The decision by media magnate Rupert Murdoch to close the News of the World – Britain’s top-selling Sunday newspaper for the past century – over a phone hacking scandal caught many people by surprise.
However, such was the public revulsion over claims that the tabloid newspaper had hacked into the mobile phones of murder victims, relatives of victims of the July 7 terrorist attacks, as well as soldiers who had died in Iraq, that the company probably felt there was no other way out.
Advertisers had already started to boycott the newspaper, and there were fears by News International, the company owning News of the World, that this crisis would affect its other UK publications, namely The Times, The Sunday Times and The Sun.
Some observers believe News of the World was sacrificed to save News Corporation’s bid to buy British satellite broadcaster BSkyB, a deal expected to cost at least $15 billion. There is huge public opposition to this sale and the British government has rightly delayed a decision on this until September.
“The News of the World is in the business of holding people to account. But it failed when it came to itself. This Sunday will be the last issue of News of the World,” said James Murdoch, chairman of News International and Rupert Murdoch’s son.
He also said that both News of the World and News International had “failed to get to the bottom of repeated wrongdoing that occurred without conscience or legitimate purpose.”
James Murdoch said those who acted wrongly would have to face the consequences, but he has nevertheless so far stood by Rebekah Brooks, the former News of the World editor who is now chief executive of News International.
Brooks was editor in 2002 when the newspaper is alleged to have hacked into the mobile phone of Milly Dowler, a murdered teenager. However, she has claimed that she neither had knowledge nor directed such activities.
Some people, including opposition Labour leader Ed Miliband, believe Brooks’ position is untenable because it was under her watch that some of the hacking is alleged to have taken place. Furthermore, nearly all the 200 journalists who are to lose their job at News of the World didn’t even work at the newspaper when the alleged hacking took place, and some believe that these journalists are being sacrificed so that Brooks can keep her job.
The chief executive has worked for the Murdoch empire since the age of 20, is considered one of Rupert Murdoch’s most trusted executives and is politically well-connected.
David Wooding, political editor of News of the World, said: “The jobs of a lot of people who have done nothing wrong have been sacrificed for what happened in the past.”
Prime Minister David Cameron has announced that two public inquires will take place following the phone hacking scandal. The first will look into the actual phone hacking and the failure of the police to properly investigate what happened, which also included the hacking of mobile phones belonging to politicians and celebrities. This will probably take place once a new police criminal investigation is complete.
The second inquiry, which is likely to start soon, and which will probably change the face of journalism in Britain, will deal with the regulation, ethics and culture of the media industry. He said the Press Complaints Commission would be scrapped, adding: “I believe we need a new system entirely”.
Labour leader Ed Miliband also said that the present system of media self-regulation has failed and that the Press Complaints Commission has been a failure. He actually called it “a toothless poodle”. And both party leaders have admitted that politicians have for too long overlooked this problem because they need the support of the media to get their message across.
Cameron was also under pressure throughout the week as a result of his 2007 appointment of Andy Coulson as director of communications of the Conservative Party. Coulson was News of the World editor between 2003 and 2007 when most phone hacking is alleged to have taken place, although he insists he knew nothing about what was going on.
He resigned as editor in 2007 after one of his journalists and a private investigator were convicted of hacking into phones of members of the royal family. Earlier this year he resigned as Cameron’s communications director at Downing Street after new allegations emerged connecting journalists at News of the World to other attempts to hack the mobile phones of politicians and celebrities.
Coulson was arrested last Friday in connection with the hacking allegations, putting the Prime Minister in a somewhat embarrassing position. Cameron has not apologised for his decision to employ Coulson and asked by a journalist if he had “screwed up” on the matter he said: “People will decide.” Cameron added: “I decided to give him a second chance but the second chance didn’t work. The decision to hire him was mine and mine alone.”
What now for the Murdoch empire? Rupert Murdoch, chairman of News Corporation, a global multi-billion dollar media corporation which owns News International, is an extremely powerful individual who is very well connected.
His newspapers wield enormous political influence; in 1992, for example, The Sun was credited with delivering an unexpected Conservative electoral victory after it campaigned vigorously against Labour leader Neil Kinnock.
It is possible that what will take place will be a rebranding exercise in which The Sun on Sunday – which was registered a few days ago – will take the market share previously enjoyed by News of the World.
However, it will take time for a seven-day Sun newspaper to be fully operational. In the meantime, News International’s tabloid rivals will be moving quickly to poach former readers of News of the World.
There are certainly many lessons to be learnt from this whole episode and one thing is for certain: the British press will never be the same.