Imaginary conversations

I dunno whether RtO readers are as interested in the News International scandal as I am.

Rebekah Brooks has said that she did not know, when she was editor of News of the World, that anybody was hacking into phones. For that to be believable, you'd have to believe that a newsroom conversation along these lines happened:

Editor (Brooks): These voicemails to Milly Dowler are sensational. Where'd you get 'em?

Reporter: Found 'em on a No. 11 bus.

Editor: Oh, all right then.

Do I have to say that that isn't the way newspapers operate?

I guess the Murdochs and Brooks have decided they can just brazen it out, and perhaps they will be able to do so. Perhaps they have files on MPs that will ensure that close questions are not asked. It sure worked for Edgar Hoover.