News of the World, for many years the boorish drunk of the print media, is finished. Up to its red top in charges of illegal, corrupt and venal practices, its owner has cut it away like a necrotic limb.
Some things are self-evidently wicked and the activities of the best known, best selling Sunday title provide the perfect examples. Plundering the voice mails of an abducted and murdered teenager and deleting the messages, thereby encouraging their family to believe they are alive, would be one. Invading the privacy of those whose lives have been stolen by the insanity of terrorism, another.
Frankly, the public’s appetite for the flaws and errors of the celebrity universe is more than hearty. Indeed the content of Rupert Murdoch's NOTW’s was tailored to that very hunger and the paper’s circulation confirmed the size of the market. So the notion the hunter would deploy dirty tricks to nail its quarry, was neither surprising nor overly concerning. But this week, the tectonic plates shifted and vulnerable, bereaved and grieving human beings were seen in the sights of Rupert’s rifle. The British are salacious, easily titillated, coarse and lustful – but they will rarely tolerate cruelty and unfairness. Who breaks a butterfly on a wheel?
Monday, when the unimaginable depths of the tabloid's criminality came into focus, marked the moment any
chance of a nonchalant stroll away from the unholy mess slipped from NOTW’s grasp. Just like the poll
tax, the bankers and the bombers, they had crossed the rubicon and become the truly reviled. Two years
ago we wondered how long it would take for us to trust MPs again (answer: no time soon), now that distaste and cynicism is trained on the press. And, just like the expenses debacle, we always suspected there were dodgy shenanigans behind the scenes, but faced with the extent of the casual monstrousness we are utterly dismayed and demanding retribution.
That said, we shouldn't imagine the closure of NOTW has anything to do with regret or contrition. The action is shot through with Murdoch's ruthlessness. Essentially he is terminating the jobs of hundreds to save his own commercial interests and the career of one chief executive.
The registration of the sunonsunday.com domain, may well point to his intentions and strategy.
However, it will take such skill and manipulation to lure a readership and advertising base to any new title, even News International will find the challenge considerable. A simple change of clothing, will not suffice. Not by some distance.
For the low market press, this changes everything. As the media eats itself, they will never again return to their blasé, anything goes, make-it-up-as-we-go world of self-regulation - and the newspaper business was hardly in rude health before this astonishing tale emerged. The Guardian has revealed its priority to be the free online edition, The Sport titles have shut up shop and revenues from the Telegraph to the Mirror are in unstoppable decline. A purge was coming, but few saw it arriving in quite this shape.
Exposure on this scale not only delivers a brutal end to the News of the World, but hastens the metamorphosis of the news media. The shift in the balance of power is already obvious.
Within 24 hours of the appalling allegations breaking, social digital media set about NOTW’s corporate partners (read: big advertisers). Inevitably and one at a time, they withdrew their support from a business which once reveled in scandal, as it was swallowed by its own. The paper which once, alongside its sister The Sun, wielded such power it could claim to make or break elections, was suddenly at the mercy of a digital populace ready to expose the publication's fetid underbelly and lobby its clients to cut the cord. From top flight to bitter end in just four days.
This is what happens when institutions become swollen with power and bloated with conceit. They reach a lofty position playing fast and loose with professional boundaries, the boundaries become blurred, then transparent. Nothing is off limits, no holds are barred and the intrepid feel invincible. It befell Clinton, it beset Enron, it infected Lehman Brothers and now this karmic spectre calls on News of the World.
When suggestions of malpractice first came to light it was only the royals, rich and famous at peril and it must have seemed so easy to dismiss. A ‘rogue’ reporter, a ‘wayward' private eye – nothing to taint the top floor at News International, nothing to reach close to the boardroom. Then Andrew Coulson, former editor and press officer to Cameron became the story. In the dark art of spin this was a mortal sin and he was gone. The tabloid mighty must have prayed this sacrifice would save the tribe. The denials continued while the police persuaded themselves this was a storm in a broadsheet. Two minor players (as it now transpires) took the fall, one was jailed. At the time, this probably looked like the end of the affair. It wasn’t.
Here is a saga with longer tentacles than a giant squid. Coulson was the PM’s media advisor, taking its reach to the height of the establishment. Indeed, Murdoch has been courted by every leader since Thatcher and his ambition to own BSkyB may still be realised, thanks to a nod from the coalition and in spite of the shame and misgivings. The police too, have failed to shower themselves in glory, confirming various papers were buying information from them like a glorified, uniformed wire service. Their initial investigation is now acknowledged to have been little more than a travesty. Nobody here has any claim to the moral high ground. It is just a matter of the depth of their immersion in the swill.
Only a rash man would predict the downfall of News International – even when it has been tarred with such a filthy brush. But the revelation that a 'fun', 'family' newspaper has a soul as dark as night cannot be without profound consquences. So far, that has meant mass sackings for the blameless and the loss of a profitable newspaper for the protagonist.
