Question: The News of the World Introduction The Sunday tabloid The News of the World died on July 10, 2011. The newspaper had the largest readership in the United Kingdom with a circulation of 2.8 million and was profitable, but its reporters had for years hacked into the cell phones of prominent UK residents, paid police for information for stories, and possibly committed other questionable acts. The demise of the newspaper began as the rival newspaper The Guardian reported information about The News of the World based on its own investigative journalism, and the scandal spread as far as Prime Minister David Cameron and Rupert Murdock, CEO and chairman of the News Corporation, owner of The News of the World. The attention paid to the case exploded when it was revealed that reporters had hacked into the cell phone of a missing 13-year old girl who had been kidnapped and later was found murdered. The revelations led to arrests, grilling of Rupert Murdock and his son James by a committee of Parliament, resignations of several former editors of the newspaper, extensive investigations and litigation, and possible criminal charges.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the United States began an investigation of the News Corporation newspapers. As the scandal grew Murdock closed the paper. The full story would only be known as investigations were completed and cases prosecuted, and this case presents the issues as of mid-2011. Background Rupert Murdoch was the son of an Australian newspaperman, Oxford educated, and later became an American citizen. He had built the News Corporation into a global media empire, and although newspapers represented only 3 percent of the company's profits, they were of special interest to him. News Corporation was highly successful, although in recent years performance had slipped, and the 80-year-old Murdoch had been criticized for making some questionable acquisitions. For example, News Corporation paid $5.6 billion for the Wall Street Journal in 2007 and was forced to write off half the investment within 2 years. The News of the World was owned by News International, which also owned the weekday Sun, and News International was owned by the News Corporation, which also owned The Times of London and the Sunday Times. The News Corporation also owned Sky News, 39 percent of satellite TV broadcaster British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB), and had made a £12 billion offer for the rest of BSkyB. James Murdoch was CEO of BSkyB and Deputy COO of News Corporation with responsibilities for Europe and Asia, and he had headed of News International during the late 2000s. The 38-year-old was believed to be the heir apparent in the News Corporation. The Murdoch newspapers were powerful in the UK, and executives interacted frequently with government officials.
Tim Bale, a political scientist at the University of Sussex, said, "British politicians had gotten the idea, rightly or wrongly, that they couldn't win an election without the endorsement of Murdoch and his newspapers."36 Newspapers in the UK typically had a partisan orientation, with the Murdoch papers being conservative and The Guardian being left-leaning. News Corporation officials traveled in high company. Rupert Murdoch had frequently visited the previous prime minister Gordon Brown at Number 10 Downing Street, the residence and office of the Prime Minister. Murdoch also had visited newly elected prime minister David Cameron on his second day in office. Rebekah Brooks, CEO of News International and former editor of the Sun, was a favorite of Murdoch's and also was highly visible in London society. Brooks was also a friend of Prime Minister Cameron. The Scandal as of July 2011 The beginning of the scandal was The News of the World article that revealed details of the knee surgery on Prince William. The royal family had never released any information on the knee problem or the surgery and suspicions arose that the cell phones of the staff of the royal family had been hacked. Scotland Yard investigated, leading to the arrest and imprisonment in 2007 of royal editor Clive Goodman and a private investigator Glenn Mulcaire, who was under contract to The News of the World. Both had signed confidentiality agreements and remained silent about the case.37 Scotland Yard viewed the case as closed.
The News of the World said that the case was the result of a single "rogue reporter" (Goodman), whom the newspaper had fired. In 2011 it was revealed that News International continued to pay the legal fees for Goodman and Mulcaire. Goodman protested the firing and filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against the newspaper, arguing that hacking by reporters was widespread. News International hired a law firm to investigate the situation, and the firm issued a carefully worded and narrowly framed letter stating that the hacking appeared to be confined to Goodman. As the scandal began to unfold in 2011 News International hired Lord Ken Macdonald, a former head of public prosecutions, to reexamine the evidence. He stated that clear evidence of criminality was "blindly obvious" after a review of "three to five minutes."38 Five former reporters for the Sunday tabloid The People said there was frequent hacking in the newsroom in the late 1990s and early 2000s. One said, "I don't think anyone quite realized the criminality of it."39 When Mulcaire was arrested in 2006, the police seized his detailed notes on his investigations. When the scandal began to unfold in 2011, the police reexamined the notes and found evidence of widespread hacking of celebrities and government officials with some 4,000 names appearing in the notes.40 The most incendiary case was the hacking of the cell phone of a 13-year-old girl who was missing and feared kidnapped. The inbox on the phone was full, and the hackers deleted messages so that new messages could be received. This gave false hopes to the parents that she was still alive. She was later found murdered.
