Secondary: Rapid Response Assemblies



THE NEWS INTERNATIONAL PHONE-HACKING SCANDAL

By Tim and Vicky Scott

NB: As with all rapid-response assemblies, the situation changes quickly. Please update before using.

Suitable for Whole School

Aim

To consider what the phone-hacking scandal tells us about the use and abuse of power.

Preparation and resources

• You might like to use a PowerPoint presentation to show the front and back page of the final issue of the News of the World, Rupert Murdoch, Andy Coulson and a mobile phone.
  

Assembly

1. If you’ve chosen to display the PowerPoint images, ask the students if they know which news story the pictures illustrate.
   
2. The scandal that has led to the closure of one of Britain’s oldest and most popular newspapers, the News of the World, on 10 July has shocked the whole country, and created a big debate about who we (the general public) can trust to tell us the truth. The future relationship between politicians and the press will be scrutinized at one of several public inquiries into the events. The scandal has also led to serious questions about the Metropolitan Police’s investigations.
   
3. Background to the story
   The News of the World weekly ‘tabloid’ newspaper was published by News Group Newspapers, part of the corporation called News International. This company is a subsidiary of a huge, powerful global media organization known as News Corporation, owned by billionaire Rupert Murdoch.
   
   The phone-hacking controversy started in 2006 when a journalist and a private detective working for the paper were charged by London’s Metropolitan Police with illegally intercepting voicemail messages left for members of the Royal Family. Both men were jailed in 2007 and the editor of the paper at that time, Andy Coulson, resigned while denying he knew anything about the phone hacking. Coulson was subsequently appointed by David Cameron to be the Conservative Party’s Director of Communications.
   
   This first case led to a trickle and then a torrent of further allegations against the methods used by the News of the World to target the personal communications of well-known public figures, politicians and celebrities. It has now emerged that journalists working for the paper hacked into as many as 7,000 people’s phones. Further information about the number of the News of the World employees who might have known about the practices of phone hacking has gradually been revealed; it appears that at least one senior executive was aware that phone hacking was taking place.
   
4. Public outrage
   A new investigation into the phone-hacking allegations started in February 2011. While the previous news of celebrity phone hacking was shocking, there was widespread public outrage when it emerged in July 2011 that the News of the World had hacked into the voicemails of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler, victims of the 7/7 terrorist attacks and relatives of British soldiers who had recently died in action.
   
   It was alleged that the journalists had deleted messages from Milly Dowler’s phone, giving false hope to Dowler's friends and family (who thought she might have deleted those messages and so could still be alive). Their actions also potentially destroyed important evidence about her abduction and murder by killer Levi Bellfield, who was convicted in June 2011.
   
   After these revelations, advertisers stopped advertising in the News of the World, which eventually closed, and News Corporation’s proposed merger with the broadcaster BSkyB is now seriously threatened. Rupert Murdoch’s empire could lose a fortune if the merger is not allowed to proceed.
   
5. Andy Coulson, former editor of the News of the World, and Director of Communications for David Cameron’s Conservative Party and subsequent government, has always claimed his innocence. Coulson resigned from his government role in January 2011 citing ‘continued coverage of events connected to my old job at the News of the World’. The Guardian journalist, who had investigated the story of phone hacking, claims that Coulson knew about the activities that took place while he was editor of the News of the World.
   
6. The original 2006 Metropolitan Police investigation attracted renewed attention in April 2010 when Andy Hayman, an assistant commissioner and the officer responsible for overseeing the inquiry, left the police to work for News International as a columnist. Recent emails handed over by the newspaper reveal that thousands of pounds were paid to the police.
   
7. Prime Minister David Cameron has said that the alleged hacking, if it happened, was ‘truly dreadful’. He has urged the police to pursue a ‘vigorous’ investigation to ascertain what took place. Labour’s leader Ed Milliband called on Rebekah Brooks, the News of the World's editor in 2002 and now the chief executive of News International, to ‘consider her conscience and consider her position’. Brooks denies knowledge of phone hacking during her editorship.
   

Time for reflection

Jesus said, ‘If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free’ (John 8:31–32).

What does it mean to trust in someone or something?

Within the past few years, public trust in institutions and authorities has been undermined. First, trust in the banks was hit hard by the financial crisis known as the ‘credit crunch’, which led to the collapse of Lehman Brothers investment bank and the near collapse of Northern Rock. The banks had to be ‘bailed out’ by British taxpayers at a cost of billions of pounds.

Shortly afterwards, politicians faced public outrage when an investigation by the Daily Telegraph showed that the expenses system had been seriously abused. Some politicians had effectively been stealing thousands of pounds of public money: trust in politicians fell to an all time low.

Now the terrible story of the phone-hacking scandal shows that some parts of the press regard themselves as unaccountable for their actions, and are willing to go to illegal and unethical lengths to get exclusive stories. Journalists would seem to be prepared to do anything to invade the privacy of ordinary people. It appears that some elements in News International concealed the truth about what really happened. Faith in the effectiveness of the police investigation has also been called into question by the scandal.

We might be witnessing a tipping point for journalism and democracy. The Murdoch empire has been an extremely powerful influence in British politics, but voters are now very angry and there might be calls for tougher press regulation.

Whom do you trust?
Without being able to trust other people, how do we have security and confidence in our lives?
Think about the trust that you have in your friends, your family and your teachers.
Be thankful that these people are indeed worthy of your trust.

Prayer

Dear Lord,
We thank you for all in whom we trust.
May those people hold our trust
and be worthy of the trust we have in them.

Song

‘I planted a seed’ (Come and Praise, 134)