Murdoch's News Corp and Its Impacts on International Media - Essay Example

Murdoch’s News Corp and its Impact on International Media s affiliation Murdoch’s News Corp and its Impact on International MediaIntroduction News Corporation is a media conglomerate. The group deals with the production and distribution of television programming and motion pictures: satellite, television, cable broadcasting, newspaper and magazine publications, production of advertising products as well as the development of digital broadcasting. (Campbell , Martin & Fabos, 2011)The major companies that are owned by News corp. are; Fox News (USA) ,Star TV(Hong Kong), ITV(UK), The New York Post (US), Wall Street Journal (US) ,BskyB(UK), 20th Century Fox (US), The News of the World (UK), The Sun (UK), The Times and the Sunday Times (UK), Israel 10(Israel), Sky (Multinational) and MySpace.( Bernard & Griffith, 1996)This is by no means an exhaustive list. The Company is listed in the NASDAQ and Australian Securities Exchange. The company is owned by Australian Born Rupert Murdoch and his family. Richard Searby once lamented that the Corporation’s board normally meets to ratify Rupert Murdoch’s decisions rather than to make decisions as is with other Companies’ boards. He uses any one of his vast business interests to support his personal views or the Corporation’s commercial or political influence. (Cheng & Mohamed , 2010) There have been instances whereby Rupert Murdoch has traded his TV news channels’ and newspapers’ editorial bias in order to gain some political favors. Murdoch has been supporting the US republican part from 2009. This was demonstrated by him donating US$1m for the party’s midterm election campaigns.( Duthel,2011) The company has also been accused of flouting UK law in order to gain monopoly in the British Newspaper and TV markets. New Corporation is arguably one of the world’s biggest media companies having total assets of almost US$53bn and annual revenue of US$33bn in 2010. Its total assets tend to exceed the GDP of most of the countries in the African Continent. The Company also owns both content providers and distribution networks in the film and television industries. The conglomerate is made up of about 800 companies globally with several holding companies that are mostly based in offshore tax havens. (Stewart, 2013) News of the World Scandals in the U.K The News of the world phone hacking scandal was christened “Hack gate” by the British press. This controversy mainly involved the former News of the World and several other UK newspapers that were published by media house News International which is a News Corporation subsidiary in Britain. The newspaper’s employees had been accused of various malpractices like engaging in police bribery, phone hacking and generally exercising unethical influence in their pursuits of sensational stories to publish so as to drive up sales. Subsequent investigations came to the conclusion that these activities were mainly limited to politicians, celebrities and the British Royal Family members (Bernard, 2008). Investigations also revealed in 2011 that phones belonging to the young murdered school girl Milly Dowler, victims of the 7/7 London Bombing and relatives of deceased British soldiers had also been accessed which resulted in a nationwide public outcry directed at Rupert Murdoch and his media empire News Corporation. There was subsequent advertiser boycotts on News of the World which led to its closure ending almost 168 years of publication. This also negatively affected the parent company’s bid to take over BskyB making it difficult to acquire this British telecommunications company.( Background By 2002, many media houses used private investigators in order to acquire confidential information for their stories. Some of these private investigators made use of illegal means to get their hands on such information. The main victims of these activities were politicians, celebrities, law enforcement officials and even ordinary citizens. When these activities came to the open, several media personalities were apprehended and convicted of their crimes. Some citizens were affected by the hacking scandals hired lawyers and sued the media companies and their employees. These successful law suits and the publicity they generated led to even more disclosures of those whose rights were infringed upon by the phone hacking and unethical practices of the media houses.( Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Culture media and Sport Committee, 2012) The London Metropolitan Police carried out several investigations over more than a decade starting 1999 up to 2011. The two main investigations were christened Operation Glade (2003) and Operation Nigeria (1999). Several publications were found to have bought confidential information, including The Sun, News International papers, News of the World and the Sunday Times. It was found out private investigator Jonathan Rees purchased information from serving and former police officers, bank employees, VAT inspectors, burglars and even customs officers whom he deceived into providing information that was deemed confidential. John Rees later sold this information to the Sunday Mirror, Daily Mirror, Sunday Times and News of the World. It was discovered that News of the world alone spent more than £150,000 annually to acquire such information. (Hickman & Watson, 2012) Operation Nigeria involved investigating Rees for the killing of his former business partner. The investigation also revealed that he planned to drugs so that her spouse could gain custody of their child. This led to his successful prosecution. He was released in 2005 and went back to his previous occupation working for News of the World whose new editor was Andy Coulson. By August of 2006, royal editor of the News of the World, Clive Goodman and his associate Glenn Mulcaire were apprehended over accusations of hacking the phone lines of the British Royal Family back in 2005. (Keeble & Mair, 2012) They were later on found guilty and handed four and six months sentences respectively for their involvement in the crime. A breach of privacy claim was also filed by the C.E.O of the professional Footballers Association. News of the World was found guilty of this offense and James Murdoch had to agree to a total settlement of £700,000 which included the legal costs. The Royal phone hacking scandal News of the World published an article in November 2005 that was authored by Clive Goodman alleging that the Royal Prince William was planning to borrow Tom Bradby, the ITV royal correspondent, a portable editing suite. This led to Bradby and the prince meeting to try and understand how this was leaked to the press as it was known by only two other people. The prince was also quick to note the press also somehow figured out about his appointment with a knee surgeon which really baffled him. After the meeting, the two came to the conclusion that it was highly likely that a third party had accessed their private voicemails. (Burden,2008) This was reported to the metropolitan police who instituted an investigation led by Peter Clarke, the Deputy Assistant Commissioner that was in charge of the Counter Terrorism Command. The investigation led them to the News of the World whose London offices were subsequently searched and the evidence uncovered showed that the media house had in its possession compromised voice mail accounts that belonged to the Royal Prince’s aides that included Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton. This led to the media house’s editor Clive Goodman and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire being arrested and later on charged with the hacking of the Royal Family’s phone lines. (Burden,2008) It was found out that News of the world had procured Mulcaire’s services for £12,300 over the period spanning from 9th November 2005 to 7th August 2006 concealing his identity using the name Alexander on the company’s expenses sheet. Both of the two accused pleaded guilty and four and six month’s jail terms each . Andy Coulson later on resigned as the News of the World editor. Milly Dowler’s Voicemail British Newspaper The Guardian reported in July 2011 that law enforcement had uncovered evidence that suggested Glen Mulcaire had illegally collected personal information on the missing school girl Milly Dowler’s family immediately after her kidnapping in March 2002 and showing up of her murdered body half a year later. It had been discovered that journalists accredited to News of the World had procured private investigators for the sole intention of hacking into the Dowler family’s voicemail inbox. This act of remotely listening to them led to the deletion of some voicemail messages which gave false hope to the Dowler family and police investigators who believed that the young girl might have personally erased the messages hence still alive. This irresponsible act led to the destroying of invaluable evidence on her abductor and murderer Levi Bellfield.( Keeble & Mair, 2012) Following this, the Dowler family announced that it was gearing up to sue for damages against the media house. This incident of hacking was described by Prime Minister David Cameron as a truly dreadful act and he urged the law enforcement to conduct vigorous investigations to get to the bottom of what had truly transpired. The leader of opposition Ed Miliband urged editor of the News of the World, Rebakah Brooks, to resign over a phone call. She however denied that the hacking took place with her knowledge. (Keeble &Mair, 2012) These allegations led to several prominent figures questioning whether it was appropriate for the media house to acquire BskyB. It was also revealed that several police forces had knowledge of the phone hacking immediately after the girl’s disappearance but did not take appropriate action into this issue. They actually did the unthinkable by inviting staff of the News of the World to a meeting in which the case was discussed. Fallout after the Scandal Andy Coulson, then Prime minister’s Communication’s Director, resigned from his position due to the coverage of activities that occurred at his previous job at the News of the World. A new scandal emerged in March 2012 that was christened horse gate. It highlighted the corrupt relationship between the News International and the Metropolitan Police as well as a connection to Prime Minister David Cameron. The Closing down of the News of the World This was the most prominent effect of the scandal. Several major advertisers including The Co-operative group, Virgin holidays, General Motors and Ford Motor Company ceased advertising in News of the World as a form of protest following the hacking controversy. The media house’s other