Hacking Scandal Hits Mirror

Rupert Murdoch's empire might not have been the only media out there with a fondness for hacking phones: As the AP reports, Britain's lefty tab the Mirror is the latest fishrag on the dartboard in the spreading scandal. "It was seen as a bit of a wheeze, slightly underhand but something many of them did," ex-employee James Hipwell tells the Independent. "After they'd hacked into someone's mobile they'd delete the message so another paper couldn't get the story."

Hipwell declined comment for the AP, other than to say he was lawyering up. He first made the claims almost 10 years ago, after having been fired in 2000, but he's gaining new attention in the current climate. One hacking victim who settled with the News of the World says Murdoch's tab wasn't alone in its tactics: "They weren't isolated. They weren't the only ones." (More phone hacking scandal stories.)