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News Of The World & Phone Hacking Scandal

Posted: July 8th, 2011, 9:42 am
by stuart.uk
I never thought I'd see the day when a top British newspaper, a Sunday one at that, The News Of The World, is going out of business this weekend because it over stepped the mark. I'd always thought the newspapers had that much power, they could almost get away with printing anything.

It's over phone hacking mobiles. For a while now celebrities and polititians have been complaining their mobiles (cell phones) have been hacked by TNOW, Hugh Grant included. However, that had little affect until it was alleged this week that the paper had hacked the phone of a missing teenager, who as it turned out had been murdered therefor the Police were hampered with their equiries. That has opened a can of worms with more simaliar cases coming to the for.

In some ways it's a good think that the newspaper has been brought to book, but I have sympathy for the innocent workers at the paper who now find themselves unemployed, particulary as it looks like the guilty parties might get away with it. The paper is owned by Rupert Murdoch, who I tend to think of as a modern William Randolph Hearst, a powerful figure with friends in high places

Re: News Of The World goes under

Posted: July 8th, 2011, 10:26 am
by Rita Hayworth
Stuart,

Every Single Morning I go to Starbucks to read Newspapers that left around and the only article that I read was the News of the World that went out of business. I have many friends that worked in London (on visa) and they constantly complained that NOTW is nothing but pure garbage in the past 10-12 years. I completely support (100%) of your views on this newspaper that turned tabloid with no respect of us - individuals - just like you stated that they hacked into cell phones and the nasty thing they did with Hugh Grant and so forth. I learned that while watching the Morning Express with Robin Meade a while back when this horrible newspaper/tabloid did a number on (Grant) him.

I'm glad to see one sleazy newspaper/tabloid disappeared from the face of the earth; despite its rich history that associated with it. According to many websites that I researched its started in October 1843 in London by a man by the name of John Browne Bell.

It's truly sad when newspapers cease to exist! when they have scandals just like the ones that our dear member Stuart shared with us this morning.

Re: News Of The World goes under

Posted: July 8th, 2011, 10:39 am
by moira finnie
Stuart, I was hoping that you and other UK correspondents might share their POV on the closure of News of the World, which has always been indicative of the low level of Rupert Murdoch's journalistic standards. It appears that their violations of the privacy not only corrupted government and private individuals and broke many laws, but their invasion of the privacy of so many people--especially those who have already suffered enough, including the family of the little girl murdered several years ago, the families of the military whose loved ones have died in Iraq and Afghanistan, and those whose relatives were murdered by the terrorists on the subway train on July 7th, 2005 in London--has finally come to an end.

Maybe there is some hope that people will actually wake up to the despicable inhumanity of these people. I love newspapers and try to read as many as I can, but am glad that this one has ceased to exist.

Stuart, do you really think that the people responsible for the abuses of this press power will be prosecuted?

Re: News Of The World goes under

Posted: July 8th, 2011, 10:55 am
by MichiganJ
Some arrests have already been made.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011 ... 265185.htm

Re: News Of The World goes under

Posted: July 8th, 2011, 11:52 am
by Gary J.
stuart.uk wrote: I'd always thought the newspapers had that much power, they could almost get away with printing anything.
I'm sure Murdoch always believed that also.

Re: News Of The World goes under

Posted: July 8th, 2011, 12:06 pm
by stuart.uk
Moira

I wasn’t sure Murdoch was known in the U.S. The Scottish Daily Record in their editorial page said that the paper will probably rise from the ashes under another name, using The Sun On Sunday as an example. The Sun is a Mon to Sat Murdoch weekly. It’s reckoned Murdoch is closing TNOW to protect his News International.

The paper is also guilty in my opinion of entrapping sports stars for match fixing, claiming they were exposing cheats. Scottish World snooker Champion John Higgins was approached on film last yr by NOTW undercover reporters posing as members of the Russian Mafia. Higgins was seen excepting a bribe, but later claimed he was so scared he just pretended to agree. After a suspension Higgins was cleared of match fixing, but was found guilty not reporting the incident to the snooker athorities. However, he's since regained his reputation and the World Crown

Mind you I'll miss former Scottish football International Davie Provan who wrote good weekly articles about the state of Scottish football in the Scots version of NOTW

Re: News Of The World goes under

Posted: July 8th, 2011, 2:57 pm
by charliechaplinfan
I'm a cynic, it appears that the title The Sunday Sun has been trademarked two days before the paper was pulled. I wonder what Rebekah Brooks has on Rupert Murdoch for her to keep her position.

The New of the World was a the biggest selling Sunday paper, I'm ashamed to say, there was no news in it in the last few years and it continued to get more scandalous and less news ridden as it the years went by. By all accounts it had a good sports section. To my shame my mother would occasionally buy the paper and pass it on to me, if I got 5 minutes reading out of it I was lucky. It had quite a few scoops in recent years and the news of the hacking has been around for a couple of years but this was against celebrities and politicians and neither surprised or upset the public too much. I think we expected dirty dealing and didn't feel particularly sympathetic for the celebs who got caught. This weeks revelations of the tapping into a voicemail of a young girls mobile phone and deleting voicemail messages making the police think she was still alive was callous, illegal, plain disgusting and detrimental to the investigation into the girls disappearance. After this we had revelations about two other young girls who had gone missing, the 7/7 bombings and our war dead. The public and also the businesses that advertise response to this has made Murdoch take this action. I'm incredibly cynical and think that this goes well up the organisation and hope it's not industry wide.

