Headline: best-selling tabloid, the News of the World, published its last edition today.
Rubert Murdoch, the 80-year-old News Corp. CEO arrived in London today to take charge of his media empire’s phone-hacking crisis, as his notorious tabloid published its last. Yet the scandal lives on despite his sacrifice of the 168-year-old paper at the heart of it. He was seen reading the paper’s last issue today in a red Range Rover as he was driven to the east London offices of his U.K. newspaper division, News International. Murdoch met with News International’s chief executive, Rebekha Brooks, later today at his London apartment. Brooks led News of the World when its reporters committed some of the most atrocious ethical blunders. Murdoch has publicly backed Brooks who obviously insists she had no knowledge of wrongdoing.
The drama that has absorbed media watchers in Britain and around the world has expanded at a quick pace following allegations News of the World journalists paid police for information and hacked into the voicemails of young murder victims and the grieving families of dead soldiers. The scraping of the media empire however has not tempered the British anger over the improprieties by journalists working for Robert Murdoch. His $19 billion deal to take full control of satellite broadcaster BSKYB remains in great jeopardy. The paper’s demise does not dismiss the questions surrounding Murdoch’s media corporation, which has been hugely influential in British politics for years. Leader among them is what did Murdoch, Brooks and other executives know about the actions of News of the World journalists?
Some 200 journalists have been laid off while Rebekah Brooks has kept her job. Three people have been arrested including PM David Cameron’s former communication chief, Andy Coulson. Tom Watson, Labour member of the Commons culture committee, stated that Murdoch and Mrs Brooks should be called to face MPs’ questions about the internal inquiry and when they knew about it. The Guardian reported today that only recently were emails and memos from 2007 handed over to police indicating News International was aware that phone hacking was more widespread than publicly acknowledged. BBC reported that News International had discovered emails at the same time period that suggested payment were being offered to police for information. The paper issued a full-page apology in its last edition today. It stated, “"We praised high standards, we demanded high standards but, as we are now only too painfully aware, for a period of a few years up to 2006 some who worked for us, or in our name, fell shamefully short of those standards," the editorial read…Quite simply, we lost our way."
Some view shutting down the News of the World as a frantic move to stem negative fallpit from the hacking scandal thus sufficing Murdoch 19 billion to get full ownership of BSKYB which he already holds a stake in. I remember sitting in the House of Commons chamber on Thursday 30 June (l ½ wks) and witnessing the Urgent Question over allowing Murdoch to have full ownership. Looking back at my notes now from that day, I wrote down Tom Watson’s comments: “better practice of media companies is needed and the criminality of newspaper is valuable evidence of this.” How ironic then all that came out this week?
Much more is to unfold. It will definitely be coming up in Parliament this week no doubt. It is the first day of my last week tomorrow.; I cannot believe it is already here. I am excited for what Parliament brings this week and sad at the thought of leaving the place. It has become such a home to me, and so has London. I can imagine myself having a life over here. Only time will tell though where my life’s path will lead.
"March on. Do not tarry. To go forward is to move toward perfection. March on and fear not the thorns or the sharp stones on life's path."
- Kahlil Gibran
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