so in case you, like me, are a bit fuzzy on the actual events of the notw scandal, so far as i can tell, this is the crux of it.
the allegations - by now with a life of their own - that over 4,000 people, everyone from the families of dead soldiers to the royals, had their phones and voicemails hacked by headline-hungry journalists for the notw, have caused an implosion in the paper. the most serious of the allegations implies that the phone-hacking impeded an (at the time) ongoing police murder investigation. politically, the worst of the fallout comes from the former press secretary to prime minister david cameron, andy coulson. (mr. coulson was the editor of the notw during much of the time in question.) then the fun really begins - the allegations include suggestions that notw authorized pay-offs to the met police, which suggests a deep-rooted corruption in the fabric of london's force.
as a result, britain is in a tizzy - there are calls for the resignation of many upper notw executives, and rebecca brooks (newly ex-ceo) was briefly detained. rumours have suggested that david cameron will step down (though completely unfounded, they are an accurate measure of the way the scandal is being perceived), and the british government has begun an in depth series of committee meetings to determine next steps and investigate the allegations. the met has seen its senior officials (paul stephenson, ex-chief of scotland yard, and david yates, ex-assistant commissioner of the met) resign. and, to cap it all of with a grisly exclamation point, sean hoare, one of the first whistle-blowers and a former notw journalist, was found dead in his home (although it is not currently being viewed as suspicious).
in short: if your name is rupert murdoch, you're in hell. (but if you work for the guardian, you're having the best few weeks of your life.)
and thus concludes my coverage.
ems, anything you want to add? i miss your political analysis, it's just not the same without you.
1 comment:
i feel like this whole scandal is a rather sad commentary on british society, particularly media culture. British tabloids are just awful. i don't understand how they haven't all been sued into bankruptcy for libel. but they print this stuff because it sells. so although the public understandable upset about the lengths NOTW went to dig up dirty secrets and the biggests scoops, they were the ones eating it all up and turning a blind eye to the breaches in privacy. it's true that they didn't know that crimes were committed, but when inappropriate amounts of information comes out it obviously wasn't given up willingly. where's the balance between journalistic responsibility and respect for human dignity and privacy?
and i feel like i need to say that although the british press is under fire here and seems to be worse than most, i definitely do not sit on a high horse here in north america. this commentary could definitely also apply to many of our celebrity magazines.
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