This sort of thing is fascinating to people with an interest in politics and the media, but I doubt the man in the street gives a toss. Nobody's mentioned it in my office.

.....,and this might change with Steptoe & Son and the ginger lady, but the police stuff on now is really, really dull.
Don't tell anyone in the meeja.
I'm listening to Tubby Hayes instead.

Perhaps the whole process should be more like the trials in 'Witchfinder General'.....much more fun and a good way to promote our ailing farming industry as the increase in sales of tomatoes and vegetables past their sell by date would go through the roof.

If you believe my twitter timeline then everybody is interested. But as SM says, nobody's mentioned it where I work.

I'm completely fascinated. I also think that people dismissing it are missing the longer lasting and reaching effects of all of this. At the least we are likely to see goverment attempting to introduce tighter reins on the media, potentially removing it's teeth, and that's never a good thing. It has the potential to unseat the current goverment, as well as pulling all sorts of people from past goverments down with it.

And it's also doing a good job of distracting people from the problems with the economy that are continuing to bubble under - seen much of Osborne lately? No me neither.

It isn't just about what Murdoch and his companies have been getting up to with politicians and police, this is about how the country has been governed. People got up in arms about expenses, but then that's easy to quantify isn't it. Somebody who is earning 20k a year from their job looking at somebody claiming that amount back in the same year in expenses, for things like a sofa for their second home and private cars to take them back there after work. That kind of thing is easy to see on a small level. This is like looking at a world. So people ignore. But I think they do so at their own peril.

... the stuff about MPs expenses (as discussed on another thread), this topic barely registers with the man on the Clapham Omnibus.

It's the only story in town for the Beeb, of course, and it was amusing to hear that parasitical windbag Kinnock entering the fray (on the Today programme) with his calls to 'regulate' the press. By 'regulation' he clearly means the suppression of views that he would consider inconvenient.

Now I understand why he would have a grudge against Lord Voltemort after the way the Sun ridiculed him while he was Labour leader, but ... it kind of proves that their hard editorial line on Kinnock was the correct one to take.

I find it fascinating and I have no media/newspaper/political/police background. And I am loving right now the drama of these Select Committee meetings and I loved Panorama last night and would urge anyone to watch that on iPlayer if they missed it.

This could be the beginning of the end for Cameron, so that's intriguing in itself. It certainly is the end for many senior policemen, Brooks, Coulson, Fedorcio and Murdoch's influence in the UK.

If you look back on the last decade of politics and see the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the financial crisis, the influence that one media baron had over Labour and Tory politicians and so ad infinitum on, then to see someone *finally* being held to account in a meaningful way is deeply important ... This is not just a bunch of lefties and media types going cuckoo about one Australian with a flag of convenience passport...

People were genuinely shocked and sickened by the Milly Dowler revelations and it was a topic of conversation for many. At the gym last week, a stranger struck up a conversation with me on the basis that "Had I heard that Brooks woman had resigned, don't know how she managed to stick it out so long".

I'm not suggesting it's the only issue people are talking about, but it has a wider relevance and interest than just some media and political types

...Murdoch has submerged the world in a tide of toxic sludge for decades, turning a blind eye to all sorts of crappy deeds committed in the name of profit and Murdoch, not to mention creating a climate in which unpleasant pipsqueak wannabes like Richard Desmond can thrive, and I hate him and all his works. I for one simply can't wait for him and his hard-eyed offspring to hit the skids. Now, anybody know what the Daily Mail's been up to?

Watching the Murdoch grilling.
It's pretty clear that these MPs haven't the faintest idea how large businesses are run.
It's like Tony Wadsworth being grilled in detail about where Alex James bought his bass guitar strings and how much they cost, or whether he got freebies from Fender.

......has put back access to the media and free speech back ten years.
Great excuse for such sessions to be held behind closed doors in future or not even taking place.
Well done, mate, you're a real brick.

This will have a lasting impact on public life in Britain, hopefully for the better.

with a bit of luck some of these smug articles who were arrogant enough to think they could exercise unelected power over Blighty indefinitely will go to prison.

That Murdoch is now a sympathy figure as a result of a donkey attempting to throw a custard pie at the old geezer, and that his wife decked the donkey- is a development of true interest.

A very competent defense from the two Murdochs:

Their defense is that they knew nothing. Apparently the only contact these two had, was that Murdoch (Senior) would phone the editors of each paper (sun NOTW, Sunday Times) maybe once a week or month, and ask "how is it going?" All operational matters were the responsibility of any one of these Editors. Each Editor is merely given a "pamphlet" describing the ethical, and legal standpoint of the Company.

The Elaborate Hanging Basket is now on ...

the man in the street is interested to an extent into possible police/journalistic/parliamentry corruption.
but he's a lot more interested in other more pressing issues, eg no pay rise again this year, continuing rising petrol, electricity and gas prices, how much it's going to cost to put the kids through uni, how long he's going to have to work now till he can retire - and how much of his pension will be left when he gets there.

Richard Madeley in conversation yesterday with Nina Myskow say that Hackergate was "...our version of the Arab Spring."

I think the point was that it was the people vs the establishment, but comparing the two seemed a little dramatic, so off went the radio!

happy enough to buy the papers long enough. Its sad to realise how few people realise that the papers effectively run the country by the very nature of setting the agenda and that people are interested in some of the unimportant stuff that makes the headlines. Didnt listen to much of the murdoch as they ran rings around the MP's and the questioning was so, for want of a better word, crap. just proved how out of touch they are, especially as they can now look high and mighty. On the positive side hopefully people will realise quite how dire the tabloid papers generally are and to be honest the rest of the media at times for following their lead.

non-media civilian and member of the public here, giving a toss.

...is surely a bit thick. Since there's a great deal at stake.

...I care. This has been a very long time coming. Murdoch's tabloid papers have been a disgrace for decades, directly influencing the outcome of elections and printing poisonous rubbish which has hurt and damaged a lot of people.

this morning by my delegates on a training course. They come from Saudi, Kuwait and Nigeria. So, I think we can say international interest. (We then used News International as a case study - first time I have found them useful rather than hateful)

are very often entirely wrong about his opinion.

(I suspect)

between people being aware of the story and being interested in it!

I must admit, I've had my mind changed about all this. Whilst I don't condone his actions, upon review of the facts, a custodial sentence seems harsh, let alone a 16 month stretch.

A previously unseen photo of the Old Man and Poindexter at yesterday's hearing.

are enjoying seeing rupert squirm-couldn't happen to a nicer bloke type thing

but as for the discussion re the hacking not much interest. Opinions of journalists are low at the best of times.

For mine, I am surprised /impressed at the succession of falling on swords - they'd have to blast em out down here.

has been tying itself in knots over this. Last night we saw a succession of NI-employed pundits telling us how well Rupert and Junior came across at the hearing. Apparently the Murdochs were clearly telling the truth when they said they knew nothing about nothing. No question about that.

Another thing the pundits were all agreed on was this: It was an absolute disgrace that an 80 year-old man should suffer the indignity of a shaving foam pie in the face. Even more of a disgrace than all this phone hacking business added together, it seems.

The sympathy for the Dirty Digger was palpable.

Without being too smart-arse about it, perhaps that ought to tell you its potential significance.

And it could be the ruination of Piers Moron! How much more incentive do you need :-)