Scar on journalism

Repute of journalism worldwide has been torpedoed. The Paparazzi chased Princess of the People Lady Diana to death about a decade and half ago in Paris, France. Nothing came in the way of their fearsome power. A decade later, their cousins hacked the voicemail of a 13-year-old murder victim and also the kins of fallen soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. Deleting old messages from her cell phone memory generated false hope about the victim’s life, an inhumane thing to do with the distressed family.

Courtesy its toxic ‘journalism’, The News of the World – a with a weekly circulation of 2.7 million copies – has not only dug its own grave but also left vital clues to more unethical practices in the Rupert Murdoch empire. The Australian business tycoon’s influence on the British politics is set to reduce and so would the profits. Top officials of Metropolitan Police Service, commonly referred to as Scotland Yard, are known to have met with executives and editors of the News International group for meals over and over again during the investigations in phone hacking affair.

Allegedly, the news group could halt investigations into the affair through a revolving door between the company and the Scotland Yard, i.e. an editor who was hired as a media advisor by what is still known to be a very good investigative organization.

The British should take a heart as the practice is only an indication of widespread symptom. Across the Atlantic and elsewhere in the world, big corporations collude with influential media groups. Intelligence agencies and police departments keep moles in media and treat the news corporations with deference and mutual trust.

The News of the World affairs is undoubtedly a blot on the face of print journalism for a common individual everywhere. For most responsible media houses, governments and civil society organizations, these outrageous and clandestine activities are a rude awakening to nip the evil at which ever stage it is. The timing for such alarm bells could not have been better as the print industry faces survival crisis around the globe while social media offers a robust alternative to stay informed.

More importantly, journalism is much more than a business of profits and clout, it is all about exploring the truth and expressing it with credibility. If tabloid papers with jingoistic headlines and nude female pictures on Page 3 make the conscientious citizens puke, then why is there no shout? The so called gate-keepers have either become too timid or too sellable. The governments look the other way as long no political cost is to be paid. Newspapers, weeklies and monthlies close everyday and new ones replace them in quick succession as well but the context of last edition of Britain’s ‘most popular’ publication speaks volumes about the interest groups and ‘free-thinking’ social animals alike. The United Kingdom has enough regulations to hold violators accountable but moral and ethical judgment seems missing.