The Fall of the House of Murdoch

A scandal at the News of the World – particularly a report that the newspaper oversaw hacking and erasing phone messages of a 13-year-old abduction victim, later found murdered – has outraged Britons. The Guardian uncovered that the News of the World, before closure, targeted 4000 voicemail accounts of celebrities, crime victims and soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, reports researcher Jonathan Schell. Political and criminal investigations of the newspaper’s owner News Corporation, controlled by the Murdoch family, and accusations of a cover-up are underway. Schell contends that the company with its consolidated holdings, handles news as entertainment and promotes right-wing politics and causes: “[E]ditorial independence is sacrificed to iron-fisted centralized control. News and commentary are mingled in an uninterrupted stream of political campaigning. Ideology trumps factuality.” Presenting propaganda, the corporation abuses laws intended to protect press freedoms and democratic exchange. Ongoing discoveries of intimidation and deplorable practices may disrupt the Murdoch family’s quest for media control and unaccountable power over political processes. – YaleGlobal