[6] Davies has made documentaries for ITV's World in Action [citation needed] and written numerous books on the subject of politics and journalism, including Flat Earth News,[3] which attracted considerable controversy as an exposé of journalistic malpractice in the UK and around the globe.

Davies gained a PPE degree from Oxford University in 1974,[8] and started his journalism career in 1976, working as a trainee for the Mirror Group in Plymouth.

Since then he has worked as home affairs correspondent at The Observer; chief feature writer at London Daily News in 1986 and on-screen reporter for World in Action and Channel 4's Dispatches.

Following the publication of Flat Earth News and a Guardian story co-written by Davies claiming that News of the World journalists tapped private mobile phones to get stories,[11] on 14 July 2009 Davies told the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee that the Metropolitan Police Service had done too little to investigate the claims.

[12] The Guardian coverage also led to calls from high-profile MPs for the dismissal of Andy Coulson, communications director for the Conservative Party.