The Trinity Mirror group, which publishes the British tabloid Daily Mirror, has launched an internal review of editorial regulations and practices at its publications in the light of the scandal rocking News Corp.
The company faces growing concerns that its employees may have also engaged in phone hacking. The Mirror has been mentioned in speculation about whether former editor Piers Morgan was aware of phone hacking practices in newsrooms. In 2006, former Daily Mirror journalist James Hipwell claimed, "Many of the Daily Mirror's stories would come from hacking into a celebrity's voicemail," and on Saturday, Hipwell told the Independent that hacking was "endemic" under Morgan. (Morgan has firmly denied these claims, and said that Hipwell is not credible because he was jailed in an insider trading scandal.)
Both Trinity and DMGT, which publishes the Daily Mail, have come under mounting investor pressure to conduct internal reviews. Trinity's shares fell 9.8% on Monday.
Trinity will examine all of the company's newspapers, which include the Daily Record, the Sunday Mirror and the People.
The British police are looking into a 2006 report which named the Daily Mirror and the People for using private investigators to obtain private information. The investigation comes after Prime Minister Cameron's creation of a panel to investigate practices in British newsrooms last Wednesday.
Trinity has denied allegations of phone hacking, saying in a statement, "Trinity Mirror's position is clear. Our journalists work within the criminal law and the PCC code of conduct." Paul Dacre, editor of the Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday, also told a parliamentary committee last week that he was not aware of any story based on material that had been obtained unlawfully under his tenure.