The cost of invading privacy

In his entire life period Rupert Murdoch, the media mogul of the world, couldn't have imagined that someday he would be grilled by a bunch of politicians, who he otherwise thought objects of buying and selling, for his empire's journalistic excesses that once he thought were the critical strengths of his media business in drawing more readers and audiences. July 19 was however an altogether different day in his life, a day that exposed his dirty tricks, unethical journalistic practices, and monopolistic business objectives. Amongst serious public scrutiny for scandals running thick around NOTW's telephone hacking practices, an internal committee of British Parliament came heavily on Murdoch's close coterie and to the surprise of world viewers the event was telecast for over three hours. At the beginning of this unprecedented media bashing, a member of an NGO could able to throw a plate of foam cake on Murdoch, which many doubt was a fabulous stage-managed orchestration by Murdoch to garner huge public sympathy at least from those viewers who still believe in scoops, sex scandals, and salacious news.

Though Murdoch started with a humble pitch by calling the day as “the most humble day of his life” he was quite sure as what he wanted to prescribe to the world audience at large. The subtext was quite understandable – irrespective of scandals embroiling News Corp Murdoch is still the emperor of world media and he will continue with that humility although many such NOTW incidents may happen in future and all those without his knowledge as he suggests to the parliamentary committee. Every time he would prefer to slap the charges on his front soldiers and explain to the world that he is ignorant of those facts, as he suggested this time that he was completely unaware of the phone hacking scandals and some senior officials kept him in blank, the fact which he knew thoroughly that nothing in News Cork does happen without his knowledge or approval.

However, the grilling experience took a dramatic mode when Murdoch dragged British PM into the soup by exposing the fact that he was told to enter through the back door. This was too serious a charge against Cameron for which he had to face internal committee for hobnobbing with scandal-hit Murdoch and his media honchos. Moreover, Cameron's decision to appoint Andy Coulson, an ex-editor of NOTW, as communication chief despite Opposition's strong disapproval dragged Cameron into serious public scrutiny. And it seems the days ahead for Cameron could be tougher.

Back to the testimony of Rebekah Brooks, the close aide of Ruper Murdoch, she presumably was quite confident about the state of affairs at NOTW during her editorship while most of these scandals erupted. She chose to admit to the mistakes committed by NOTW journalists because there was no more leg room for her to play further tricks, as Scotland Yard had enough evidences for phone hacking and bribing some section of police. Nonetheless, she tried her best to jump the charges of bribing to police by simply putting the gun on somebody else's shoulder because she knew that the gravity of charges of this kind could be more disastrous for New Corp.

Well, what if the editors at NOTW hadn't believed in such yellow journalism? Certainly, NOTW could have been a more powerful newspaper and News Corp could have acquired the BSkyB deal easily without any political opposition, and Murdoch a more powerful man than what's he today. It seems Murdoch was far from the big picture of future and this NOTW episode is a reminder of his glaring blunder in comparing media business with fast-food chain. Truth has a different meaning and probably Murdoch has learned it.

Troubles Mounting on Murdoch

In my earlier post Next is what, Mr Murdoch? I attempted to logically reach at a point from where one can quite easily predict the future of Rupert Murdoch's media business especially in the UK. And today it's not much uncomfortable to conclude that the spiraling troubles for Murdoch are yet not over. With stringent opposition from the Opposition Labor party in the British parliament, Murdoch's bid to take over the direct-to-home broadcasting company BSkyB seems to be futile and a difficult business proposition. The mounting political pressure, growing public anger, and continued legal battle against News International's involvement in phone hacking scandals have taken a serious toll not only on the Murdoch's future plan to acquire monopoly on the DTH broadcasting business, but also they have visible affected the existing print media business of NewsCorp in the UK.

As the facts are emerging, News International's other two leading newspapers the Times of London and The Sun are facing a hostile environment in the aftermath of News of the World's shutdown. Even the media baron Murdoch himself is not sure about the future of News International, given the legal cases against NOTW. What seems to be quite predictable that Murdoch's big-ticket broadcasting business expansion in the UK along with the existing print media would brace up for inking another sensational headline “Thank You & Goodbye For Ever” for British readers.

Well, News Corp might look for potential buyers to sell out their media empire in the UK and they can also execute that with extreme business sense, but what's the learning for world's number one media baron Murdoch? When will he internalize the fact that though sensational, salacious headlines are the easier baits to multiply readership, the methods deployed to bring them on to front page only decide whether those headlines carry a timeless stamp? Media is a tricky business and Murdoch has of late started introspecting this.

