2011 phone hacking scandal which devastated the News International Rupert Murdoch organization. It fundamentally altered the landscape of United Kingdom press regulation. It was a scandal that blew up after it was discovered that reporters working for the News of the World had hacked the phone of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler. This unexpected finding led to a firestorm of public uproar and ultimately significant reforms in media regulation. After all of these occurrences, citizens have taken to the streets and are currently fighting for large, systemic reforms to increase accountability within the press. Fears of misinformation and slanted journalism still prompt apprehension.
The scandal ultimately resulted in the shuttering of the News of the World. This decision sent reverberations across the industry. The public spoke out, and they spoke out strongly. Following these events, in 2012 the Leveson Inquiry was established to examine the culture, practices and ethics of the British press. Under the leadership of Lord Justice Leveson, the inquiry found widespread criminality and unethical practices throughout journalism and proposed major reforms. One was to create a non-governmental, independent, self-regulatory body to monitor the press’s behavior. This bold step was intended to respond to criticisms of the now-discredited Press Complaints Commission (PCC) and its often-too-cosying relationship with publishers.
In 2014, the Independent Press Standards Organization (Ipso) was created as a successor to the discredited PCC. Ipso was supposed to usher in a more robust regime for the press’s regulation. Today, it is home to 231 such publications, including The Conversation UK. Support for an alternative, industry-run model of self-regulation is still paltry. Just 3% of those surveyed support doing this.
Public opinion on press accountability shows a deep partisan rift. Surveys indicate that four in five individuals believe that complaints from wealthy individuals receive more attention than those from ordinary citizens. An overwhelming 80% think that politicians and rich people control too much of the media’s coverage. In this context, it is not surprising that many assume that secret deals for positive stories are the norm.
Despite reforms following the phone hacking scandal and the Leveson Inquiry, many people express concerns about the prevalence of misinformation and unfair reporting in major news outlets. About 80 percent oppose outright laws prohibiting any regulation of traditional and online publishers. This nearly unanimous agreement speaks to the increasing need for accountability and transparency within the publishing industry. These results highlight an alarming trend of increasing suspicion among the public toward the perceived integrity and transparency of news outlets.
These wrenching changes have been exacerbated by ongoing legal battles that continue to impact the regulation of the press. The Associated Newspapers Limited, publisher of The Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday, is currently facing several court cases related to phone hacking allegations. As these cases unfold, they add another layer of scrutiny to the already beleaguered reputation of tabloid journalism in the UK.