sagegrouse
07-18-2011, 11:16 AM
Here is the indictment against the News of the World, as I understand it, and here is a link (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43793016/ns/business-us_business/)from MSNBC via Reuters:
NOTW ran a "dirty shop" (as the English say) beyond all believe, sparing no effort and leaving no stone unturned to get scoops. Breaking the law was a mere technicality. Staffers got status by dealing with scummier and scummier informants.
When Scotland Yard got on the case the NOTW staff turned its blunderbuss on the individual investigators, using the same illegal methods to dig up dirt relating to sex and expense accounts. While there were warnings directly to the detectives, the most effective method was to leak the results to other news organizations, with the resulting headlines serving as a warning to others at Scotland Yard. It was devastatingly effective, in that the London police basically dropped the investigation after a couple of minor convictions, leaving huge piles of evidence unexamined.
In carrying out these activities, the NOTW (headed from 2000-2003 by Murdoch favorite Rebeka Brooks) employed convicted criminals in its skullduggery, including those convicted of illegally hacking Internet accounts and phones. And, as the linked article shows, just plain common criminals.
Holy cow! I tend to defend the "legitimate" press in the US (even UNC journalism grads), and I hope that none of this goes on here.
The real question is whether Murdoch and Fox can survive this, even if it jettisons all of the British newspaper properties.
sagegrouse
NOTW ran a "dirty shop" (as the English say) beyond all believe, sparing no effort and leaving no stone unturned to get scoops. Breaking the law was a mere technicality. Staffers got status by dealing with scummier and scummier informants.
When Scotland Yard got on the case the NOTW staff turned its blunderbuss on the individual investigators, using the same illegal methods to dig up dirt relating to sex and expense accounts. While there were warnings directly to the detectives, the most effective method was to leak the results to other news organizations, with the resulting headlines serving as a warning to others at Scotland Yard. It was devastatingly effective, in that the London police basically dropped the investigation after a couple of minor convictions, leaving huge piles of evidence unexamined.
In carrying out these activities, the NOTW (headed from 2000-2003 by Murdoch favorite Rebeka Brooks) employed convicted criminals in its skullduggery, including those convicted of illegally hacking Internet accounts and phones. And, as the linked article shows, just plain common criminals.
Holy cow! I tend to defend the "legitimate" press in the US (even UNC journalism grads), and I hope that none of this goes on here.
The real question is whether Murdoch and Fox can survive this, even if it jettisons all of the British newspaper properties.
sagegrouse