News of the end of the World

When I was a University stu­dent back in the 1980s, Bri­tain’s pe­rio­dical The Ne­ws Of The World had a worldwide reputation for scandal and celebrity news as well as having a regular feature of a fairly tame photo of a topless woman on an interior page of the newspaper. Although the photo of the “pin-up girl” was done to elicit the attention of male readers like me, the newspaper had its fair share of female readers, who enjoyed its comprehensive news of the royal family, plus little tidbits of bizarre news, often too bizarre to believe, yet humorous enough to satisfy a thirst for occasional bits of “weird news”.

One of my University professors, who taught journalism of all subjects and who was a woman herself, openly encouraged students to examine periodicals from a wide spectrum of sources, including that one. Granted, some were scandal rags while some others rode on their lofty laurels, supposedly being of a more “dignified or subdued reputation” such as The Times, published in London. It was interesting to see even mainstream publications could (and did) report news incorrectly (or erroneously)… and, conversely, some of the most derided and despised publications mocked as being “cheap tabloids” often got their facts straight.

The News Of The World lasted for 168 years. I will silently mourn its demise. Similarly, when the glossy magazine, George, which was founded and published by the late John F. Kennedy, Jr, ceased its publication, I had mourned its demise as well.

Globally, we need to have as many news agencies as possible. Not just the Associated Press, Reuters, API, Yahoo! News or Google News. People are becoming more reliant upon internet news as their primary source of “news”. The public at large needs to cross-check any “news” they read or hear for truth and veracity.

I realise that Rupert Murdoch treats his ownership of various entities such as The News Of The World solely as mere “possessions”. I don’t fault him for his weighing “profits” versus “losses” so much as I do his seemingly burning desire to generate a name for himself and pumping out news by any means, employing any ugly tactic… such as illegal hacking of computers or allegedly paying policemen for information, as noted in the article carried by this newspaper yesterday.

Back when The News Of The World was founded 168 years ago there was such a concept as “morals” or “scruples”.

It would appear that Mr Murdoch simply wants to close the newspaper down as a means of quelling accountability and escaping any official justification of such unseemly practices. If the paper ceases to exist, most likely he hopes the current scandal will blow over and disappear from the public radar.

I hope that people in various countries of various nationalities will “wake-up” and realise that real, genuine news doesn’t simply “fall at your doorstep”. It must be dug for, discovered, gleaned for relevance, news worthiness and verifiable authenticity.

The news business has become an unflattering competition to see who can report the juiciest details the fastest. Personally, I don’t care if my “news” comes to me slower so long as it is “accurately reported”.

The public must insist on a revamping of priorities in newsrooms, regardless of whether the form of that media is radio, television, internet or a printed newspaper or magazine.

The principle of “standing by your reporting” should make a comeback. If it doesn’t, journalistic companies will take advantage of a gullible public and readers will suffer by absorbing such ignorance, innuendo and rubbish.