the information you get from them isn t. what does he ring to complain about? famously, we did a story saying he was going to get rid of his dog. which i think might have been planted by dominic cummings who wanted to get rid of the dog. this greatly upset the prime minister and carrie and he rang up to complain about that story of all things. anything more serious that he complains about? sometimes coverage, really it s more nonspecific. and when the prime minister calls, do you feel under pressure, it s the prime minister, does it impact what you do? no. and do you speak to him more than you spoke to other prime ministers, teresa may for example? no, about the same. under your watch sunday times broke the story with cash for honours story with allegations of donors to political parties being rewarded. there ve been many scoops sense. why didn t you break partygate? would ve loved to. it was a good scoop, that one.
necessarily for context they have. iiii necessarily for context they have. , ., . necessarily for context they have. ., ., have. if you are not hiring them is have. if you are not hiring them is a have. if you are not hiring them is a journalist - have. if you are not hiring them is a journalist that s| them is a journalist that s different? yeah. obviously, everyone would understand that everyone would understand that everyone needs sources at the heart of government. that s what you re talking about how much of a mouth piece are you going to be, would you be happy for somebody, going to be, would you be happy forsomebody, one going to be, would you be happy for somebody, one of your journalist to be printing verbatim for something dominic s cummings was telling them? ~ . , them? well, dominic cummings tells everybody them? well, dominic cummings tells everybody what them? well, dominic cummings tells everybody what he - them? well, dominic cummings tells everybody what he thi
not very often. maybe a couple of times a year, i might speak to him and other ministers on the phone. and is that fairly common? how often would an editor of the times someone with good connection speak to the prime minister on the phone? not very often, it depends on what comes up. sometimes he s complaining. other times he wants us to tell him what s going on. what s useful about speaking to the prime minister and other politicians, not really what they tell you because you discover they re telling exactly the same on the bbc the next day. it s really what s on their mind, the preoccupations. and you learn from the subject they raise what s really concerning them. and that s quite valuable. the information you get from them isn t. what does he ring to complain about? famously, we did a story saying he was going to get rid of his dog. which i think might have been planted by dominic cummings who wanted to get rid of the dog. this greatly upset the prime
you re hiring them for their skills as a journalist, not necessarily for contacts they have. if you are not hiring them is a journalist that s different? yeah. obviously, everyone would understand that everyone needs sources at the heart of government. that s what you re talking about, but how much of a mouth piece are you going to be would you be happy for somebody, one of your journalist to be printing verbatim something like dominic s cummings was telling them? well, dominic cummings tells everybody what he thinks. and a lot gets printed verbatim. if you are getting good information on what s going on inside of number ten, that s valuable. and you would report it it would have cummings influence on it. but if he was telling you what was happening, that s very useful. you allow readers to balance that against the other things. other sources say that s not true, that s not it is, it is different
one of your journalist to be printing verbatim for something dominic s cummings was telling them? well, dominic cummings tells everybody what he thinks. and a lot gets printed verbatim. if you are getting good information on what s going on inside of number ten, that s valuable. and you would report it, it would have cummings influence on it. but if he was telling you what was happening, that s very useful. you allow readers to balance against the other thing. other sources say that s not true, that s not it is, it is different so you do it in the round. i suppose part of the problem is when he was at the heart of downing street, he wasn t being quoted. he wasn t being quoted, but he was providing information. i d like to turn to the broader question of rupert murdoch s influence of the british media. the culture secretary is changing existing legislation to allow your boss to interfere in the times and the sunday times.