Wednesday 13 July 2011

Hacking scandal summary

As an aspiring Journalist, it seems wrong that I haven't even attempted to blog about the News International 'hacking scandal'. Well basically, shit has seriously hit the fan. After reading a great article in The Independent today (13 July) written by Martin Hickman and Cahal Milmo, I feel prepared to accurately summarise what is going on.

Hacking
Hacking is the word being banded around the most at the moment, this is the process of listening to people's answerphone messages after obtaining their pin code (often simply using the default 4444 number or finding the number through mobile phone companies) Glenn Mulcaire is the phone hacking expert, previously contracted to The News of the World, who is allegedly responsible for much of the phone hacking. He was imprisoned for 6 months in 2007 after pleading guilty to intercepting royal voicemail messages. Computer hacking is also believed to have taken place as a method of retrieving information. Unfortunately, the questionable practices allegedly used by the press are not limited to just hacking.

Bribery
It is looking increasingly likely that the News of the World bribed the police for information. News International emails show that Andy Coulson authorised these payments. Andy Coulson was employed by David Cameron as the government's director of communications in may 2010 after 3 years as a Conservative Party communications director. This has brought the Prime Minister criticism in the recent weeks. Coulson resigned in January this year amid an earlier scandal regarding the hacking of Celebrities phones. There is also evidence suggesting that phone companies may have been bribed for information.


"Now that the News of the World is gone, everything will be fine!"
Not entirely true, for a start it is worth remembering that not all employees of The News of the World were evil criminals. Many were good, honest journalists who didn't hack phones, bribe the police or urinate on the elderly. The closure of NOTW is an example of Rupert Murdoch's sheer bastardy ruthlessness. At the time of the hacking of murdered teenager Milly Dowler's mobile phone, the editor of the NOTW was Rebekah Brooks, now a senior figure within News International (the company that owns The Sun and previously The News of the World.) Calls for her to step down fell on deaf ears. One tweeter summed up the situation nicely 'Last time so many were sacrificed to one ego at least we got a pyramid out of it!'
Don't be surprised to see more newspapers get pulled in to the scandal. Gordon Brown got the ball rolling today by accusing The Sun of hacking his son's medical records (which they denied) and The Times for illegally obtaining his bank details. Private investigator Johnathan Rees, who is believed to have used techniques such as burglary is known to have worked for the Mirror Group and not just The News of the World. The allegations will now probably pick up speed.

Now What?
An inquiry is being held, the verdict to which will probably be something along the lines of "The press shouldn't do phone hacking". The key body that needs to change is the Press Complaints Commission. This is the press's own regulator, however their sanctions are seen to be soft and they do not have the necessary power to investigate wrongdoings. What we don't want is to lose the level of free press that we currently have, this would be a step in the wrong direction but action does need to be taken and standards need to be raised.

bSKYb
Rupert Murdoch was attempting a complete takeover of bSKYb (Sky TV). After pressure from the public and the house of commons he has now dropped this bid.

Twitter
Twitter has gone absolutely mental in the last week, this is what people have had to say about the 'hacking scandal'

Charlie Brooker: "Judging by the trajectory so far, today's the day we discover they hacked Anne Frank."

George Michael: "For many, many years. Like I said, today is a FANTASTIC day for Britain. XXX"

John Prescott: "The News of the World is closing. It's Twitter Wot Won It! But this won't stop us Murdoch."

Piers Morgan: "Shocked and saddened by closure of the News of the World. Scandals of past week indefensible, but has been a great British newspaper"

Billy Bragg: "Dear @WHSmith.co.uk Do you consider it ethical to stock a newspaper prepared to hack a murdered girl's phone?"