Do the British people get the press the ‘red-tops’ think they deserve? Or are the tabloids’ pious protestations of public interest really just a self-serving attempt to halt declining circulation?

Peter Burden examines the News of the World’s performance – with its Fake Sheikh and the illegal mobile phone tapping that led to a jail sentence for royal reporter Clive Goodman and the resignation of the editor. He also highlights the paper’s hypocrisy when Mazher Mahmood, the Fake Sheikh, was himself unmasked.

This is a book for everyone concerned about standards in British tabloid journalism and privacy rights and the debate about the public interest versus the interest of the public.