan Hammell, chief of staff to Lord Prescott, was awarded £40,000. She was party to highly sensitive information and cleared to the highest security vetting level within government, the court heard.
Christopher Shipman, son of serial killer Dr Harold Shipman, was awarded an undisclosed fee after his e-mails and phone were hacked.
Other payouts confirmed at Thursday's hearing included:

• £30,000 to Lisa Gower, who was in a relationship with comedian Steve Coogan
• £25,000 to Ashley Cole's solicitor, Graham Shear
• £25,000 to freelance crime reporter Tom Rowland
• £32,500 to Labour MP Denis McShane
• Undisclosed damages to former Labour MP Claire Ward
• £27,500 to journalist and author Joan Smith
• £60,000 to an anonymous claimant

Other cases mentioned in court were of the former cavalry officer James Hewitt, who had an affair with Diana, Princess of Wales, ex-MP George Galloway and singer Dannii Minogue.
Settlement figures were not mentioned, nor in the cases of Calum Best, son of George Best, and Meg Matthews, ex-wife of former Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher.
'Extremely brave' Mark Thomson, of Atkins Thomson, told Thursday's hearing other claimants had not settled and would press ahead with a trial scheduled for next month.
"All of the claimants have been extremely brave to take on and succeed against a massive and influential multinational media organisation."
Private detective Glenn Mulcaire, who was jailed in 2007 for illegally accessing voicemails while contracted to the News of the World, was a second defendant in each of the cases.
However, the court heard he was not involved in any of the settlements, nor party to any of the statements, because he has been arrested as part of the Metropolitan Police's phone-hacking investigation.

Leveson Inquiry: Phone hacking 'possibly' behind Sven-Ulrika scoop

A hacked voicemail could have been the source of a scoop revealing Sven-Goran Eriksson's affair with Ulrika Jonsson, the Daily Mirror's editor has said.

Richard Wallace told a media ethics inquiry that phone hacking "might well have been" taking place when he was showbiz editor under Piers Morgan.
Mr Wallace told the Leveson Inquiry he had no knowledge of hacking but said it might have been hidden from him.
Publisher Trinity Mirror has insisted its journalists work within the law.
Mr Morgan has previously told the inquiry he was "not aware" of phone hacking taking place when he was in charge.
The inquiry, chaired by Lord Justice Leveson at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, is currently looking at the culture, practices and ethics of the press in general.
Mr Wallace said he could not recall the source of the story about former England football manager Eriksson but said he had taken the "tip" - received within the showbiz department - straight to his predecessor as editor.
Mr Morgan had then confirmed it with TV personality Jonsson's agent.

 

The Mirror had become aware of the affair from a "tip" to the showbiz department, Mr Wallace said

Asked if it was possible it could have been obtained through phone hacking, Mr Wallace replied: "It's possible, yes."
Earlier, he had been asked about the evidence of a former financial reporter who spent time in jail for writing about firms whose shares he owned. James Hipwell had suggested phone hacking was a "bog-standard journalistic tool" of the showbiz team when he was at the paper between 1998 and 2000.
Mr Wallace, showbiz editor for part of that time, said he had no knowledge of this but - asked whether it could have been hidden from him - accepted: "It might well have been."
'Human error' Asked about the Daily Mirror's current standards, Mr Wallace said: "Ethical issues are embedded within the culture of our newsroom."
However, he admitted to unintentionally breaking the Press Complaints Commission's editors' code "on

Mr Wallace was asked about an occasion when the Mirror ran a story based on an incorrect news agency court report alleging that a TV star had been charged with "unspeakable child porn offences".

It was, he agreed, a case of mistaken identity of a kind that could have "life-shattering consequences".
But he said: "The reporter made a mistake and no amount of tightening up of rules and regulation can stop human error."
Regret expressed Mr Wallace also used the hearing to apologise to Christopher Jefferies for the Mirror's reporting of his arrest on suspicion of the murder of architect Jo Yeates.
Mr Jefferies, Miss Yeates' former landlord, previously told the inquiry that the national press "shamelessly vilified" him.
"We obviously caused him and his nearest and dearest great distress which I regret, personally, greatly and I regard it as a black mark on my editing record," Mr Wallace said.

