The end of the press baron

If this whole phone hacking scandal has taught me anything, it's that the end has come for the once prestigious, dangerous and often completely mad press barons.

For centuries, the press and most of the media in our country has been run by a selected few, majority men, from an East London office overlooking the city, or somewhere more exotic.

Or, in Rupert Murdoch's case, running his company, one would presume, from space. Because it transpires that Mr Murdoch - the Australian media magnate, who owns News Corporation, one of the worlds biggest media conglomerates - despite having his fingers in practically every country, fails to know what goes on behind the scenes of one of his companies.

Yes, the story of the year has seen a whole inquiry, international criticism and millions of settlements hit the news, all down to one man. But this one man and his family fail to acknowledge any of it. They, it seems, had no idea it was going on.

The ongoing Leveson inquiry will probably uncover the real truth behind the whole fiasco, but what I wonder is, when did the media barons take a step back from their empires and stop caring?

Way back at the end of the 19th century, the media landscape was controlled by the printed press. Newspaper owners were scary characters, not unfamiliar to those of today, but they played a much bigger role in the newsroom.

Take Lord Northcliffe for example. The proprietor was running the most successful paper of the 19th century, The Times, and later started the Daily Mail. He was notorious for harassing his staff and shaped the entire content of his papers, including the layout.

He even famously told his staff 'to find one murder a day, or else!'

Of course, behaviour like this would not be tolerated in today's society, but it goes to show just how far things have come. Northcliffe was there in the office at 5am, he had the knowledge and expertise to write, produce and print the newspaper.

And he wasn't alone. Other famous proprietors - Lords Beaverbrook, Camrose and Kemsley - were all the same, and at the time, were producing some of the best quality papers of that era.

But sadly, this isn't the case now. Media companies are bigger now, and the media owners, it seems, have less control on their companies then they did in the past.

Maybe Murdoch could learn something from them? Or is it a bit too late now. I mean, he isn't getting any younger, and no way near ready to admit the truth. But it just goes to show, that despite the advancements in the media and the availability of news, we could still learn a thing or two from the forgotten world of the press baron.

Pictures courtesy of Wikipedia

Will the PCC closure rejuvenate the press industry, or leave it still tarnished?

It was announced today that the Press Complaints Commission (PCC), the government regulative body for the printed news industry, will close after 21 years.The watchdog, which has faced intense criticism over the last year for its handling of the phone hacking affair at the News of the World, will be replaced in the meantime by a transitional body in the wake of the Leveson inquiry.

Although a decision has now been finalised, the news was somewhat expected. It was over two years ago that the commission came under scrutiny for its role in regulating the British press, where in February 2010 it was described as “toothless” by the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport select committee.
Since then, Prime Minister David Cameron said the PCC was “inadequate” and “absent” in July 2011, as he made a statement to the public regarding phone hacking.
Over the last few months, the PCC’s fate has been clear. It had failed at its attempt to regulate the press. Whether it was News International's illegal practices or the Metropolitan Police’s wrongdoing, no one can deny that the PCC failed to protect the innocent victims who were subject to their personal details being released for the general public to read.
As a journalist, are judgments are supposed to be bound to the PCC’s Code of Practice. So it is slightly ironic that the judgments of the PCC led to its downfall. It turned a blind eye at the ‘Reporting of Crime’ (code.9), it mistook ‘Confidential Sources’ (code.14) and subsequently led to the ‘Intrusion into grief or shock’ (code. 5).
The newspaper industry believes the closure of the self-regulatory body will offer a clean break from the past, an opportunity to fix the press industry’s tarnished reputation. Even Rupert Murdoch, the evil Queen at the centre of the hacking scandal - who recently launched the NOTW successor, The Sun on Sunday - pledged that the paper would be “fearless, outspoken, mischievous, fun…but committed to our high ethical standards”, echoing the industries cries for forgiveness.
So is this the start of something new for our battered news industry? It may well be the start of a grassroots movement into reigniting traditional print media, but will the newspapers learn from their mistakes and changing their wicked ways? I am doubtful. Although the government has announced that a long-term replacement is not expected to be up and running until 2014, it confirmed that the replacement would take on the assets and liabilities of the old PCC.
It remains unclear whether Lord Hunt will have to reapply for his position as Chairman ones the transition process is complete.
The papers may be celebrating at the moment, but we are from the end of seeing a free press industry. Trust is the key issue here. The public, the politicians, the celebrities; they are far from ready to put their trust in the press again, and therefore, a need for government intervention through a new body is needed. With Lord Leveson expected to publish his findings in October, the next year is likely to be an interesting and defining moment for the press industry, and one where the question of ‘freedom of the press’ remains very much unanswered.
This article was also uploaded on the Centre for Journalism website

For information on other 'News Industry' related questions, why not have a look at these blog posts?

All you need to know about Phone Hacking and the Murdoch's

Open Journalism: The Guardian deliberates