Not fit for purpose

Yesterday, The Commons culture, media and sport select committee submitted a report which concluded that Rupert Murdoch , Chairman and CEO of News Corporation was, ‘ not a fit person to exercise the stewardship of major international company.’ Moreover, it stated that Les Hinton, former executive chairman of News Corporation, Colin Myler, the final editor of the News of the World and Tom Crone, the newspaper’s head of legal affairs, deliberately misled and withheld truth from the parliamentary enquiry into phone hacking.

So how did we arrive at this extraordinary state of affairs? What series of events led to the closure of the News of the World and the public humiliation of the world’s (previously) most powerful media baron?

Events occurred at breathtaking speed.  In July this year it was claimed by the Guardian that journalists on the News of the World had hacked into the phone messages of murdered schoolgirl, Milly Dowler. Not only this, messages were removed to make room for more. This was followed by the news that Scotland Yard detectives had contacted the families of Soham victims, Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman as part of their investigation into Private Investigator Glenn Mulcaire, who was previously employed by the paper. Then came news that families of the victims of the 7/7 terrorist atrocities may also have had their messages monitored by Mulcaire. The father of one of the victims, Graham Foulkes, said the prospect of these allegations being true ‘fills me with horror’.  There was understandable public and political outrage at these allegations and Sunday 11^th July saw the last ever edition of the News of the World.

We must understand that, shocking and disturbing though these revelations were the tabloid press has always indulged in shady practices and subversion in order to get at a story. It is of great significance that on the day that these stories began to emerge, both the Sun and the Mirror were being accused of contempt in the high court over their coverage of the arrest of Jo Yates landlord in the high profile murder case before Christmas 2011. This was an innocent man subjected to trial by media – with not a shred of evidence to implicate him.  In an even more high profile case in 2008, Express newspapers paid out substantial damages for printing false accusations about the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. For the right wing tabloid press the greatest threat to the social fabric of Britain is the continual influx into the country of asylum seekers and illegal immigrants. On too many occasions, over too many years, have untruths and lies been peddled about the most vulnerable members of society.

We must also consider the power of the press and its relationship with government. Rupert Murdoch, head of News International and proprietor of the News of the World, has long enjoyed a special relationship with successive Prime Ministers.  Mrs Thatcher depended on the support of his newspapers whilst with her help Murdoch was able to build an information network that today stretches across the world and stands unprecedented and unchallenged as a global media power. In 1995, the future Prime Minister Blair assured Murdoch that the laws on cross media ownership would not affect his interests. We know that David Cameron until recently employed Andy Coulson, former deputy editor of the News of the World, as his Director of Communications. The same Andy Coulson who, according to his former colleague, Sean Hoare, actively encouraged phone hacking.

So the publication of this report coinciding as it does with the  Leveson enquiry into the practices and ethics of the press, represents a welcome sea change in the relationship between the media and politics in Britain. What is important now is that News Corporation does not become the fall guy for the entire press. It is clear that it was not only the News of the World that resorted to underhand and dishonest tactics with alarming frequency. After all, in 2006 a league table of newspapers and magazines who paid private investigators to obtain illegal information was published – and the Daily Mail came top.

But it is the Murdoch press that will take the flak and be subject to criminal investigations which could well see senior figures prosecuted and ultimately imprisoned. There is every reason to think that the fabric and structure of the traditional press will be altered irrevocably by what will happen in the next few months and years.

Dr John Jewell is Director of Undergraduate Studies in the School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies at Cardiff University

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