Unfortunately, this is neither the victory, nor the pardon, either side is hoping for.
Some things are self-evidently wicked and the activities of the best known, best selling Sunday title provide the perfect examples. Plundering the voice mails of an abducted and murdered teenager and deleting the messages, thereby encouraging their family to believe they are alive, would be one. Invading the privacy of those whose lives have been stolen by the insanity of terrorism, another.
Frankly, the public’s appetite for the flaws and errors of the celebrity universe is more than hearty. Indeed the content of Rupert Murdoch's NOTW’s was tailored to that very hunger and the paper’s circulation confirmed the size of the market. So the notion the hunter would deploy dirty tricks to nail its quarry, was neither surprising nor overly concerning. But this week, the tectonic plates shifted and vulnerable, bereaved and grieving human beings were seen in the sights of Rupert’s rifle. The British are salacious, easily titillated, coarse and lustful – but they will rarely tolerate cruelty and unfairness. Who breaks a butterfly on a wheel?
Monday, when the unimaginable depths of the tabloid's criminality came into focus, marked the moment any
chance of a nonchalant stroll away from the unholy mess slipped from NOTW’s grasp. Just like the poll
tax, the bankers and the bombers, they had crossed the rubicon and become the truly reviled. Two years
ago we wondered how long it would take for us to trust MPs again (answer: no time soon), now that distaste and cynicism is trained on the press. And, just like the expenses debacle, we always suspected there were dodgy shenanigans behind the scenes, but faced with the extent of the casual monstrousness we are utterly dismayed and demanding retribution.
That said, we shouldn't imagine the closure of NOTW has anything to do with regret or contrition. The action is shot through with Murdoch's ruthlessness. Essentially he is terminating the jobs of hundreds to save his own commercial interests and the career of one chief executive.
The registration of the sunonsunday.com domain, may well point to his intentions and strategy.
However, it will take such skill and manipulation to lure a readership and advertising base to any new title, even News International will find the challenge considerable. A simple change of clothing, will not suffice. Not by some distance.
For the low market press, this changes everything. As the media eats itself, they will never again return to their blasé, anything goes, make-it-up-as-we-go world of self-regulation - and the newspaper business was hardly in rude health before this astonishing tale emerged. The Guardian has revealed its priority to be the free online edition, The Sport titles have shut up shop and revenues from the Telegraph to the Mirror are in unstoppable decline. A purge was coming, but few saw it arriving in quite this shape.
Exposure on this scale not only delivers a brutal end to the News of the World, but hastens the metamorphosis of the news media. The shift in the balance of power is already obvious.
Within 24 hours of the appalling allegations breaking, social digital media set about NOTW’s corporate partners (read: big advertisers). Inevitably and one at a time, they withdrew their support from a business which once reveled in scandal, as it was swallowed by its own. The paper which once, alongside its sister The Sun, wielded such power it could claim to make or break elections, was suddenly at the mercy of a digital populace ready to expose the publication's fetid underbelly and lobby its clients to cut the cord. From top flight to bitter end in just four days.
This is what happens when institutions become swollen with power and bloated with conceit. They reach a lofty position playing fast and loose with professional boundaries, the boundaries become blurred, then transparent. Nothing is off limits, no holds are barred and the intrepid feel invincible. It befell Clinton, it beset Enron, it infected Lehman Brothers and now this karmic spectre calls on News of the World.
When suggestions of malpractice first came to light it was only the royals, rich and famous at peril and it must have seemed so easy to dismiss. A ‘rogue’ reporter, a ‘wayward' private eye – nothing to taint the top floor at News International, nothing to reach close to the boardroom. Then Andrew Coulson, former editor and press officer to Cameron became the story. In the dark art of spin this was a mortal sin and he was gone. The tabloid mighty must have prayed this sacrifice would save the tribe. The denials continued while the police persuaded themselves this was a storm in a broadsheet. Two minor players (as it now transpires) took the fall, one was jailed. At the time, this probably looked like the end of the affair. It wasn’t.
Here is a saga with longer tentacles than a giant squid. Coulson was the PM’s media advisor, taking its reach to the height of the establishment. Indeed, Murdoch has been courted by every leader since Thatcher and his ambition to own BSkyB may still be realised, thanks to a nod from the coalition and in spite of the shame and misgivings. The police too, have failed to shower themselves in glory, confirming various papers were buying information from them like a glorified, uniformed wire service. Their initial investigation is now acknowledged to have been little more than a travesty. Nobody here has any claim to the moral high ground. It is just a matter of the depth of their immersion in the swill.
Only a rash man would predict the downfall of News International – even when it has been tarred with such a filthy brush. But the revelation that a 'fun', 'family' newspaper has a soul as dark as night cannot be without profound consquences. So far, that has meant mass sackings for the blameless and the loss of a profitable newspaper for the protagonist.
Unfortunately, this is neither the victory, nor the pardon, either side is hoping for.
