"Bring back the good journalism"

News of the World admits defeat, other media personalities lash out and have more to say.

The News of the World, a British tabloid admitted to seize voicemails of prominent people to source stories, putting years of rumours to rest. The paper known to break outrageous and hard hitting stories ended a reign of 168 long and eventful years in a shameful manner on 10^th July 2011 signing off the final edition with a headline of “Thank you and goodbye” enclosed an apology.

“I have tried to write articles in a truthful manner and what better source of getting the truth than to listen to someone’s messages. It might sound frivolous but you have to take out the emotional bit and think about it rationally,” said Paul Mc Mullan, an ex-deputy features editor of News of the World. So how far will a journalist go to breach the privacy of a person to carry on business by offering advertisers space for a price and sell the tabloid passing it off as “investigative journalism”?

The targets of the crime was not constrained to cheating/drug abusing celebrities and corrupt politicians but also murder, bomb blast victims and soldiers’ family.  According to the police, there are around 4000 possible victims of the scandal. There are also allegations the police offered details of the royal family members and their staffs’ personal contact information for a price. Bribing the police in England is considered one of the most illegitimate crimes which bring the country under the scanner for its press regulation and police corruption.

The NoW was published by News Group Newspapers, part of News International, which is a subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Rupert Murdoch, an 80-year-old media mogul is being questioned in court about his involvement with crime. During a court session, the aging tycoon was attacked by a protester which a pie of shaving cream as his wife Wendi Deng leapt in his defense.

 According to reports Murdoch, who owns 40% of the total British media “bullied” and trailed politicians with his immense power into taking the road he wanted them to take. James Cameron shared a very cozy relationship with Murdock as he helped him win the elections and stay in power with his broadcasting styles.

What caught the attention of most people was the case of murdered teenager Mily Dower, whose voicemail messages had been deleted by a private investigator hired by the tabloid during the time of her disappearance. These mails included sorrowful and desperate pleads of her family and friends to trace her which filed up her mailbox. Once these mails were deleted, it gave her family false hope that she was still alive and the news corporation more coverage period on the story.

“The core reason for such a practice was that they tabloid industry casually considered themselves above the law because of having support of the police. However, the Milly Dowler revelation changed the face of politics and made both the parties impossible of them to defend themselves”, said Nick Davis, from The Guardian. He further added, the police have now taken a serious step to investigate the matter. Evidence from the junior most reporters to the senior most executive is being collected from their desks and homes.

Hugh Grant, a Hollywood actor whose phone was also tapped a few years ago moved from studio to studio exposing his side of the story to the news media. He admits to bugging a conversation he had with a former editor of NoW, who obliviously revealed all the dirty tricks of the industry to source articles. He published the information in The Statement right after that. “I honestly feel bad for NoW, who have been targeted for this crime because from what I have heard, most news corporations have private investigators working under them along with routine corrupted practices with the police. Daily Mail, who swears by its squeaky clean image also use to practice this, but after the news broke out, have stopped. I have no problem with broadsheets or the news media, but tabloids in particular do not have any watchdogs, and they highly misuse the power.”

NoW broke out stories such as Hugh Grants’ ailment, Prince Williams’ knee surgery, Bekham’s infidelity and many more. Hugh adds that the tabloid media also has access to medical records and bank balances. “Ford pulled out its advertising, which received a lot of support from people and I think others should do the same. Bring back the good journalism”, he insists.