Mr Wallace said that hacking could have been the source of the Ulrika Jonsson story

Later, Sunday Mirror editor Tina Weaver was asked about allegations of phone hacking at her paper made by the BBC's Newsnight programme.
"I don't believe it to be true," she said, adding that the claims had not been fully investigated and she had not complained to the BBC.
"I think they know we're unhappy about unsubstantiated non-specific anonymous allegations from seven years ago presented as unearthing evidence," she said.
Lloyd Embley, editor of the People, said he did not believe hacking had taken place at the paper.
Trinity Mirror chief executive Sly Bailey is currently giving evidence.
Prime Minister David Cameron set up the inquiry last July in response to revelations that the News of the World commissioned a private detective to hack murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler's phone after she disappeared in 2002.
It is due to report on media ethics and cultures by September. The inquiry's second stage will examine the extent of unlawful activities by journalists, once detectives have completed their investigation into alleged phone hacking and corrupt payments to police, and any prosecutions have been concluded.

Leveson Inquiry: Anonymous evidence ruling challenged

 

The first phase of Lord Justice Leveson's inquiry is looking at media 'culture, practices and ethics'

The publisher of the Daily Mail has asked senior judges to consider whether an inquiry into press standards should hear evidence anonymously.

Associated Newspapers said it feared its reputation could be tarred by evidence given anonymously.
The Leveson Inquiry has agreed in principle to hear from journalists who said they feared for their jobs if they were to be named.
The inquiry is looking into the ethics, culture and practice of the press.
Lawyers representing Associated Newspapers, which also publishes the Mail on Sunday, challenged a ruling on the admissibility of anonymous evidence at London's High Court before Lord Justice Toulson, Mr Justice Sweeney and Mrs Justice Sharp.
Mark Warby QC, for Associated Newspapers, told the three judges the inquiry had to be fair, both procedurally and "in respect of the reputation" of Associated Newspapers.
He said the press was "on trial" and he questioned whether it would be fair to allow anonymous evidence which could not be fully tested or challenged.
"The concern is about untested evidence that will tend to tar Associated Newspapers with a broad brush," he said.
In written statements, Mr Warby said the company was not suggesting the inquiry should never grant anonymity to a witness.
"The claimant objects to the decision in principle that certain witnesses should be anonymous because they fear damage to their careers if they are named."
Robert Jay QC, for inquiry chairman Lord Justice Leveson, said the application for a judicial review was "premature" as the chairman had only agreed in principle to receive anonymous evidence.
"The chairman has not determined whether such evidence should be received in any individual case: indeed, he has made it plain that before making such a determination the application would need to be accorded anxious scrutiny," he said in written arguments.
The judges said their decision would be announced on a date to be fixed.
'Not consistent' In a ruling on 9 November, Lord Justice Leveson said he would be "prepared to receive anonymous evidence".
He said the inquiry had been approached by a number of individuals, "all of whom describe themselves as journalists working for a newspaper or newspapers", who had asked to provide evidence anonymously and not to be identified to the newspaper or newspapers for which they work or had worked.
Lord Justice Leveson said the journalists feared for their jobs if what they said was attributed to them.
"It is clear that the picture which they wish to paint is not entirely consistent with the picture that editors and proprietors have painted of their papers and they fear for their employment if what they say can be attributed to them," he said.
The inquiry, at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, has heard from several newspaper editors and executives this week.
Next week, it will hear from Private Eye editor Ian Hislop, the Guardian's Alan Rusbridger, Times editor James Harding and Richard Wallace, of the Daily Mirror.
Tom Mockridge, who took over from Rebekah Brooks as chief executive of News International last July, and Trinity Mirror chief executive Sly Bailey will also appear.
The Leveson Inquiry was set up by Prime Minister David Cameron in July 2011 amid new revelations of phone hacking at the now-defunct News of the World.
A second phase of the inquiry, after a police investigation into phone hacking at the News of the World is complete, will focus on unlawful conduct by the press and the police's initial hacking investigation.

Phone Hacking: former NotW journalist 'approved bribe for Huntley guard

A former features editor of the now-defunct News of the World allegedly approved a bribe for a prison guard to get information on Ian Huntley, the convicted child killer, it has emerged.

