Police Raids ‘The Age’ for Political Hacking Suspicions

Victoria Police raided the headquarters of The Age newspaper, seizing computers and documents with the purpose of finding evidence to prove that journalists illegally hacked into the computers belonging to the Australian Labor Party (ALP).

Last year in November, after being alerted by a whistleblower, The Age journalists began investigating a story that claimed ALP was collecting private information on voters without their knowledge. The issue seemed serious especially since it was believed that a large number of people had access to the data.

According to The Australian, the journalists that covered the matter are now suspected by the authorities of obtaining all their information by hacking into the party’s computers.

The Age won a Supreme Court injunction against the removal of all the devices from their offices, but the Victoria Police plans to challenge the court’s decision.

Paul Ramadge, the editor-in-chief of the paper was questioned by the investigators, along with lawyers and members of the IT staff.

“[We have] grave concerns over the risk that our sources for the report may be identified,” Ramadge said.

“We protect our sources at all costs. It is a code that cuts to the heart of everything we do as journalists. It is about trust. It is about ethics. If the sources for this report are identified through the police searches, even inadvertently, it will be a dark day for journalism.”

Greg Hywood, Fairfax Media’s chief executive defended his employees in front of the authorities, arguing that they didn’t break any laws.

“[The journalists are] ethical professionals, and I am completely confident that they investigated and reported this story in an entirely proper way,” Hywood said.

“It would be extremely disappointing if quality journalism, the public interest in the story and the integrity of what we stand for, including protecting our sources at all costs, suffers because powerful individuals didn't like what we revealed.”