Penguin acquires phone-hacking title

26.07.11 | Charlotte Williams - The Bookseller

Penguin Press is the latest publisher to acquire a book on the News Corp phone hacking scandal, by Tom Watson MP and Independent journalist Martin Hickman.
Publishing director Stuart Proffitt acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Clare Alexander at Aitken Alexander. The book will be published by the end of 2011, although the exact date is still to be confirmed, as is the title.
Watson, MP for West Bromwich East since 2001, joined the Parliamentary Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport in 2009 when he begun to campaign against wrongful media practices. He led the questioning of Rupert and James Murdoch and Rebekah Brooks when they appeared before the Committee on 19th July.
Hickman has worked for the Independent for a decade, and was named journalist of the year by the Foreign Press Association in 2009. He has led the Independent's coverage of the phone hacking story this year.
This title follows Chatto's acquisition of Hack Attack: How the Truth Caught Up with the World's Most Powerful Man by Guardian journalist Nick Davies. The title will be published in late 2012.