The News also settled for £725,000 a privacy violation lawsuit filed by Gordon Taylor, head of the soccer union in the UK, even though no story was ever written.41 Details of the case were never revealed, but the amount paid was far beyond what was typically paid to settle privacy lawsuits. James Murdoch, who was head of News International, approved the payment and later said that he had been advised that the settlement was reasonable, since the company was likely to lose in court and the cost could be as high a £1 million.42 As more privacy violation cases were filed in 2010, James Murdoch said, "the company immediately went to look at additional records" and turned the information over to the police.43 He said he had been given bad advice and had been told that the hacking was the work of a single reporter. A select committee of Parliament took up the case and held hearing in July. In his testimony Rupert Murdoch expressed outrage and said he was the right man for the job of cleaning house. He stated, "I feel that people I trusted-I don't know who, on what level-have let me down, and I think they have behaved disgracefully, and it's for them to pay. And I think, frankly, that I'm the best person to see it through."44 In the hearing the Murdochs denied knowledge of the hacking and payments to the police, and James Murdoch stated that his understanding had been that the hacking was the work of a single reporter. Within a few days of their testimony three News International executives stated that there were inaccuracies in the Murdochs' testimony.
The scandal led Brooks to resign, and the following day she was arrested by Metropolitan Police on suspicion of hacking and making corrupt payments to police. In 2003 when Brooks was the editor of the Sun she told the same Parliament committee, "We have paid the police for information in the past." In 2011 she clarified her statement saying it was based on a "widely held belief." In the UK an arrest is the first step in a criminal investigation and charges often are not filed against the individual arrested.45 None of the 10 people arrested was charged with a crime, and all were quickly released. Brooks was held for 12 hours.46 After Prime Minister Cameron expressed concerns about News Corporation acquiring the rest of BSkyB, the company withdrew the offer. The UK regulator Ofcom, which was responsible for licensing, began an investigation into whether News Corporation met the "fit and proper" standard for a broadcast license. Cameron had hired Andy Coulson, former editor of The News of the World, as his communications director on the recommendation of Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne. Coulson had resigned as editor of the News in 2007 after the conviction of Goodman and Mulcaire. With the scandal threatening to taint the prime minister, Coulson resigned.
The scandal also reached Scotland Yard. In addition to the allegations of police officers being paid for information for stories and of possible bribery, Scotland Yard had hired as a public relations advisor Neil Wallis, a former editor of The News of the World. Because of the allegations of police corruption and the hiring of Wallis, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson resigned, as did assistant commissioner John Yates. After the scandal had erupted, News Corporation announced an internal investigation that it said would be independent and have powers to compel employees to provide information. The company was quickly criticized for not having hired an outside law firm with no ties to the company to conduct the investigation, as several other companies had done in other cases. In May 2009 the Daily Telegraph scooped the other UK newspapers, breaking a story on the misuse by MPs of their parliamentary expenses accounts for personal purposes. Several MPs resigned as a result of the revelations. Rupert Murdoch was reportedly irritated because a stolen disc containing the expense records had been offered to both the The Sun and The Times of London for $450,000. Upon the advice of a News International lawyer both papers rejected the offer. The lawyer later left the company.47
1. What incentives led reporters at The News of the World to hack into cell phones and pay police officers for information for stories? Were
these likely widespread practices in the industry at the time?
2. Should the News have tried to keep the lawsuits from the 2000s quiet?
3. In 2011 should News Corporation have hired an outside firm to conduct an independent investigation?
4. What should News Corporation have done as the scandal unfolded and what should it do now?
5. Should Rupert Murdock resign?