Guido Fawkes on paid leaking: Telegraph right to pay for MPs' expenses info
Unfair that whistleblowers are penalised for taking payment, says political blogger Paul Staines
– 2 min read
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The Telegraph would be entirely justified if it paid for the MPs' expenses information , Paul Staines, who blogs as Guido Fawkes , argued today.
"That guy [the whistleblower] deserves to get something for his risk taking," said Paul Staines, who was participating at the Voices Online Blogging Conference at City University in London. "All the people who write about it being wrong for them [the Telegraph] to have bought that stuff [the expenses information], are getting paid for those stories. It's a joke," he said.
Staines has previously explained why he did not take money for leaking the Damian McBride emails to the mainstream media.
He was told he would 'undermine' any public interest defence if he took payment for the Damian McBride emails, he told Journalism.co.uk.
"I called up two barristers and they said to me you've got a huge public interest defence - except if you take money. I looked at the act myself and it said 'not for private gain'," he explained.
"In the States, private gain is allowed and that encourages people to sell stories on wrong-doing (...) I don't understand why [it is not the same in the UK]. Mercenaries can be freedom fighters too.
"It's odd that the journalist wouldn't be in trouble for it, but if the whistleblower took money for it, he would undermine his defence."
Staines said publishing the McBride emails fell within a definition of 'public interest': "The Prime Minister says this thing [McBride emails] should not be going on in public life, so if I was called to court I would call the PM as my first defence."
Participating in a panel on political blogging, which also included leading bloggers Mick Fealty, aka Slugger O'Toole, and Potkin Azarmehr, Fawkes also said he had no desire to become a journalist - as it would mean taking a significant pay cut.
Fellow political blogger Iain Dale, for example, earns a lot more than the average British journalist, he suggested.
Staines also said he is much more cautious in his online activities now than he when he started four years ago.
"I've learnt to be very wary on that [checking] front. Double sourcing is very difficult with gossip," he said.
