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Phone Hacking - Do W Care?

Neil_F

Coach
Joined
Jul 5, 2007
Messages
855
Location
Islington
Now maybe it is just me, but I really don't care about the phone hacking story. Yes, it seems as though the law may have been broken, and anyone found guilty should receive the punishment they deserve, but should it really be dominating the news agenda to the extent it is though?

To me it is another of those issues that the political class obsess about at the expense of everything else. It shows our political establishment as the self-interested, insular society and culture that it is.

I'd be interested to know whether I'm in a minority of one on this.
 
I agree with you. It does seem that the political class has more to hide than your average bod in the street but they call it 'Not in the public interest' The News of the World has been using secret filming and recording for years, why wasn't it a problem when they trapped a dodgy sportsman or celebrity. Funny how that now half the Labour Party seems convinced that they have been tapped it makes you wonder what they have to hide. Public servants and all that.
 
I dont think I've cared about anything less in my entire life (that's probably a lie but you get the point).
 
Now maybe it is just me, but I really don't care about the phone hacking story. Yes, it seems as though the law may have been broken, and anyone found guilty should receive the punishment they deserve, but should it really be dominating the news agenda to the extent it is though?

To me it is another of those issues that the political class obsess about at the expense of everything else. It shows our political establishment as the self-interested, insular society and culture that it is.

I'd be interested to know whether I'm in a minority of one on this.

Yes,it should is the answer to your question.
Do you think it's a coincidence that Coulson resigned just before the story broke? He could end up in jail and even if it doesn't it certainly throws the spotlight on Cameron's judgement.
There is also the issue of the clean up at the NOTW happening at exactly the same time that Murdoch is trying to take over 100% of the shares in Sky/BSB(which I suspect will fail).Murdoch has been a pernicious influence on British politics for over 30 years now and hopefully his control over UK media is now on the wane.
Even the sacking of Gray from Sky Sports would appear to be politically motivated.Apparently Gray is one of those thinking of sueing the NOTW for phonehacking.
There is of course the wider issue for the British press that if journalists at the NOTW go down,they'll almost certainly take other high ups in News corp down with them, along with plenty of Old Bill and journos at other papers eg The Sun,Daily Mail etc
 
I think it is a big story and I do care.

It's a story about how an influential sector of society (albeit probably not as influential as they think they are) think they are above the law. They've operated a widespread, illegal campaign, then used their influence to cover up the story (why did the police not investigate this properly?), lying to Parliament in the process. This story is about the role and the limits of the media in a democracy and the relationship between government and the 4th estate.

There is a tendency for the media to talk up their importance, but a key protaganist was a central figure in Cameron's government.

I think this is one of the biggest establishment scandals in recent memory, alongside Ecclestone, Iraq (arms to, and then the War) and BAE because it exposes a corrupt system, not just flawed individuals (Cash for Questions, Profumo and Tory sleaze/sex scandals under Major).
 
I think it is a big story and I do care.

It's a story about how an influential sector of society (albeit probably not as influential as they think they are) think they are above the law. They've operated a widespread, illegal campaign, then used their influence to cover up the story (why did the police not investigate this properly?), lying to Parliament in the process. This story is about the role and the limits of the media in a democracy and the relationship between government and the 4th estate.

what he said.
 
I agree with you. It does seem that the political class has more to hide than your average bod in the street but they call it 'Not in the public interest' The News of the World has been using secret filming and recording for years, why wasn't it a problem when they trapped a dodgy sportsman or celebrity. Funny how that now half the Labour Party seems convinced that they have been tapped it makes you wonder what they have to hide. Public servants and all that.

What he said
 
Yes,it should is the answer to your question.
Do you think it's a coincidence that Coulson resigned just before the story broke? He could end up in jail and even if it doesn't it certainly throws the spotlight on Cameron's judgement.
There is also the issue of the clean up at the NOTW happening at exactly the same time that Murdoch is trying to take over 100% of the shares in Sky/BSB(which I suspect will fail).Murdoch has been a pernicious influence on British politics for over 30 years now and hopefully his control over UK media is now on the wane.
Even the sacking of Gray from Sky Sports would appear to be politically motivated.Apparently Gray is one of those thinking of sueing the NOTW for phonehacking.
There is of course the wider issue for the British press that if journalists at the NOTW go down,they'll almost certainly take other high ups in News corp down with them, along with plenty of Old Bill and journos at other papers eg The Sun,Daily Mail etc

Are you suggesting that The Guardian get all their stories from trustworthy, legal and unimpeachable sources?
To counter the Coulson argument there was a much more malign force at work under Blair, namely Alistair Campbell, we know he falsified / sexed up the case for going to war with Iraq.

To answer the question in hand, yes I do think it's important and I do hope on this occasion that the police will investigate this properly & thoroughly.
 
Are you suggesting that The Guardian get all their stories from trustworthy, legal and unimpeachable sources?
To counter the Coulson argument there was a much more malign force at work under Blair, namely Alistair Campbell, we know he falsified / sexed up the case for going to war with Iraq.

To answer the question in hand, yes I do think it's important and I do hope on this occasion that the police will investigate this properly & thoroughly.

No,probably not all of them.But as I said if NOTW journalists go down that will eventually spread to a lot of the redtops too.However,I don't think papers like The Guardian,Times and Torygraph will be much affected .

Two wrongs don't make a right here.I would agree that Campbell was certainly an arch manipulator of the press but I doubt if he did anything really criminal while working for Blair(except publish an unreadable memoir of those years after he quit).
Doubt also that Chilcot will recommend that charges be brought against him for THAT dossier,either.

(And you accuse me of toeing the party line Harry.:smile:)
 
It's a story about how an influential sector of society (albeit probably not as influential as they think they are) think they are above the law. They've operated a widespread, illegal campaign, then used their influence to cover up the story (why did the police not investigate this properly?), lying to Parliament in the process. This story is about the role and the limits of the media in a democracy and the relationship between government and the 4th estate.

I don't dissent from this, but I still wonder whether it really needs quite as much coverage as it is getting, mainly by other media outlets sticking the boot in. I think I'm just bored of it. I have little patience for one corrupt group (MPs expenses) accusing another that their corruption won't be tolerated (journalistic practices)

I decided a few months ago to stop reading newspapers. Much of the contents isn't real news or analysis anyway and it is put to shame by the quality of other journalism, especially by (some of) the US publications. One of the great things about the internet has been the diversity of journalistic sources and the increased transparency on our political system. That is why the influence of print media is waning, yet our politicians continue to lavish the print media with attention it doesn't deserve and they do so with little reward.

As for Coulson, I thought it was always a mistake to appoint him as Cameron did (though it was Osborne that instigated it). Journalistic practices were always going to re-surface and, by implication at the very least, Coulson would become a story again.

One of the problems that I think permeates British society is the absence of competition from integral institutions: financial services, media, education and health. This is probably for another time though...
 
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