By John C. Dyer, UK correspondent
27 Nov 2011. Lancashire.
Living in the UK, I have had an advantage not easily available to most Americans. I watch the Leveson Hearing live each day on BBC. I have for several days.
For those who have not had the opportunity to stay up with this story, the Leveson hearing is a quasi judicial investigation into press ethics in the UK. The Prime Minister called for this investigation in response to the shocking (and during the summer, daily) revelations concerning hacking by the News of the World hacking headlines. However, the inquiry is not confined in scope to the actions of News of the World. Nor is it a criminal or civil prosecution of the perpetrator of any misconduct. Rather it is an investigation into the culture of the Media, with particular emphasis (as it turns out) on the "red tops."
The red tops are tabloids, loosely similar to the sort of tabloid available in the US at grocery check out counters, the ones with headlines about alien abduction, sex, lies, and video tape. Celebrity scandal is their natural turf, but they have branched out into shock crimes and politics. In the UK politicians "reached out" to (courted) the publishers of both broad tops (the classic "serious" press) and red tops. Rupert Murdoch was and is a publisher of both. In the past Rupert Murdoch and his stable of writers/editors have enjoyed the active friendship of both Labour and Tory politicians, even if, famously, it hasn't always been through the front door.
The hearings grew out of the UK's shock and anger at the begrudging unfolding over 8 years of the News of the World's use of private investigators. These private investigators hacked phones, paid police and others in positions of trust for private information, and, it is alleged, also hacked email accounts. I use the term, alleged, as to the last because the parallel criminal process has not yet led to prosecutions much less convictions. To date, police have recently arrested one unidentified person (although much has been made of the allegations in the media).
Allegations expand well beyond phone hacking by NOTW
Additionally, the allegations explored in the Leveson hearing have expanded well beyond those pertaining to phone hacking conducted on behalf of the News of the World. The allegations now encompass not only other newspapers in the Murdoch "family" but also other UK red tops. At the present time these red tops deny the allegations, which, the hearings reveal, may in some cases also the subject of criminal investigations.
Those involved in presenting the hearing have been circumspect about the who, what, when, where of those allegations although the witnesses have felt free to name the names of the red tops involved and allege generally the practices. Indeed some of the more shocking charges aired at the hearing relate to the conduct of News of the World's rivals.
Inconceivable Murdoch unaware of his papers' ruthless practices and the consequences
Listening to the Leveson hearing testimony and focusing on the Murdoch newspapers, it is inconceivable to me that the man who famously advocated government "unleash the animal" of business was unaware of his papers’ ruthless practices. Or that he ignored their incredibly painful consequences, vividly portrayed in both the earlier testimony of the Dowler family and today's virtually gothic revelations concerning the McCanns. Nor is it conceivable that these practices were confined to the UK. But that is not yet proven. Time and further investigation will either establish these points or fail to do so.
No doubt some don't know the details of the Dowler and McCann stories. I will prefer to spare you those details and spare all concerned from a rehash of them. However, it is important to recount the basics of their stories.
Both involved children who disappeared. Milli Dowler was a teenager, abducted and killed as it turned out by a serial pedophile. It took some time to locate and convict the killer. In the interim the Milli Dowler case received wide national attention as the Dowlers sought information concerning here whereabouts. Paradoxically, Rebecca Woods and the News of the World made the Dowler's cause her cause.
At the same time they were publicly helping the Dowlers the News of the World was hacking their phones. The PI went so far as to delete messages from Milli's mobile, causing Mrs. Dowler to wrongly believe Millie was safe. The dramatic nature of both the betrayal of the Dowler trust and consequences of it on particularly Mrs. Dowler enraged the British public.
McCanns story did not initially involved the News of the World, but rather a competitor. News of the World eventually allegedly committed atrocities of their own attempting to get a story, but the most shocking allegations pertained to the competitor. McCanns daughter went missing while the family vacationed in Portugal. Initially the press helped them with their attempt to use the media to locate their daughter. But eventually the police in Portugal listed them as the equivalent of "persons of interest" (meaning suspects).
