Metropolitan Police role in the news media phone hacking scandal Prosecutions Ken Macdonald to review the emails newspaper executives had used as the basis of their claim that no one at "News of the World" but Clive Goodman had been involved in phone hacking. Macdonald immediately concluded there was evidence of criminal activity, including payments to serving police officers, leading the Met to open an investigation focused on bribery and corruption within its ranks. (See discussion of Operation Elveden, below.) On 4 July 2011, "The Guardian" published an article authored by Nick Davies and Amelia Hill titled "Missing Milly Dowler's voicemail was hacked by News of the World." This article
Metropolitan Police role in the news media phone hacking scandal and reported information contradicting official positions. Other newspapers, including "The New York Times", "The Daily Telegraph" and "The Independent", also published key articles critical of the Met's performance. These news media organizations persisted in obtaining and evaluating information from court records, Freedom of Information requests, and field contacts, reportedly including police officers. As in the case of the Watergate scandal of 1972, dogged investigative reporting led to public inquiries by national oversight bodies, intensified police investigations, and resignations by senior law enforcement officials. The House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee held hearings regarding phone hacking by news media