Are the British tabloids really so invasive?

As we analyse British media practices, a comparison with other countries’ methods is needed too, says Kate Holton

BENJAMIN Pell made a second career out of digging through the contents of people’s rubbish bags and selling it to the British press. The office cleaner, or “Benji the Binman” as he was known to his clients on Fleet Street, regularly passed journalists the discarded papers of lawyers, celebrities and business executives. Benji’s low-tech operations in the late 1990s fed stories on a high-profile libel case and even Elton John’s flower bill.

British tabloids have a long and colourful history of finding new ways to get the story. From rooting through bins to hacking into email accounts, journalists at the so-called “redtops” have long revelled in their roguish tactics.