I’m not surprised that David Cameron has abandoned his non-committal language about phone-hacking by newspaper reporters. The moment yesterday when the story broke that reporters on the News of the World had hacked into the phone of murder victim Milly Dowler and, by deleting message in the phone’s mailbox, have given her parents and police the false hope that she was still alive marks a watershed in the miserable saga of phone interception by journalists. This is more than “a new low”.
Yesterday was the last possible moment that anyone could, with a straight face, claim that this was a limited infraction with minor consequences being blown out of proportion. Until yesterday the story was of huge interest to journalists, policemen and MPs. The drip-drip revelations in The Guardian were not only intriguing, they were significant. But they hadn’t grabbed any really widespread attention.
Campaigners on the issue claimed that this was because major news media managed to mostly ignore the subject; some editors were presumed to be nervous about possible revelations in their own newsroom. This may have been a factor, but the basic explanation was much simpler. To be a marmalade-dropper, a story needs – among other things – an element of surprise, an assumption upended. Stories which showed that red-top reporters behaved badly and broke the law don’t upset anyone’s picture of the world. And into the bargain, the victims of phone-hacking were celebrities. Most people ration their sympathy where red-carpet people are concerned.
Not so the bereaved and much-abused Dowler family. That reporters seem to have been so cruelly indifferent to a family whose 13-year-old daughter had gone missing moves the story into new, mass territory. The essence of the story is emotive and straightforward to grasp and convey. This will be true in spades if it turns out that anyone in the families of the Soham murder victims was treated in the same way.
The most convincing evidence that this is a hinge moment comes from News Corp itself. The editor of The Times, James Harding, admirably chose to put the Dowler story on his front page this morning (The Sun did not follow suit). And as the FT disclosed yesterday, News Corp’s board has chosen to put the supervision of internal inquiries into the hands of two non-executive board members with blue-chip reputations, one of them a law professor. When that happens, you know it’s serious.
Tags: David Cameron, FT, James Harding, Milly Dowler, News Corp, News of the World, The Guardian, The Sun
George, I agree that James hardings choice of headline was the right one and also brave given the circumstances , even taking into account his track record of integrity and independence. I notice there is plenty of twittersphere advice this morning, on how to contact NOTW advertisers – if NI is hit financially then they will react swiftly. Andy Coulson resigned because of the hackings that happened ‘on his watch’. Where does this leave Rebekah Brooks, editor of the NOTW at the time of the Milly Dowler case? I notice that a BBC piece 2 hours ago reports that she will not resign, and of course Rupert is a big supporter of hers. We shall see…
One point that seems to be missed consistently is how on earth two of the senior editors implicated in hacking and police corruption can then go on to be head of communications for the government and head of the largest media outlet in the country??
Is that not totally insane?
and to think people have been persuaded that the elite do not rule………… hahahahahahaha
big society my arse