False stories spread like wildfire from lurid headlines
Stories began to spread like wildfire from the lurid headlines of one red top, to the effect that the McCann girl was dead, police had found evidence of bodily fluids in a car rented by the McCanns, the McCanns had killed their daughter and their search was a hoax. All of it except for the police considering McCanns a suspect was completely false. After weeks of repetition, however, the story had become the truth of Urban Legend. The paper involved alleges there was a reliable source for this information, but have not identified it. The complete details as to how the story arose and who is to blame is not yet public domain. But the falseness of the story and the consequences on the McCanns is public and established.
As their stories unfolded at the Leveson hearing last week, it struck me the stories of the Dowler and McCann families are just two of allegedly thousands of such stories in the UK alone. They tell a tale of pervasive practices and stories manufactured to meet editorial bent, in the McCann's case almost entirely false stories. The red top media widely reported these manufactured stories, which were even repeated in the "broad tops," without practical and immediate vindication available to the victims. Eventually they became "the truth" through repetition.
I ask myself, how has our perception of social and political reality in the UK (and by extension the US) been shaped by such repeated, manufactured, pervasive, and ruthless stories and practices, including, as exemplified by the McCanns, industrial scale distortions. It is stunning that the red tops seemed to have done so in complete disregard for their consequences on individuals, society, and governance (or worse, in order to influence policy, as is alleged).
James Murdoch's resignations
In not directly related news 23-24 November, the Guardian and the Times confirmed that James Murdoch stepped down 2 months ago from the parent company for the Sun and Times newspapers. There had been a separate unconfirmed story from that Murdoch also stepped down from the News International board, but News Corp denied this. News Corp pointed out he remains head of News International. They characterized the move as a planned readjustment. Thus far that story holds.
On the other hand, although Murdoch resigned 2 months ago, News Corp did not announce the resignations until late November. One is tempted to jump on the timing. James Murdoch testified before Parliament again after the resignation but before the announcement. Channel 4 did jump on the timing, delving into possible motives and implications. But it is early to assess what this story means. These developments do not, for instance, necessarily reflect imminent criminal charges or more inflammatory information coming to light, although one might wonder about the arrest of someone for hacking the email of a national security expert.
If these moves do foreshadow James Murdoch's departure from the UK, as Channel 4 considered, it does not necessarily mean that News Corp is abandoning the Times, the Sun, or News Corp's other holdings in the UK. It also does not necessarily mean that the Murdochs are about to withdraw from the political fray in the UK. Nor that James Murdoch has lost his father's confidence. Some of the speculation concerning James Murdoch's future may reflect the reported power struggle within the family.
I don’t know whether or not any of these stories are true, or themselves examples of the culture that more than one witness has testified continues in the tabloids. Witnesses have testified to recent examples of the same. We must not do to Murdoch what his papers did to Dowler and allegedly to McCanns.
This article may seem to unfairly focus on Rupert Murdoch. After all, the testimony alleges these horrifying practices were ubiquitous among the red tops. However, they deny it. It has not been proven as to the others. It has been as to News of the World. James and Rupert Murdoch have testified before Parliament, James twice. The known activities of just one private investigator employed by as many, it is alleged, as 28 of the News of the World's journalists, is deeply disturbing in its scope. Nevertheless, Rupert Murdoch denies personal knowledge. It is not yet proven, whether or not you or I instinctively feel that an incredible assertion.
Animals run amok off the leash
On the other hand, one who demands that the animals be unleashed cannot be surprised at allegations his ran run amuck while off leash. And this begins to bring me to my point. It isn't personal. I am not focused on a man named Rupert Murdoch. I am focused on an approach to life and politics that News of the World 's practices illustrate. Take a good look at the picture that emerges from the Leveson Hearing (and parallel prosecutions) over the course of the next several weeks. Why? Because this is the story of what unleashing the animal looks like in the real world, stripped of the focus group identified slick phrases and word choices. It is a lesson best learned soon by all concerned.