main advertisers were also considering doing the same and they included O2, Vodafone, Orange Telkom, Deutsche Telekom, Easy jet, France Telecom, Lloyds Banking Group , Tesco and also Dixons. This would spell doom to the company’s future financial position and could drive it bankrupt. It was therefore announce in July 2011 by James Murdoch that the News of the World would close down after publishing for the last time on 10th of July the same year. This would mark the end of 168 years in news print business and also the loss of over 200 jobs in the organization. The parent Company, News Corp announced that all the proceeds from the final publication would be channeled to good causes. News Corp later launched The Sun on Sunday to replace News of the World on 26th of February 2012. (Keeble & Mair, 2012) News Corp Scandals in the United States News Corporation owns several media houses in the country which include The Wall Street Journal, Fox News Channel and the New York Post. Some of the media corporation’s critics urged for investigations to be carried out to ascertain whether its U.S operations also engaged in the kinds of hacking activities that were prevalent in the United Kingdom. The company and/or its management were also likely to face criminal and civil liability under the country’s Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. In February 2011, the New York Times ran an article that Roger Ailes, the previous Chairman of Fox News, was the News Corporation executive that Judith Regan made reference to in her wrongful termination case against Harper Collins in 2007.Judith Regan revealed that Roger Ailes encouraged her to deceive federal investigators that were vetting Bernard Kerik who at the time had been a nominee for the Secretary of Homeland Security position in the George W. Bush administration. It was revealed that Roger issued the orders in order to protect Rudy Giuliani, his close friend, which was gunning for the presidency at the time. This case was eventually settled by HarperCollins for US$10.75 million.( Swint, 2008) These new investigations would also consider past issues that had been raised. There was an allegation by Dan Cooper that Roger Ailes had made a threat to ruin his agent’s business if he did not drop Dan Cooper as his client. Cooper came to the conclusion that Roger Ailes had prior knowledge of his interview with David Brock. He believed that Roger Ailes had accessed David Brock’s telephone records through Fox Network’s Brain Room which alleged housed a black ops and counterintelligence office. The Fox Network however denied these allegations as being false. US senator Frank Lautenberg wrote a letter in July 2011 requesting the FBI to probe claims that News America Marketing had hacked Floor graphics. Representatives of the US Department of Justice and the FBI begun in July federal investigations into the Floor graphics’ claims. News Corporation was also investigated over claims that its senior executives deceived investors in 2011. This caused the corporation’s stock being traded at an artificially high price. These allegations led to investors who bought the company’s stock over the period beginning 3rd March 2011 up to 11th July 2011 filing a class action against News Corporation. Amalgamated bank led a group of shareholders sued the corporation’s board for failing to exercise the right oversight and take appropriate action ever since allegations of hacking initially surfaced at its subsidiaries almost six years ago. The attorney representing the shareholders claimed that the UK phone hacking incident had taken place as part of a much historic, broader pattern of systemic corruption at the corporation with the full knowledge of the board which makes it directly complicit in the subsidiaries’ illegal actions. There were also reports that the company’s agents had bribed members of the United States Military in November 2012 so as to gain access to a picture of an incarcerated Saddam Hussein in his underwear. The act of bribery of public officials is illegal according to the US’s Foreign Corrupt practices act. Impact of the Scandals in the United Kingdom The wide spread hacking scandals in the U.K that were mainly conducted by media houses affiliated to News Corporation subsidiaries led to the setting up of the Lord Justice Leveson inquiry whose purpose was to look into the unethical practices of the media and propose the way forward in proper media regulation in the United Kingdom. The inquiry set out to investigate the consequences of the revelations that surrounded the News of the World’s phone-hacking. It is also an attempt to do an investigation of the significant relationship between the politicians, police and the press who failed to reveal the hacking much sooner which led to a big blot on the officers that were involved. Judge Leveson investigated the current media laws in the U.K, the issue of privacy and the main issue about whether or not increased and improved regulation is required in the country’s media landscape. The inquiry was opened with this Leveson quote “the press provides an essential check on all aspects of public life. That is why any failure within the media affects all of us. At the heart of this inquiry therefore, may be one simple question: who guards the guardians? ” Regulation in this quote is referred to as guarding the guardians. Media regulation