An ethicist at Charles Sturt University (CSU) says the mounting controversy about continuing revelations of illegal phone tapping by The News of the World newspaper in the United Kingdom is the product of three separate yet interacting issues.

 

Dr Edward Spence, a senior lecturer in media ethics at the CSU School of Communication and Creative Industries in Bathurst  and  senior research fellow at the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics (CAPPE) in Canberra , said, “As I see it, there are at least three separate issues at the core of the actions by News of the World; the legal issue of hacking; the ethical issue of invasion of privacy; and the technological aspect of these issues. In combination, they enable someone to commit these illegal and unethical acts.

 

“Let us suppose News of the World got hold of similar information through anonymous sources or tip-offs without phone hacking, and published it. The people whose privacy was violated would have complained, News of the World would have used the 'public interest' principle to justify their actions, and it would have been back to business as usual. However, obtaining the information through phone hacking is illegal, regardless of whether it is unethical, and News of the World is being investigated and criticised.

 

“The invasion of people's privacy when it is not a matter of public interest but only of interest to some members of the public who thrive on celebrity and political gossip, as well as scandal, is never ethically justified. Even when it serves the public interest, the right of the public to be informed should be balanced with the right to privacy. The former does not automatically override the latter.

 

“New communication and information technologies allow us to access a lot of information easily and efficiently but it’s a double-edge sword as it also makes us vulnerable to the invasion of our privacy. It is technology that afforded News of the World the means for hacking people's phones. In addition to that, by removing any ethical constraints because of the lack of an ethical media culture within the corporate structure of tabloids like News of the World, and adding the motivating financial drive to get the story for readership and profit, you have the makings of a media scandal.

 

“The News of the World affair is a big story because it is at the heart of not just media ethics but of the much wider issue of business ethics and corruption, which I explore in my recent book Media, Markets, and Morals (Wiley-Blackwell, 2011).” 

 

“The News of the World phone hacking is a prime example of media corruption, for by allowing its business interests to override its primary journalistic role of serving the public interest - a cornerstone of democracy - it has instead violated the legitimate rights of citizens, and in the process it has corrupted the legitimacy of its own role to inform the public.”

 

It has been announced that the 168-year old News of the World, owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News International, will close on Sunday10 July.