So, some journalists at the News of the World hacked into phones of not only the rich and famous to obtain juicy gossip, but also a teenage murder victims and soldiers killed in action. Another allegation, not so widely reported outside of the Evening Standard is that some offered massive bribes to police officers in the Met for information on certain cases. Although all indications are that both issues happened some time ago, these allegations have come to light just as News International (the parent company of NotW) are attempting a complete buy out of BskyB, one of the countries biggest media outlets.
For many years the head of News International, Rupert Murdoch, has held an almost Machiavellian grip on British politics. His style of news reporting can, and has, effected General Elections for the last quarter of a century. Thatcher herself regarded The Sun’s comparison between the Labour Party and the Soviet style Communist party as one of the major factors in winning the 1987 General Election and The Sun itself screamed “It Was The Sun What Won It” on its front page. Tony Blair openly courted Murdoch and gained support when Labour swept to victory in 1997. Similarly Murdoch backed the Conservatives last time round and spent the run up to the election battering Gordon Brown whilst lauding David Cameron. It’s quite clear, aside from ruining and wrecking the personal lives of the rich and famous, Murdoch has the ability to destroy political parties if you get on the wrong side of him. His holds an almost unique position in the history of the British media industry, almost a Kingmaker.
The decision to close of the News of the World came as a surprise to many, including those who worked in the paper, and the speed of the closure shocked many. However, the timing could not have been better timed. News International has looked at cutting costs for some time and the outrageous behaviour of some of his journalists, coupled with public opinion made that decision easy. Of course it’s a smokescreen because his main aim is to get complete control of BskyB whilst maintaining the support of the infotainment society that buy The Sun and News of the World. He won’t in the long run lose any profits. Whilst the last edition of the News of the World may result in a vastly reduced circulation as people boycott it on moral grounds; it is likely to replaced by a Sunday edition of The Sun. So, unless vast swathes of the population see through the ruse or continue to object to Murdoch’s style of journalism, the new Sun on Sunday is likely to sell almost as well as the News of the World.
Of course there is the small matter of the 200 or so employees of the News of the World who will wake up on Monday without a job. I wonder if their opinion on workers rights and Trade Unions – which they have sought to undermine with halve truths, myths, lies and political propaganda for many years – will change a result. However, that should not deflect from the fact that 200 people have lost their jobs for no fault of their own due to the actions of others. That is a complete comparison to the situation where we find ourselves as our jobs and pensions are being slashed to pay for the mismanagement of the economy under the current and previous Governments and the collapse of the banking industry. I may not agree with their political persuasion, but an unfair dismissal is an unfair dismissal.
As things currently stand the then Editor of the News of the World, Rebekah Cooke is still in post in a very senior position in News International. She has either not resigned or her resignation has been refused. Clearly this is a case of the person ultimately responsible for the newspaper at the time the alleged hacking took place not taking (or being allowed to take) full responsibility.
Of course added to this is a certain Andy Coulson. As I write this he has just been released on bail. This is the same Andy Coulson who David Cameron brought into his Government and it seems from interviews with Cameron that he was aware of some of the hacking allegations. It does question the scruples of the “man in charge” when he employs someone to a senior position within his team who has such allegations hanging over him. It does beg the question of what other errors of judgement has the Prime Minister made in recent times.
Ultimately, it is likely that the politicians and lawyers will have to sort the mess out. Public Enquiries are being set up, and it would be a surprise if the News of the World was the only paper to be effected. It was fairly clear when the Milly Dowler hacking story broke that television news and the broadsheets were covering it but the tabloids were strangely silent preferring to print stories about the latest escapades involving Cheryl Cole or in the Mail’s case printing lies about public sector pensions.
Since the days of John Wilkes the British press has always enjoyed the freedom to print what it likes without interference from Government. That freedom must be retained, even if at times we do not like or agree with what the newspapers print. But the real issue here may be the very future of the media industry itself. Many people no longer see the point in spending money to read what is essentially yesterday’s news. In the pre PC world other than watching the news on television, newspapers were the best form of exchanging news stories. Today it is different. The advent of the internet and 24 hours news channels affords everybody the ability to get up to the minute news at any time of the day. The question the newspaper owners need to answer is how to keep up with the times. Obviously allegations of hacking into mobile phones and bribing police officers will do them no good.
The only way we are to get accurate and fair news reporting on political issues is to stop buying tabloid newspapers. Hopefully significant numbers will now start using alternative online news outlets for information. Both Twitter and Facebook have had incredible success in getting stories into the public domain, stories which in all likelihood would not have made front pages of the “quality” papers let alone the tabloids.
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