in the United Kingdom is currently conducted through a combination of legislation, self-regulation, and the involvement of several other agencies that include the Office of Communication (Ofcom) and the Press Complaints Commission (PCC). A fundamental question that has to be asked is what the future holds for the UK media, regulation and the significant part it plays in the Nation’s democracy. It has to be noted that this inquiry was not the only process that was being undertaken to investigate the media conduct in the UK. There is also the Metropolitan Police which was conducting its own independent criminal investigations into the UK newspapers phone-hacking incidents. Court cases were also ongoing with civil trials against the newspapers involved. All these three processes’ outcomes would play a part in on impacting the future of the press in the United Kingdom. Some players in the media industry like Gaby Hinsliff were of the opinion that the police investigations would have a greater impact on the future of the UK media than the Leveson inquiry. The picture sent out of several journalists being sent to prison however will be of huge cultural and political importance in a Nation that is known for its press freedom and plurality of the media industry. There is also widespread consensus that even if the investigations carried out by the police do not lead to any form of prosecutions that the status quo in the media industry will be shaken and not remain as it was before. The Leveson inquiry will mark a pivotal moment for the media in the United Kingdom. There have been scandals in the UK media industry before most notably in 1990 when an Inquiry led by Sir David Calcutt was set up to look into the activities of the UK media after number of cases touching on excessive intrusions by the tabloids. This inquiry was however seen as ineffective since it led to no changes for the UK print media. There was also a gentleman’s agreement in place after the demise of Princess Diana between the Press and the Royal Family that limited the media’s intrusion in to the Royals’ lives. The self regulation of the media industry by the Press Compliant Commission has proved not to be effective. The Leveson inquiry had three options to effect change in the U.K media industry: commercial, regulatory or legal. The worst possible outcome for the inquiry would have been to make a decision that was a mixture of tweaks involving each of these options available for use. This would turn out to be as ineffective as the Sir Calcutt inquiry which failed to effect any real and tangible change. The United Kingdom already has a set of libel laws that allow citizens a platform to sue media houses that have published false information on them thus ruining their reputation. Most people however argue that these laws need to be beefed up since they favor far too much the alleged victims. This has allowed big corporations with strong financial muscles to exploit this legal system to intimidate media houses to prevent them from publishing legitimate stories that are of public interest. This problem can be tackled by enacting a new privacy law. The UK currently does not have this kind of law leaving the victims with only one set of laws, the UK Human rights act, to turn to. It must however be noted that a new privacy law would deal a devastating blow to the UK media’s investigative journalism. These same papers that are being vilified have in the past revealed huge scandals that involved everybody from sportsmen, business leaders and politicians. This means that the new privacy law will need to be carefully crafted to make sure that it is not used as a legal tool for the mighty in society to use against legitimate media scrutiny. The most suitable option for the Leveson inquiry would have been the strengthening and reforming of the industry regulatory framework. The current regulatory body, the Press Complaint Commission , has been blamed for not being able to adequately police the media industry. The recommendations of the Leveson Inquiry The inquiry recommended that there be a new independent press regulatory body. This new body should be free from state control and it is required that all the industry players must sign up to it. In a departure from the past however, Lord Leveson also recommended that there be legislation which David Cameron, the UK prime minister objects. The inquiry was of the view that a body that is backed by legislation would lead to more confidence in the body from the public since they would be assured of their complaints being dealt with seriously while at the same time ensuring that the media industry is protected from unnecessary interference. (Parker ,2002) Lord Leveson recommended that the new body should be free from any government or industry influence and governed by a board which is independent. The process of appointing the new body has to be an independent, transparent and genuinely open way. Even though the new body should be independent and constitutes by the media industry’s stakeholders, the government would now have a duty to protect and uphold press freedom. This suggestion for there to be government involvement has however been met by widespread condemnation from media stake holders as well as the Prime Minister David Cameron. Leveson was however aiming at recommending a new body that will have more teeth than