The Phone Hacking Scandal By The Numbers
A breakdown of some important stats in the scandal so far.
Police officers walk outside an entrance to News International in London July 10, 2011. (Luke MacGregor/Reuters)
The U.K.'s phone hacking scandal seems to keep getting bigger, with more revelations, resignations and arrests. Here's a quick breakdown of some important stats in the scandal so far. For background on how the scandal developed, see our reader's guide and our collection of related MuckReads.
The number of people who have been arrested in the current investigation: 10. (It's worth noting that an arrest means something a bit different in the U.K. than it does in the U.S.)
The number of people who have resigned over the scandal: 7, including 4 top News International executives and 2 Scotland Yard officers.
The estimated amount of money Rebekah Brooks reportedly received as a severance package: 3.5 million pounds ($5.6 million)
Number of Murdoch sons who has admitted to misleading parliament: 1
The number of people on Scotland Yard's press team who used to work for News International: 10, out of a total 45 staffers
Amount of email investigators suspect was deleted by a News International executive: according to The Guardian, about half a terabyte's worth, "equivalent to 500 editions of Encyclopedia Britannica."
Number of pages of information about the phone hacking scandal that were sitting in a Scotland Yard evidence room: 11,000. The documents were seized from the home of the private investigator who hacked phones for NotW, Glenn Mulcaire, during the first phone hacking investigation.
Number of hours the head of Scotland Yard's first phone hacking investigation, John Yates, spent reviewing the documents before deciding they weren't worth looking into: 8
Number of years before that evidence was thoroughly examined: almost 4
Number of phone numbers listed in those documents: 5,000 landlines and 4,000 cell phones
Number of phone hacking victims prosecutors initially identified in 2007: 8
Estimated number of total phone hacking victims: about 4,000
The number of phone hacking victims who've been notified so far: 170
Number of detectives now working on the investigation: 45
The number of phone hacking victims Scotland Yard is now contacting per week: 30
Estimated time it will take Scotland Yard to contact all phone hacking victims: 2 years
The value of private investigator Glenn Mulcaire's original year-long contract with NotW, for providing "information and research": 104,988 pounds ($169,167 at today's exchange rate)
The amount of money that News International has reportedly paid to settle lawsuits from phone hacking victims: at least 2 million pounds ($3.2 million). The documents in these cases were sealed, and some of the plaintiffs agreed to stay quiet.
The amount of money that News of the World allegedly spent bribing Scotland Yard officers: 100,000 pounds ($161,130), paid to up to five officers.
Number of News of the World whistleblowers found dead: 1. Sean Hoare, the first News of the World journalist who came out and said that former Editor Andy Coulson knew about phone hacking, was found dead in his home yesterday. Hoare previously had drug and alcohol problems and police said that while his death is so far "unexplained" it's not "suspicious."
The number of people working at News of the World when it closed: 200
Number of people pied in the face during today's parliamentary hearing: 1
See anything we missed? Send your favorite stats about the phone hacking scandal to braden.goyette@propublica.org.
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8 comments
Stephen
July 19, 2011, 4:28 p.m.
Has it ever been said how there going about getting into these peoples voicemail? Were they just calling the person voicemail and entering in passwords till they managed to get the correct one, something as simple as that?
Dart
July 19, 2011, 6:22 p.m.
Stephen - there is a default voicemail PIN, most people never bother to change it. They were just dialling the numbers, waiting until nobody picked up, then putting in the voicemail PIN.
My advice? If you’re even remotely famous, you should have already changed your voicemail PIN. (I was amazed that Hugh Grant of all people got caught up in it. You’d think any and all celebrities would be aware of how important mobile phone security is.)
cyguevara
July 20, 2011, 1:45 a.m.
Estimated number of total phone hacking victims: about 4,000
Amount of email investigators suspect was deleted by a News International executive: according to The Guardian, about half a terabyte’s worth, “equivalent to 500 editions of Encyclopedia Britannica.”
One pie to the face of Rupert Mordor: priceless.
also nice, Fox admitting that “wire taps, paying for news tips and generally beating the competition to shreds with scoops” must be SOP, even here in the US.
get it while u can: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2011/07/19/is-woman-hear-her-roar-wendi-deng-murdoch-fights-back/#content
Terry
July 20, 2011, 7:15 a.m.
Number of weeks this entire charade will stay in the public’s mind: 2
Number of people truly harmed by all of this: 1, and he paid the ultimate price, loss of life.
Number of the public who really care: 0
Barry Schmittou
July 20, 2011, 9:52 a.m.
I believe there’s a high percentage chance that the death of the whistlebower was murder, even though murder is not being investigated.
Please see the article at :
http://www.holdthefrontpage.co.uk/2011/news/whisteblowers-death-not-suspicious-postmortem-confirms/
AJ
July 20, 2011, 11:35 a.m.
Is there any doubt that News Corp is one huge criminal enterprise ?
Only time will tell, but I’d bet on it if I could.
EBB
July 20, 2011, 2:43 p.m.
David Kelly, anyone?
Hank Hudson
July 23, 2011, 3:07 p.m.
“You’d think any and all celebrities would be aware of how important mobile phone security is”
Don’t think that most celebrities are very bright—talent, commonsense
and intelligence don’t mix well with being a movie star or an entertainer.
Have you ever heard spontaneous talks by many celebrities—they sound
rather dumb and limited in their grasp of important topics. If they don’t have a script to follow, they’re lost intellectually.
.
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