[Omen]

On 4OD now:

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/dispatches/4od

Dispatches examines allegations that during Andy Coulson's time as editor of News of the World, phone hacking was a routine practice at the paper and carried out with his knowledge.

Political journalist Peter Oborne investigates the paper's working relationship with the police and claims of undue influence together with claims of intimidation against politicians, and explores the broader links between News International and the current government.

In focusing on the so-called ‘dark arts’ of newspaper journalism, Dispatches delivered a remarkable investigation into the startling ease of phone hacking and alleged worrying collusion in the halls of power.

Peter Oborne’s excellent programme, featuring testimony from the reputed hackers and the purportedly hacked, raised as many questions as it asked and could damage public faith in politicians, the police and the red-tops.

Provocatively titled Tabloids, Tories and Telephone Hacking, Dispatches took aim at a range of targets, from News International to the Metropolitan police and the Press Complaints Commission.

This edition of Dispatches had already made the news for the claim that the government’s director of communications Andy Coulson listened to illegal recordings of celebrities’ voicemails during his editorship of the News of the World.

The anonymous, astonishing allegation that Coulson asked to hear intercepted voicemail recordings certainly comes at an embarrassing time for the Conservatives during their Birmingham conference.

Dispatches also implied a mutually beneficial relationship between the coalition and Rupert Murdoch, though those who have read Alistair Campbell’s memoirs will keenly recall how Tony Blair frequently met with the oligarch while in office.

The truth of the allegations against Coulson remains to be seen.

But if Dispatches provokes even a response from his boss, then Oborne can be applauded for producing a programme that asked pertinent questions and demanded accountability from our elected representatives and news providers.