Matt Nixson, left, allegedly approved a bribe for a prison guard to get information on Ian Huntley, right, the convicted child killer 

Matt Nixson is said to have instructed a reporter to pay the female official £750 for details on Huntley, who murdered 10-year-olds Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in Soham, Cambs, in 2002.

In an email on March 7, 2009, he told a reporter, Matthew Acton, to go ahead with the initial payment and then to “chuck her some more money later”. Mr Nixson, who was fired from his job in July last year, allegedly asked that the payment be arranged “very carefully,” since the company had a “forensic new accountant who doesn’t brook any funny business”.

Details of the alleged bribe emerged from court documents filed by members of News Corporation’s Management and Standards Committee.

Mr Nixson “was guilty of gross misconduct, or at any rate, conduct justifying dismissal without notice or pay,” according to the committee.

But the journalist is suing its members for recommending that the company fire him from The Sun, where he had worked since moving from the News of the World in 2010.

A high court claim form says Mr Nixson was not provided with any reason for his dismissal at the meeting but that the decision had been taken by the management and standards committee following the discovery of emails relating to the journalist’s time at the News of the World which were “of interest to the police in their investigations”. Mr Nixson was not told what was in the emails.
He is seeking his £105,000 annual salary plus damages, claiming he will have difficulty finding work after being tainted by the phone-hacking scandal.
Officers from Scotland Yard are currently conducting Operation Elveden in an effort to investigate inappropriate payments by journalists to police. Bribes offered to public and private officials or executives are illegal.
A spokesman from the Metropolitan Police declined to comment on the alleged payment of a prison guard.
Mr Nixson’s lawyer, Alison Downie, said she wanted to make it clear that her client “neither bribed, nor ever admitted to bribing a prison officer” and would pursue his claims against the company and committee.

Leveson Inquiry: Telegraph expenses scoop explained

Daily Telegraph former editor Will Lewis said he feared the MPs' expenses material was ''a hoax''

The Daily Telegraph paid the middle man in the MPs' expenses story £150,000 for the disc containing the information, the Leveson Inquiry has heard.

Former editor Will Lewis said he was initially concerned the story was a hoax but soon realised he had a "responsibility" to publish it.
It was only when Jack Straw confirmed his expenses details he was confident to publish the story, he said.
He also denied the paper had dragged out its reporting for commercial gain.
"I was also aware of the fact that this story was laced with risk all around, as the best and most important public interest journalism tends to be," Mr Lewis told the inquiry into press ethics.
He said he consulted lawyers before entering negotiations to buy the data, but because the information had been copied on to a disc he was advised it did not constitute theft.
A Telegraph team in a secret room was given 10 days to make a preliminary examination of the material and soon found evidence of abuses of the parliamentary expenses system, he explained.
"They uncovered quite quickly things that no-one thought probable. Looking through such stuff, I became very aware that it was my responsibility to bring this to the public domain."
'Profound wrong-doing' Mr Lewis said he had an ethical obligation to get the story into the open, and denied dragging it out for commercial gain.
"Some might say that it represents one of the most important bits of public service and public interest journalism in the post-war period that unveiled and revealed such wrong-doing in Parliament that the Speaker had to resign and many MPs followed after him," he said.
"It was a way to ensure that the readers of the Telegraph and the broader British public were able to find out about the profound wrong-doing in the House of Commons and how MPs had stolen from the taxpayer."

Lionel Barber, the editor of the Financial Times says "if you rely on a single source for a story you are open to manipulation"

Mr Lewis now works for News International where he sits on News Corporation's management and standards committee, which is examining the phone-hacking scandal.
Earlier, Financial Times editor Lionel Barber told the inquiry his paper's code of conduct was "a model for self-regulation".
He said the code was stricter than the Press Complaints Commission's and there were severe penalties for breaching it.
Mr Barber said the PCC code was "pretty robust" but needed "to be enforced" and "credible".
Calling for a new regulation system, he said the closure of the News of the World had been a "wake-up call" which made executives realise changes were needed.
He said all journalists should sign up to a "new body of independent regulation which is robust, credible and worthy of joining".

