In July 2011, Rupert Murdoch, his son, James, and ex-News International chief executive, Rebekah Brooks faced questions from British MPs over a phone hacking scandal at the former News of the World.
It had originally appeared that the News of the World had only hacked the phones of celebrities, politicians and members of the HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Royal_Family" \o "British Royal Family" British Royal Family. However, revelations in July 2011, that victims included murdered schoolgirl HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Milly_Dowler" \o "Murder of Milly Dowler" Milly Dowler, relatives of deceased British soldiers, and victims of the HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7_July_2005_London_bombings" \o "7 July 2005 London bombings" 7/7 London bombings generated widespread public outrage and revulsion. Advertiser boycotts contributed to the closure of the News of the World.
Reacting to the revelation, Prime Minister David Cameron said that the alleged hacking, if true, was "truly dreadful". He added that police ought to pursue a "vigorous" investigation to ascertain what had taken place. Interestingly, the Prime Minister himself came under fire for hiring a former News of the World editor, Andy Coulson. Prime Minister David Cameron called his decision a "catastrophic error of judgment" in hiring the former editor of Rupert Murdoch's News of the World as a spokesman.
Sean Hoare, 47, the journalist who had accused his former News of the World editor, Andy Coulson of complicity in the illegal activity, was found at home dead, days after he had made fresh allegations against executives under whom he had worked.
On 18 July, News Corp announced that its UK management standards committee would be removed from News International. It will now be housed in a separate building, under the chairmanship of Lord Grabiner, and reporting to News Corp director, Joel Klein.
In an analysis of the culture of the Murdoch empire in HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newsweek" \o "Newsweek" Newsweek in July 2011, one of Murdoch's former top executives was quoted as saying: "This scandal and all its implications could not have happened anywhere else. Only in Murdoch's orbit. The hacking at News of the World was done on an industrial scale. More than anyone, Murdoch invented and established this culture in the newsroom, where you do whatever it takes to get the story, take no prisoners, destroy the competition, and the end will justify the means." This same executive went on to say, "In the end, what you sow is what you reap. Now Murdoch is a victim of the culture that he created. It is a logical conclusion, and it is his people at the top who encouraged lawbreaking and hacking phones and condoned it."
In 2010, it was also suggested that the journalistic approach of newspapers such as the News of the World had brought into public focus that there had been a shift away from the traditional ethics of journalism, raising serious questions about privacy, freedom of speech, and confidentiality. There were also observations in the North American Press about the ethics employed by the News of the World. HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NBC_New_York" \o "NBC New York" NBC New York noted that the old journalistic maxim, "Get it first. But, first, get it right," although speaking for accurate reporting does not address the situation where in the case of the News of the World information was allegedly obtained in an unethical way or by illegal means. The approach was also criticized by HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_B._Shepard" \o "Stephen B. Shepard" Stephen B. Shepard, dean of the HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CUNY_Graduate_School_of_Journalism" \o "CUNY Graduate School of Journalism" CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, who commenting on the phone hacking scandal, said: "It's wrong. It's not a gray area. What they did was illegal and, even if it weren't, it's just plain wrong. There's no defense for it. Even the government needs a warrant to get into a house or a computer. You can't break into something like this and get away with it."
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Discuss the underpinnings of a proper control environment and where appropriate, comment on deficiencies at the former News of the World operations, or in Prime Minister Cameron's operations, assuming the press reports are correct.
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