THIS IS NEWS?
Jul. 13th, 2011 10:53 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
defrogPeople have been asking me what I think of News Of The World.
Well … I think it’s an underrated Queen album.
I mean, it has this masterpiece on it.
BOOM!
But seriously.
Regarding the other NoW, here’s a few things I find myself thinking about as the story unfolds:
1. Tabloid journalism has always been sleazy. Particularly British tabloid journalism. So the phone-hacking allegations shouldn’t really come as a surprise to NoW readers or anyone else.
2. As someone employed in the field of journalism, I can safely say I’m not cut out for tabloid journalism because I can’t for the life of me imagining going to such lengths to get a story. It’s no wonder journalism has the reputation it does (and why when I’m meeting people in non-work-related scenarios, I tell them I run a phone sex operation because it’s classier).
3. In a way, it’s a shame that NoW was shut down as a result of this. The NoW had problems, but sinking it wasn’t a solution – it was a cynical tactic to salvage Rupert Murdoch’s BSkyB deal. So I’m sympathetic to any/all employees at NOTW who weren’t involved in the phone-hacking (assuming there are any).
4. It’s easy to portray Murdoch as the archvillain mastermind of all this, especially for liberals who never liked him to start with and have never forgiven him for giving us Fox News. That’s too easy for me. But I don’t have any real opinion of what he did or didn’t know regarding the phone-hacking at this stage because we don’t know enough facts yet. The only way we’ll find out is via a full independent investigation into the matter. David Cameron has promised at least two. We’ll see how that goes, but if yr hoping to see Murdoch hauled off in irons to the Tower Of London, I think yr going to be disappointed.
5. That said, whatever Murdoch’s role was in all this, it’s worth pointing out that the outcome is probably going to reveal one of two things: (1) editorial management was complicit in the phone-hacking, or (2) editorial management treasured results over methodology to the point that editors didn’t care or didn’t want to know how reporters got their stories, and reporters were encouraged to do whatever it took.
In that sense, I think Carl Bernstein has a point. He and Bob Woodward crossed legal lines to get the Watergate story because they felt there was no other way to get the story. The difference was that they consulted Bill Bradlee and the Washington Post’s lawyers first, keeping them in the loop. Somehow I doubt that ever happened at NoW. Maybe it should have.
FULL DISCLOSURE: Technically, I like the live version of "Get Down, Make Love" from the Live KIllers album more than the studio version. That middle bit used to give me the most splendid nightmares.
Fit to print,
This is dF
Well … I think it’s an underrated Queen album.
I mean, it has this masterpiece on it.
BOOM!
But seriously.
Regarding the other NoW, here’s a few things I find myself thinking about as the story unfolds:
1. Tabloid journalism has always been sleazy. Particularly British tabloid journalism. So the phone-hacking allegations shouldn’t really come as a surprise to NoW readers or anyone else.
2. As someone employed in the field of journalism, I can safely say I’m not cut out for tabloid journalism because I can’t for the life of me imagining going to such lengths to get a story. It’s no wonder journalism has the reputation it does (and why when I’m meeting people in non-work-related scenarios, I tell them I run a phone sex operation because it’s classier).
3. In a way, it’s a shame that NoW was shut down as a result of this. The NoW had problems, but sinking it wasn’t a solution – it was a cynical tactic to salvage Rupert Murdoch’s BSkyB deal. So I’m sympathetic to any/all employees at NOTW who weren’t involved in the phone-hacking (assuming there are any).
4. It’s easy to portray Murdoch as the archvillain mastermind of all this, especially for liberals who never liked him to start with and have never forgiven him for giving us Fox News. That’s too easy for me. But I don’t have any real opinion of what he did or didn’t know regarding the phone-hacking at this stage because we don’t know enough facts yet. The only way we’ll find out is via a full independent investigation into the matter. David Cameron has promised at least two. We’ll see how that goes, but if yr hoping to see Murdoch hauled off in irons to the Tower Of London, I think yr going to be disappointed.
5. That said, whatever Murdoch’s role was in all this, it’s worth pointing out that the outcome is probably going to reveal one of two things: (1) editorial management was complicit in the phone-hacking, or (2) editorial management treasured results over methodology to the point that editors didn’t care or didn’t want to know how reporters got their stories, and reporters were encouraged to do whatever it took.
In that sense, I think Carl Bernstein has a point. He and Bob Woodward crossed legal lines to get the Watergate story because they felt there was no other way to get the story. The difference was that they consulted Bill Bradlee and the Washington Post’s lawyers first, keeping them in the loop. Somehow I doubt that ever happened at NoW. Maybe it should have.
FULL DISCLOSURE: Technically, I like the live version of "Get Down, Make Love" from the Live KIllers album more than the studio version. That middle bit used to give me the most splendid nightmares.
Fit to print,
This is dF
