Rupert Murdoch-owned newspaper may have hacked into people's cellphones
By Peter SmithJuly 6th, 2011, 4:15 pmComments (6)
News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch owns tabloids all over the world, including The New York Post, The Sun, and the U.K.-based News of the World. The latter is this week embroiled in scandal; its editors allegedly hacked into the phones of movie stars, athletes, and crime victims, in search of juicy details for their stories. Few journalism schools approve of this kind of thing, safe to say.
The paper had previously been accused of hacking into phones belonging to Hugh Grant and Sienna Miller; Miller won a formal apology and $160,000 in damages from News Corp. this month. Today, more accusations have surfaced; News of the World apparently hacked into phones belonging to the families of three murder victims, as well as the victims of the 7/7 terrorist attacks that killed fifty-two people in London in 2005. In the wake of the charges, News Corp. stock is falling, and several cellphone manufacturers and other companies have pulled or threatened to pull their advertising from News of the World.
In a statement, Murdoch called the hacking "deplorable and unacceptable," but is backing his U.K. news chief, Rebekah Brooks, who's facing growing pressure to resign. U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron said the scandal was "absolutely disgusting" and called for an investigation. But maybe the most deliciously British response comes from Guardian commentator and journalism professor Roy Greenslade, who quipped, "Unless we cleanse the Augean stables of Wapping [where News of the World is printed], we will suffer for ever from public odium." Greenslade, always so droll! Imagine Sir Ian McKellen reading that zinger aloud — you'll enjoy it more.
In any event, Murdoch-owned properties have long blurred the line between news and entertainment. This story is pretty unsavory, but maybe not so surprising.
Commentarium (6 Comments)
I don't think it's a "may have" at this point. Someone already went to prison for this. The question is how high up in News Corp. this went, and did senior people authorize paying the hackers. Andy Coulson, one of the News Corp. execs who maybe did this, was forced to resign as a spokesman for Cameron because of this.
Also, it's the hacking of crime victims phones that's causing the most outrage. A girl who was kidnapped and murdered had her cell phone voice mails reviewed and then deleted when it was full to allow more messages to be recorded. The deletions created false hope in her parents that she was alive. News Corp. is utterly, utterly despicable. But we already knew that.
How do you make the jump from someone illegally hacking into a cellphone, thereby creating false hope, to News Corp being deplorable? Not a compelling fact pattern.
Not to mention the uneven editorial view of Hooksexup with respect to hacking. Very strange, that.
Oh, now I see: you were expressing your opinion, not constructing an indictment. As far as another in my long line of false equivalencies goes, my perception of the editorial view of Hooksexup will have to remain a mystery, since I won't even bother to cite an example.
"Constructing an indictment?" lol. Not a native English speaker?
I know you aren't but what am I?
you appear to be talking to yourself publius. News International is run by subhuman vermin who should be driven into the sea along with the rest of the disease-riddled filth in the tabloid industry and house of commons. You'll find that's not a controversial statement over here.