Next is what, Mr Murdoch?

After the logical demise of the News of the World (NOTW), the scandals of phone-hacking that once tapped the private conversations of the most powerful figures of Britain, including the royal families and former prime minister Gordon Brown, have again erupted fresh tremors in the political circle of Britain. Regardless of Rupert Murdoch's fire-fighting damage control exercise, the British press has started attacking the modus operandi of NOTW journalists that how these shoddy reporters could able to hack into phones of all and sundry without the knowledge of law and enforcement agencies. Although the last editorial of the tabloid that candidly expressed the concerns of public: "Phones were hacked, and for that this newspaper is truly sorry... There is no justification for this appalling wrong-doing. No justification for the pain caused to victims, nor for the deep stain it has left on a great history," the ghost of reporters' wrong-doings is haunting Murdoch's media empire.

What's more damaging to the current turbulent situation that Scotland Yards, the premier intelligence agency of UK, has come out with fresh allegations that some unidentified people were deliberately trying to sabotage its huge investigation process by plotting distracting reports in the press. Now the big question of the moment is whether Murdoch could be able to manage the crisis and instill confidence in the British government to realize his biggest ever dream – taking full control of British Sky Broadcasting from a 39% stake? Even British prime minister David Cameron, a pro-Murdoch, has openly demanded the resignation of Rebekah Brooks, the CEO of News International. If this happens, it could be a huge blow to Murdoch's ego. As the Sunday Telegraph reports, Rebekah, who is a protegee of Murdoch, could know about the illegal hacking and bribing to police since she was the editor of the tabloid from 2000 to 2003, it could be a difficult proposition for Murdoch to have the cake and eat it too.

As British media have vociferously started exposing NOTW's scams, the Opposition Leader Ed Miliband has demanded that the government's decision on the News Corporation's proposal to take full control of BSkyB to be referred to the Competition Commission. This will seriously affect Murdoch's BSkyB expansion plan.

Death of a tabloid

The ending was unusual, unsavory, and unpredictable, in that the largest selling tabloid of the world - The News of the World - sent a precise message to the world of news that sleazy, sensational, and sadistic news may draw millions of eyeballs, but when it comes to the scrutiny, the ethics can overpower the truth. For that all truths that are seemingly exaggerated by media are not alone truth, they are cocktails of motives, vested interests, and business strategy. If Rupert Murdoch's sensational tabloid The News of the World (NOTW), even after 168 years in print, can face an infamous death, then the rest of the media fraternity can imagine how dangerous it could be to trespass into the privacy of people, whether they are celebrities, criminals, or sex-workers. Not all scoops, exposes, and populist news can spindle money and power for long, these news categories have a shelf life, often defined by the tolerance index of a state and, especially in a democracy, a common man can even bring down the entire empire of a news business, if he or she thoroughly understands the power of fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution of the nation.

NOTW was altogether a different tabloid that chiefly anchored on yellow journalism for faster growth and public acceptance. Soon it became a purveyor of titillation, sex scandals, and criminal news, which quickly attracted the attention of neo-literates because for them it was the cheapest tabloid that could satiate their perverted mentality being living in otherwise an extremely conservative society. And NOTW had gotten its success formula and it replicated it vigorously and mindlessly. What NOTW practiced it its news gathering operation was never obliged to journalistic ethics. Whether it's about exposing the sexual escapade of politicians or sports persons, or drug addiction of royal scion, the ethics always took a back seat.

Perhaps, this tabloid was harping so much on scoops that the methods deployed in bringing truth to the front was a costly proposition that even the shrewdest media baron like Rupert Murdoch could fail to understand in his commitment to exposing the truth. The closure of this tabloid was as dramatic as ever in the aftermath of a phone hacking scandal. A private investigator deployed by NOTW allegedly hacked into the phone of murdered British teenager Milly Dowler, which probably interfered with the police investigation and caused huge distress to the girl's parents and this event took an enormous toll on the revenue generation of the paper. Subsequently the scandal even deepened when the tabloid allegedly hacked into the phones of families of soldiers killed in action. The piling revenue loss, public rejection, and court cases forced Murdoch to finally put a full stop along the scandalous journey of the oldest tabloid on July 10, 2011 making the last headline on the front page - "Thank You and Goodbye."