Oh frabjous joy! Leveson phone-hacking inquiry: JK Rowling among 'core participants'
Get your popcorn here Get your popcorn here!
Core participant means that
core participants can give evidence personally, or via a lawyer, on her experience of alleged media intrusion to the inquiry, which begins in October at London's Royal Courts of Justice.
According to the Guardian (which now has an online presence in the US US Guardian)
Rowling is one of 46 celebrities, politicians, sportsmen, other public figures, and members of the public who believe they have been the victims of media intrusion granted "core participant" status in the inquiry by Leveson on Wednesday.
And, one of the players in the scandal:
Knowing how popular JK Rowling is, can Murdoch hope to taint her? Or bully her? Or blackmail her with more phone taps?
The sympathy vote here will be really telling on the Murdoch clan. The defenders of the House of Murdoch had been going strong with derision of media mavens like Hugh Grant. Sneering even that Hugh Grant should want some privacy on his personal cell phone. But now Murdoch has to cope with families of terrorist victims on 7/7 and Milly Dowling's parents and even more heart wrenching tales.
Even though Rebekah Brooks has been denied "core participant" status for now (it is an open question as the hearings proceed) the various news outlets have been granted core participant status.giving rise to the vision of all those black robed bewigged characters fluttering around like a huge flock of crows.