Leveson Inquiry: Ex-editor says Sun 'more cautious'

Former Sun editor Kelvin Mackenzie has told the Leveson Inquiry into media ethics that the newspaper became "more cautious" after his departure.

Mr Mackenzie said he had taken the view during his 1981 to 1994 editorship that most things should be published, but he became "less bullish" as times changed.
"If the atmosphere towards what you're doing is different than before, then you must change with it," he said.
The Sun's showbiz editor and royal editor have also given evidence.
Lord Justice Leveson's inquiry has resumed at London's Royal Courts of Justice after a Christmas break.
Mr Mackenzie told the inquiry he stood by a comment he made at a seminar ahead of the inquiry on summing up his policy on checking out the truth of a story as "if it sounded right, it was probably right and therefore we should lob it in".
"There is no certainty in journalism," he said.
"I basically took the view that most things as far as I could see, should be published."
But Mr Mackenzie said that attitude changed at the Sun after his departure.

"The editors were more cautious and were probably, in a changing world, more right to be cautious," he said.

"In the end of the day you're a commercial offering and if the atmosphere towards what you're doing is different than before, then you must change with it.
"Even towards the end of my time with editing I was less bullish."
Mr Mackenzie said the perception of what was in the public interest differed depending on which newspaper published a story.
"If you publish it in the Sun you get six months' jail and if you publish it in the Guardian you get a Pulitzer prize," he said.
"There is a tremendous amount of snobbery involved in journalism."
Mr Mackenzie there was "no absolute truth in any newspaper".
"It's so hard in life, in the press, in the law, to get things 100% correct."
'He was no Thatcher' Counsel to the inquiry Robert Jay QC asked Mr Mackenzie about the Sun's publication of an image of a funeral held for presenter Anne Diamond's son Sebastian, who died of cot death.
Ms Diamond has previously told the inquiry that she begged Fleet Street editors to stay away from the funeral. In her evidence, she said Rupert Murdoch's editors had waged a vendetta against her.

Former Sun editor Kelvin Mackenzie said the tabloid did ''not really'' have a regard for privacy

Mr Mackenzie said Ms Diamond was a "devalued witness".
"If she felt as strongly as she appeared to feel at Leveson you would have thought 20 years earlier she would have been massively hostile to us, and she wasn't," he said.
Mr Mackenzie said in 13 years working with Rupert Murdoch the News Corporation chairman never told him to "go after" anyone.
"I've never heard him say go after somebody in any circumstances - whether it's the PM or a failing breakfast show host."
Mr Mackenzie described his relationship with politicians, saying he saw Margaret Thatcher about twice a year when she was prime minister, and other cabinet ministers about six times annually.
Mr Mackenzie confirmed that he told John Major that he was going to throw a bucket of waste over him in the next day's edition of the newspaper after the UK's exit from the Exchange Rate Mechanism in 1992.
He told the inquiry newspapers were commercial entities and financial penalties could keep them in line.
"I would be in favour of fines - and heavy fines - for newspapers that don't disclose the truth to the Press Complaints Commission [PCC]," he said.

Gordon Smart, the editor of the Sun's "Bizarre" show business column, followed Mr Mackenzie in giving evidence to the inquiry. He said he had no knowledge of any phone hacking at the newspaper.

