Poynter, By Steve Myers, Member of a British parliamentary committee asked Rupert Murdoch on Tuesday, “At what point did you realize that criminality was endemic” at News International? “Endemic is a very hard word,” Murdoch replied. It’s a hard word, but it’s the right word. It describes an expected, naturally occurring characteristic of a group or a place. In epidemiology, a disease or disorder is considered endemic when it consistently occurs in a given population. That’s what people mean when they say that phone hacking and buying scoops are just part of British tabloid culture. The question now is whether such unethical, and in some cases illegal, behavior is endemic to News Corp. as a whole. Put another
way, to what extent has News Corp.’s journalism,and the company itself, been corrupted? Corruption is journalists’ most sought, most elusive prey. Such stories don’t have to involve payoffs in a brown paper bag. They can reveal how a church concealed sex abuse, how a plagiarist was promoted in an esteemed newsroom, or how journalists eavesdropped on private voice mails. The wrongdoing is just one part of corruption stories like these; the other part is the institution that spawns such wrongdoing. Read Full : Phone hacking scandal a corruption story, like Enron and countless others | Poynter.
way, to what extent has News Corp.’s journalism,and the company itself, been corrupted? Corruption is journalists’ most sought, most elusive prey. Such stories don’t have to involve payoffs in a brown paper bag. They can reveal how a church concealed sex abuse, how a plagiarist was promoted in an esteemed newsroom, or how journalists eavesdropped on private voice mails. The wrongdoing is just one part of corruption stories like these; the other part is the institution that spawns such wrongdoing. Read Full : Phone hacking scandal a corruption story, like Enron and countless others | Poynter.