The death of NOTW,
the 168-year-old UK Sunday (2)

Dr. Yuk-Ching Hon

15 July 2011

The UK phone hacking scandal has opened up more questions about the methods and motives used by all media companies, not just News International, as we know there will not be one that hasn't cut corners or used questionable methods to pursue a story.

There have been great historical journalistic exposes that used methods that could now be, and sometimes were at the time, challenged by the police or taken to court. For example, the leaking of the Pentagon paper; the acquisition of the personal details of members of staff of the Campaign to re-elect Nixon in the Washington Post’s famous Watergate investigation and the information on the Belgrano provided by the UK civil servant Clive Ponting. Here in UK, two years ago we saw the publication by the Daily Telegraph of the details of MPs’ expenses claims, made possible by the exchange of money for stolen goods.

But one thing is clear. In each of these cases, there will be and must be accountability before the law. We also have to remember that the ultimate test for journalists is integrity.

The general public and the law will always stand by journalists who go after stories in the public interest and are able to show that they have done this to expose the facts on matters of national importance. Journalists must, before starting an investigation, make sure that the method they use can be justified by the motivation and the outcome.

NOTW’s hacking of the murder victim, Milly Dowler’s and the 2005 London terror attack victims’ mobile phones aims to produce sensational articles. The act is appalling and absolutely disgusting. That’s why the private investigator, the NOTW journalists and senior executives deserve to be punished.