Mr Smart said that the advent of social media had put reporters under more deadline pressure. "One thing we have now with showbiz reporters is that we are accountable straight away with Twitter, as soon as the paper hits the newsstand."
Royal editor Duncan Larcombe also told the inquiry that he had seen no evidence of phone hacking at the Sun. He said that there was an "obsession with getting stories right" at the newspaper.
He said he had never had direct contact with the Press Complaints Commission. "On the royal beat it doesn't kind of get that far," he said.
"If I've got an exclusive story about the royals I will always try to notify them before we publish," he said. "We speak pretty much daily with the palace."
Mr Larcombe said the Sun was a pro-royal paper and this meant it was particularly important that stories about the Royal Family were accurate.
The Sun's current editor Dominic Mohan, the newspaper's picture editor and legal manager are also set to give evidence on Monday, while witness statements from former editors Stuart Higgins and David Yelland will be read.
On Tuesday, the inquiry will hear from journalists from the Financial Times, Telegraph and Independent newspapers.
On Wednesday, representatives of newspaper publisher Associated Newspapers, including Mail on Sunday editor Peter Wright, will give evidence.
They will be followed on Thursday by representatives from Northern and Shell - including Daily Express and Daily Star owner Richard Desmond and two of his editors.
BBC political correspondent Ross Hawkins says until now newspaper editors' ability to respond to criticism has been limited.
He says they will have to make the case in their evidence not just for the quality of their journalism, but for the state of their industry.
Opening Monday's hearing, Lord Justice Leveson said that his inquiry would continue regardless of the outcome of the investigation into how messages on murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler's phone were deleted.
Allegations that News of the World deleted messages from Milly's phone when she was missing prompted Prime Minister David Cameron to launch the inquiry. However, in December, Scotland Yard said it was "unlikely" that News of the World journalists had deleted the messages.
The paper was shut down by its owner News International in the wake of the scandal.
The first part of Lord Justice Leveson's inquiry is examining the culture, practices and ethics of the press and is due to produce a report by next September.
The second part, looking at the unlawful activities by journalists, will not start until the police investigation into alleged phone hacking and corrupt payments have been concluded.

Sun editor to face Leveson Inquiry

• The current editor of tabloid The Sun is the face the Leveson Inquiry

The editor of The Sun and one of his most famous predecessors are set to appear before the Leveson Inquiry.
Dominic Mohan, a former showbusiness reporter who took over at the helm of Britain's best-selling daily paper in 2009, is the first of seven current national newspaper editors giving evidence this week.
Kelvin MacKenzie, who edited The Sun between 1981 and 1994, is expected to be asked about his approach to checking the facts of stories before publication.
He told a Leveson Inquiry seminar in October: "My view was that if it sounded right it was probably right and therefore we should lob it in."
Mr MacKenzie has described the press standards inquiry as "ludicrous" and suggested it is only being held because of Prime Minister David Cameron's "obsessive arse-kissing" of Rupert Murdoch.
The colourful former editor was behind a number of controversial front-page Sun headlines, including "Freddie Starr Ate My Hamster" and "Gotcha" - about the sinking of the Argentine warship General Belgrano during the Falklands War in May 1982.
The Sun's royal editor Duncan Larcombe, showbiz editor Gordon Smart and legal manager Justin Walford are also appearing before the hearing on Monday.
Meanwhile, witness statements from former Sun editors Stuart Higgins and David Yelland will be read to the inquiry.
On Tuesday, evidence will come from Daily Telegraph editor Tony Gallagher, Independent editor Chris Blackhurst and Financial Times editor Lionel Barber.
Mail on Sunday editor Peter Wright will give testimony on Wednesday, and Daily Express and Daily Star owner Richard Desmond will appear along with two of his editors on Thursday.

Woman arrested in phone hacking probe

• British police probing the phone-hacking scandal at Rupert Murdoch's News of the World have arrested a 47-year-old woman on suspicion of attempting to pervert the course of justice, Scotland Yard said

British police probing the phone-hacking scandal at Rupert Murdoch's News of the World arrested a 47-year-old woman Friday on suspicion of attempting to pervert the course of justice, Scotland Yard said.
The arrest was the 17th in the investigation into the illegal hacking of mobile phone voicemails by the tabloid, which Australian-born tycoon Murdoch shut down in July following a public outcry.
"Officers from Operation Weeting have this morning arrested a 47-year-old woman at an address in Essex (east of London)," Scotland Yard said in a statement.
"The woman was arrested at approximately 6:55 am (0655 GMT) on suspicion of attempting to pervert the course of justice, and she is currently in custody at an Essex police station."
The woman was not immediately identified.
Operation Weeting was set up in January 2010 to investigate long-standing allegations of phone-hacking by the News of the World.
Police have arrested a string of people on suspicion of illegally accessing mobile phone voicemails, including Andy Coulson, a former News of the World editor and ex-communications director for Prime Minister David Cameron.
Police have also arrested seven people as part of an investigation into alleged bribery of police, called Operation Elveden, while one has been held as part of Operation Tuleta, which is probing computer hacking.