its predecessor the PCC. He recommended that the new body be capable of imposing penalties of up to £1million or 1% of company turnover and also have legal backed powers to conduct its own investigations into breached of the media ethics code of conduct. It was also recommended that the new body should possess arbitration powers that would tackle civil legal claims against the media industry players. One pragmatic recommendation was that industry membership would not be compulsory and that in instances that a media house wishes not to sign up to the new body, then it would be regulated by Ofcom as a default broadcast watchdog. The inquiry rejected Paul McMullan’s claim that privacy is for pedophiles and asserted that even celebrities need their fair share of privacy to enjoy ample time with family members which has not been the case with excessive intrusive behavior by photographers and phone hacking activities. The Prime Minister David Cameron whoever has warned that some of the recommendations are too radical. The main part of the recommendation that the Prime Minister was uncomfortable with was the Data Protection Act which proposed reduced special treatments to journalists .This he argued would greatly curtail investigative journalism in the United Kingdom. Regulation of U.S Mass Media The United States mass media has been mostly privately owned for a long period now. There exist public television and radio stations which means that they receive a percentage of their revenue from the federal government via the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). These however represent a relatively minimal share of the overall media market. Private media tends to ensure considerable freedom but not absolute from the federal government’s oversight. Due to increased competition, cost, and mergers there has been a considerable drop in the number of newspapers in the United States. This has also led to a reduction in the amount of independent newspapers as large Corporations such as News Corp and Garnett take over smaller or medium sized media houses into their stable. This is not necessarily a good thing since it greatly discourages different opinions which are very important in a modern democracy like the United States. Fox News, which is a News Corp affiliate, posses a lot of competition to non affiliated networks such as CBS, ABC and NBC. (Perebinossoff, 2008) The Telecom Act of 1996 was enacted in a bid by the government to increases competition in the broadcast media segment. This act reduced restrictions on the total number of TV stations that an individual company is allowed to own. It also removed all limits on ownership of radio stations. This legislation however led to the complete opposite of what it intended to do with increased concentration of the media houses under a single large stable. The television industry is primarily audience driven. The rates charged for advertisement are directly proportional to the number of audience watching the particular station. Most critics are of the opinion that this tends to reduce hard and important news coverage since the networks will favor flashier news which will increase their audience numbers.( McQuail, 2010) Newspapers and magazines in the U.S are protected from state interference by the constitution’s first amendment. The Federal Communication Commission was established by the Federal Communications Act in 1934. This commission is charged with regulating the media industry in several ways. The FCC limits the number of TV stations and radio stations that one company can own, and periodically reviews the different stations as part of the Commissions licensing process. The commission has the equal time rule that obligates TV and radio stations to accord all candidates for political positions airtime access on equal terms in terms of cost and other variables. The FCC abolished the fairness abolished the fairness doctrine due to the following reasons: This doctrine was considered a violation of the press freedoms enshrined in the constitutions. This will be catered for by increased competition in the media industry which will cover all the diverse opinions that are present. It has to be noted however that Congress’ attempts at regulating internet content has not yet passed the review of the Supreme Court. (Turow, 2011) Conclusion The scandals that were attributed to Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation and its subsidiaries have led to widespread questioning of the current methods being used in regulating the media industry across the globe. There have been increased calls to have the governments being much more involved in the regulation of the media industry to prevent a repeat of the these gross violations of media ethics and privacy of the citizens being targeted by the invasive media tactics. However this may not be the best method to improve media regulation. Self-Regulation of the media still remains the best means through which to ensure that media houses operate in an ethical manner when collecting, and publishing information to the general public. Even though it experiences some shortcomings, these can be addressed through better consultations among the stake holders to come up with a method that satisfies all the players. References Bernard, T., & Griffith, W. M. (1996). 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