Today, British newspaper stands will be bereft of one of its oldest and most controversial newspapers. Last Sunday, the News of the World, a British institution for over 168 years, switched off its presses for the last time. The paper was a veritable journalistic goliath that transformed itself from a working class broadsheet into Europe’s most controversial tabloid. It was brought down in one fell swoop following allegations of criminal activity, perjury, police corruption, sleaze and the ruthless, illegal hacking of people’s phones, dead or alive.
It seemed that its zeal to remain the premiere Sunday British newspaper sowed its very own seeds of destruction − a timeline of Byzantine events that dragged on for years and which eventually and inevitably led to the paper’s sudden and unceremonious demise.
The News of the World (NOTW) pressroom had been on the back foot for years, mired in accusations for its unsavoury methods of unearthing stories. In the process of its many controversial revelations, the paper had made many enemies. The newspaper that launched its owner, media mogul and billionaire Rupert Murdoch, has for a long time been in the firing line of the rich, the celebrated and the powerful. The events preceding the decision to close the News of the World were inexplicably convoluted, complex and peppered with a series of bad decisions that would prove fatal in the end.
It all started in April of 2002. The newspaper revealed voicemail messages left on the phone of an abducted teenage girl Milly Downer, who was found dead, brutally murdered six months later.
A year later, a select committee from the Commons started investigating the privacy of individuals vis-à-vis the media. The NOTW was its prime target. Its former editor also admitted that the paper had paid policemen for information. The journalists at the NOWT seemed unperturbed and carried on hacking into people’s mobile phones. In 2005 it even hacked Prince William’s phone. This set off the alarm bells and arrests followed. Two senior journalists admitted guilt and were jailed. The story simmered for another five years. The newspaper’s rivals, spearheaded by The Guardian refused to let the issue go.
Select committees reopened enquiries. Prominent individuals associated with the scandal are now back in the limelight. Andy Coulson, the NOTW editor in 2003, was the chief spin doctor of Conservative leader David Cameron. Coulson eventually goes to Downing Street in the role of chief communications and media officer to the Prime Minister. He resigned his post in January. In the meantime, News International, the owner of the NOWT launches a bid for BSkyB. Political and financial opponents band together and the phone hacking fracas is back on the agenda in full force.
Since January of this year more arrests have followed as new information came to light. It appears that hacking Milly Downer’s phone had actually derailed police investigations and money had actually changed hands with senior police officers. Public outrage erupts. The events escalate and the News of the World brand is severely damaged. The brand is evidently toxic. Multi national corporations like Ford withdraw their advertising. The newspaper is practically finished and on 7 July, Murdoch pulls the plug. The News of the World is dead.
Ironically, the phone hacking carried out by the News of the World appears to have been standard practice in the industry for quite some time. Probably, NOTW’s cavalier attitude would make it bear the brunt of the outrage. Although illegal since 2000, investigators still hacked into the voice message database of many prominent celebrities, politicians and victims of crime and war. Since many people do not customise their voicemail messaging system, using the standard factory default PIN gave access to anyone with the correct telephone number. It was as simple as that.
The closure of the News of the World may just be the beginning rather than the end of the story. Clearly, after the Wikileaks episode, the latest tumultuous affair once again makes many revisit the concept of classified or private information and its distribution and consumption. The downfall of the NOWT raises questions about journalistic methods, the public interest, the freedom of the press, and the boundaries of the right of information.
The overriding question remains: was the News of the World simply a victim of itself or the sum of the many grudges and self-interest of the financially and politically powerful? Once again the British are questioning the suitability of self-regulation. Conversely, too many restrictions on the press would likely appear as excessive restraint by those who would rather not have papers like the News of the World sniffing into their private matters. The issues are complex and unravelling them will take time but the conclusion is evident. Tabloids may sell, but there comes a time and a place when all journalistic houses have to be accountable for the stories they print especially when these cause damage to people’s lives and careers!
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