Unless you’ve been in a cave over the last few weeks (or lucky enough to be on some remote beach in the sunshine), you’ll know all about the furious storm that broke over the News of the World hacking scandal. Now in its second week, the scandal is crossing the pond to America as more twisted tales are being uncovered, resulting in more arrests and ultimately casting a very dark shadow on the future of the Murdoch Empire.
But where did it all go wrong? When did phone hacking and other alleged immoral and illegal practices become part of a NOTW journalist’s profession? An interesting Guardian piece recently hinted that the web has played a part in the culture that lead to phone hacking. Simon Jenkins argues that the commercial pressures brought about by the dominance of digital media and advertising has driven print media to seek desperate measures in order to keep readers and advertisers interested. Print is experiencing a loss in readership and in investment, with Internet adspend continuing to rise, whilst other forms of advertising experience considerable reductions. Jenkins comments “[t]oday’s explosion of web news and comment is jeopardising media revenue streams as dotcoms did shops”; although there are some signs that the internet revolution is beginning to reach an equilibrium. Nonetheless, the rocky transition from print to digital media has questioned privacy, the public value of news and the relationship between the media, politicians and the police. NOTW has been thriving off scoops discovered through phone hacking, which thoroughly violates the boundaries of investigatory intrusion and marking a severe distortion in the ethics of media practice.
So what for the future of print media and investigative journalism? Will Self writes that the NOTW scandal may mark a tectonic shift in the structure and practice of digital and print media to come. Although we are far off witnessing the death throes of print media, this event, as well as the Twitter/Superinjunction episode, could be paving the way for public-peer reviewed egalitarian news structure, rather than the big corporate, hierarchical system that dominates at present. We’ll certainly be watching the outcome closely.
What’s your take on the future of journalism in the UK?
where did it all go wrong indeed….sometime ago, methinks….the much heralded purchase of myspace a few years back, which for a snip at $580million was the biggest social media platform around was poorly managed by news corp and rather quietly ‘dumped’ 2 weeks ago for 6% of its original purchase price and a miniscule fraction of the valuations made in 2008 ranging from $3 Billion to $20 Billion….are News Corps customers changing their Media habits and needs quicker than News Corp can change their Media operations?
I think the whole industry needs very serious regulation; a total review of how these papers are run, their relationships with politicians and the way they make money (through advertising primarily).
Above all, the people who own newspapers, and the way they let their own business interests dictate editorial, needs reviewing. This should put a huge hole in the Murdoch empire, and a baron like him cannot be allowed to rise again.
We need better papers, better publishers, better owners and better journos.
Bring back Woodward and Bernstein!
Will Self called it right. It’s the old guard crumbling against the new guard. As someone who’s been working in digital since 1995 I’ve seen how the print media ignored and scoffed (in general) at the possibilities and potential power of individuals on the web. They are paying for past crimes and misdemeanors now. I showed my gratitude to the Guardian by paying for their iPhone app, the least I could do. Looking forward to a new era of respect with standards policed by the people of the UK (and the world!)
I think the future of journalism is returning to basics. I want my news in a creative and informative manner. Do I want scoops? Yes, of course, but let’s try and have it as legit as possible please.