There is an undeniable grandeur in the scandal now enveloping the Murdoch empire a once-invincible News Corp is now being savaged by British lawmakers,amid allegations that newspapers like News of the World routinely hacked phones and bribed police officers to chase stories. What looked like a single,horrific story has turned out to be a routine news-gathering method at NOTW. Progressively worse details keep emerging,but the head of Scotland Yard has been forced to quit,and Rupert Murdoch has had to sacrifice key figures,from Rebekah Brooks to Les Hinton. Though there is certainly some schadenfreude in the way the scandal has been covered,prompted by those who feel that Murdoch has coarsened public discourse,there has also been a clear and unconscionable breach of the rules. News of the World might like to think that they were only unfortunate to be outed,and blame the larger British tabloid culture,but its actions have squarely put it beyond the pale by any standard of journalistic propriety and human decency. Intercepting text messages and bribing the police are patently illegal acts,and must come with swift and punishing consequences. It does not have to be framed in terms of journalistic standards. This is a critical moment for media regulation. Decrying all press practices as suspect,because of a few extreme examples,would be destructive. British Prime Minister David Cameron recently announced his plans for a new,independent regulator because the media could no longer be depended on to monitor itself,saying,It is vital that a free press can tell truth to power, but it is equally vital that those in power can tell truth to the press. Those are worrying words even for those who are not invested either way in this case. The slow creep of outside intervention into newsroom practices is dangerous,because such intervention can be easily exploited by the powerful to insulate themselves from scrutiny. The NOTW malpractices should not create a disabling environment for reportage. This scandal should not let governments put fetters on press freedom.