Surprisingly all this was triggered by Hugh Grant interviewing someone in the know and recording it.

Re: News Of The World goes under

Posted: July 8th, 2011, 7:35 pm
by Gary J.
stuart.uk wrote: I wasn’t sure Murdoch was known in the U.S.
Rupert Murdoch is very well known here in the states thanks to a nasty, sorid, propagandized little reality show he has on the air
called FOX NEWS.
Or as his friend Keith Olbermann calls it, FOX NOISE.
(That always cracks me up)

Re: News Of The World goes under

Posted: July 9th, 2011, 1:19 am
by stuart.uk
In the UK we have a show called Question Time where a panel are asked questions from an invited audience. In these 2 links I'm posting Hugh Grant and a polititian I admire Shirley Williams appear to discuss the scandel




Re: News Of The World goes under

Posted: July 9th, 2011, 5:58 am
by stuart.uk
Alison

In Scotland the media is wondering what this will do for the Tommy Sheridan case. Sheridan's the former leader of the Scottish Socialist Party who is in prison for lying under oath in a previous court case. He has claimed all along his phone was hacked by The News Of The World. However, outwith that other witnesses under oath claimed he lied, so in the end it might not make much difference.

It's looking likely The Sun will take the place of TNOTW, so what's the difference. I remember yrs ago on Terry Wogan's chat show Murdoch said The Sun was his proudest achievement. I see The Sun tried its best to defend TNOTW by saying how it correctly exposed Pakistan cricketers for illegal betting and of its achievments in its long history

I admit the family used to get TNOTW, but my favourite Sunday newspaper is The Sunday Post, a local Dundee paper from D.C Thompson a publishing firm with a wide reputation. The paper is known for it's 2 comic strips Our Wullie and The Broons and Lorriane Kelly writes weekly articals and Alan Brazil (It used to be Ian St John) does a football piece (John Llyod anually does Wimbledon). D.C Thompson is also world famous for comics like The Beano, The Dandy ,The Eagle and The Victor for boys (sexist LOL)

Re: News Of The World goes under

Posted: July 9th, 2011, 8:45 am
by ChiO
Mr. Murdoch also operates a little U.S. regional newspaper called The Wall Street Journal.

Does he still have interest in the New York Post, Star (a scandal tabloid), 20th Century-Fox, and DirecTV (my satellite provider)? He did buy the Chicago Sun-Times years ago, but much of the talent soon fled to the Chicago Tribune and he sold the paper (which became a whole 'nother story).

Re: News Of The World goes under

Posted: July 9th, 2011, 9:14 am
by movieman1957
Gary J. wrote:
stuart.uk wrote: I wasn’t sure Murdoch was known in the U.S.
Rupert Murdoch is very well known here in the states thanks to a nasty, sorid, propagandized little reality show he has on the air
called FOX NEWS.
Or as his friend Keith Olbermann calls it, FOX NOISE.
(That always cracks me up)
Interesting how those names apply to Olbermann.

Re: News Of The World goes under

Posted: July 9th, 2011, 9:25 am
by moira finnie
Murdoch's News Corp. footprint on American news has grown far beyond Fox News. His corporation controls The Wall Street Journal through Dow Jones & Co., and that has always seemed like too much power to me--especially since these organizations help to shape perceptions of economies worldwide.

Re: News Of The World goes under

Posted: July 9th, 2011, 11:20 am
by stuart.uk
Miora

Thats why he reminds me of William Randolph Hearst, who allegedly started the Cuban war to give him headlines for his newspapers. Then there was the mysterious death of Thomas Ince, who was said to have died of natural causes, on his boat, but rumours suggested he shot hm dead believing him to be Charlie Chaplin who, he suspected of having an affair with Marion Davies. He was also against America's involvement in WW2. In the 80s Murdoch used his newspapers in propagada to persuade his readers to vote Tory. However, to be fair another newspaper mogul Robert Maxwell of The Daily Mirror did much the same for the Labour Party. He committed suicide after it was discovered he embezzelled employees pensions

I used to say as a joke the least offence thing in The Sun was page 3 where a female model posed topless every day. Some took offence at that, but while I never bothered about it myself, I didn't find it offensive. It made names out of Samantha Fox and more so Linda Lusardi, who became a soapstar on Emerdale. But what I meant to say as a joke was that page 3 could be the cleanest thing in the paper

Re: News Of The World goes under

Posted: July 9th, 2011, 12:35 pm
by Lzcutter
ChiO,

Yes, Murdoch still owns 20th Century Fox and, I believe, DirecTV (also our satellite provider).