Thursday, April 26, 2012

News Corporation undone by the digital

"The investigation into the Murdoch organisation has slowly exposed a network of suspected influence peddling, bribery and general criminality stretching way beyond the News International HQ in Wapping."

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/murdoch-a-threat-to-cameron-20120426-1xnxl.html#ixzz1tCnA98xy
This may be a quote from a newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, but who would have ever believed that this kind of statement would appear in a quality daily anywhere?  
The Internet is entirely undoing News Corporation and News International. Incredibly by their own hand, allowing reckless behaviour to define their journalism, their business practices and their ethics.
Speaking of ethics Michael Wolff, the recent biographer of Rupert Murdoch suggested that News Corp-Inter's behaviour in the hacking scandal works on a continuum. Writing a column in The Guardian today (27 April 2012): At one end is the ethical, then the civil then the criminal. Simple as that. 
Or is it more a case of living then dying by the sword? In other words, if the culture of News Corp-Inter has been to always push the boundaries of accepted behaviour, sooner or later etc.  This may be a reason to support public funding of news and current affairs organizations.
To refer to "general criminality" (above) is to say News is no longer an organization worthy of public trust.
This is a bitter day for many journalists who believed they were working for a company that pursued journalistic standards. Surely that claim is in ruins?

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