James Murdoch (son of ubiquitous media mogul Rupert) announced the shut down of the News of the World Thursday in the wake of the revelation the newspaper hacked into the cell phone of a 13-year-old missing girl, who was later discovered murdered.
Not only was it a crime to hack into this girl's phone, but it gave her parents soul-crushing faint hope she might still be alive since some of the messages on her full voicemail box had been erased. But the phone activity had just been a News of the World employee's genius attempt at making room for more messages.
While throwing in the towel for News of the World, Murdoch said it was just a situation of a few "wrongdoers turning a good newsroom bad."
That proves the media conglomerate has no remorse for the damage they've caused.
It's also one whopper of a lie. The truth is that the list of those culpable for this crime extends to millions.
First, the culture of a newsroom is influenced by its leaders. And the News of the World's paid private investigators went to any degree to root out information, knowing no questions would be asked.
As one reporter explained, when a PI calls with good information, "You can't just say 'No I won't listen.'"
Next up are the police. Suspicions and proven allegations of News of the World's criminal invasion of privacy have persisted for years.
Yet police investigations revealed nothing.
Oh, but lo and behold, this week allegations surfaced stating the paper handed large sums of money to police - amounts that went beyond petty cash so would surely have been signed off by those running the show.
Not to be forgotten in guilt are the newspaper's readers.
If there were no audience for the salacious (and often ridiculous) stories churned out by the News of the World and its kind, would this damage have been done?
It's said we all get the politicians we deserve - that also extends to media. And three million people read that particular paper each week.
Now we get to other media outlets, who are also culprits by repeating stories the News of the World dug up in its despicable ways.
Now thousands of these same readers and media outlets around the world are shrieking bloody murder, making no connection between the attention that went to these same stories and the crimes they're now denouncing.
The fact is, we're all wrongdoers - voyeurs who can't help but peer into the most intimate details of a person's suffering. And sadly, instead of instilling empathy for others and a sense of decency that would make us turn away, indulging merely makes us want more.
-- Prince George Citizen
