Text

E-book British Media Coverage of the Press Reform Debate : Journalists Reporting Journalism

---

Penilaian

---

As a consequence of the News of the World phone hacking scandal, the UK press became the focus of a heated public debate. Many questions were asked, and several answers offered. The press had behaved badly and needed to be tamed (Leveson 2012a, p. 195, para. 1.1–1.4). But how? Who guards the guardian? How can press regulation be strengthened? How can the press regain its trust? What does this spell for democracy? These were some of the questions asked, as politicians, journalists, the police, the judiciary and other citizens deliberated on how to ensure a viable press: one that can sustain rather than destroy democracy. Thus, the media became an arena for a heated debate on how to make the press more accountable, if at all. This book analyses how this debate was repre-sented by the press. The aims are to challenge the press to serve as a demo-cratic public sphere during debates about their policy, to enlighten readers on how the media represent debates about their policy and to stir up dis-cussions on how to get the public to be more involved in media reform. I argue that the way debates about media policy are covered is partly respon-sible for the continuous emergence of weak press reforms. As a brief back-ground on the scandal is essential for an understanding of my analysis of the debate, that will be my starting point.The News of the World phone hacking scandal turned the British politico-media complex upside down. Newspaper editors, media owners, journalists, private investigators and even the police were placed in the spotlight for their role in the scandal. The phone hacking scandal came to light in 2005 when some staff of the News of the World were accused of hacking the phones of members of the British Royal Family (Keeble and Mair 2012, p. 9; Davies 2014). The police report on investigations carried out between 2005 and 2007 declared that the crime was perpetrated by one “rogue” reporter, royal editor, Clive Goodman, and a private detec-tive, Glen Mulcaire (Jones and Norton 2014, pp. 147–148). The report concluded that the victims were a handful of public figures (Lewis 2013, p. 72; Davies 2014). However, further investigations in 2011 revealed that not only was phone hacking widespread at the News of the World but that bribes were paid to police for information, and the voicemails of crime victims and their relations were intercepted in search of scoops (Keeble and Mair 2012, p. 9; Davies 2014). There were further allegations as well as confirmations that journalists from other newspapers (including papers in the Trinity Mirror group which rebranded as Reach in 2018) were involved in phone hacking and other unwholesome journalistic practices (BBC News2018). It became clear early in the controversy that this was not just about the News of the World but about the press industry. Very importantly, this scandal led to the setting up of the Leveson Inquiry. The Leveson Inquiry (2012f) was arguably one of the most significant events in British newspaper history because it cast a much-needed critical eye over the ethical practices and culture of the press. This book examines the ways in which sections of the mainstream British press represented the ongoing debate about press eth-ics and the strategies they undertook to protect themselves from the threat of tighter regulation. A flurry of media coverage presented the ensuing press reform debate from different perspectives. Thus, the News of the World phone hacking scandal and the Leveson Inquiry provided a verita-ble opportunity for an investigation into how the media cover debates about their policy.

---

Ketersediaan

Informasi Detail

Judul Seri

-

No. Panggil

072 OGB b

Penerbit

Switzerland : Springer Nature., 2020

Deskripsi Fisik

233 hlm

Bahasa

English

ISBN/ISSN

9783030372651

Klasifikasi

072

Tipe Isi

text

Tipe Media

computer

Tipe Pembawa

online resource

Edisi

-

Subjek

Journalism and Newspapers in England

Info Detail Spesifik

-

Pernyataan Tanggungjawab

-

Versi lain/terkait

Lampiran Berkas

Komentar

---

Anda harus masuk sebelum memberikan komentar