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| PRESSURE: The News of the World is set for a challenging time |
THE NEWS OF THE WORLD has officially apologised to those celebrities caught up in the phone-hacking scandal that has dogged the newspaper for the last year. News International, who owns the News of the World look, set to payout millions of pounds in damages to celebrities including the actress Sienna Miller, disgraced football commentator Andy Gray and the former culture secretary Tessa Jowell.
Despite the apology made in copies of today’s newspaper, many are still questioning why it has taken so long for the word ‘sorry’ to be used. The compensation payout still doesn’t let the phone hacking story disappear, as the police continue to investigate why this happened. On Friday, the owners released a statement confirming their guilt;
“News International has decided to approach some civil litigants with an unreserved apology and an admission of liability in cases meeting specific criteria. It is now apparent that our previous enquiries failed to uncover important evidence and we acknowledge our actions then were not sufficiently robust.”
The world’s largest Sunday newspaper has insisted that it will deal with compensation for cases that were involved during the years 2004 and 2006. Currently, lawyers for News International are believed to be thrashing out these deals behind the scenes. However, the News of the World has insisted that it will fight any cases that lack any merit or creditability. Only last week, the chief reporter and former editor of the newspaper were arrested over the allegations of phone tampering. Both have since been released on police bail.
Former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott has called for the takeover bid by News International on BSkyB to be halted during the investigation process. An angry Prescott appeared on the topical programme 10 O’clock Live on Channel 4 on Thursday night, clearly riled by the behaviour of journalists for the newspaper;
“It doesn’t just involve the celebrity, or the successful individual. I’m not against investigative journalism, but what the paper seems to be saying is that if a successful individual appears in the celebrity world, they are open to phone hacking! You connect to the family, repeat their personal messages and then sell them to the damn press! That’s what you do for a bloody living!”
However, if the News of the World thinks that the overdue apology will end the matter, they can think again. Sienna Miller is already believed to have rejected the compensation package and her lawyers are seriously considering taking the paper to court. Alongside News International omission, and more damming evidence being revealed by the Sunday Telegraph today, the police investigation by the Metropolitan Police, which has been criticised before is likely to be placed under scrutiny again. Shadow Welsh Secretary Peter Hain told The Andrew Marr Show this morning that the investigation must be dealt with thoroughly;
“It is a vital that a proper investigation of this takes place. The police must pursue this till the end. Until recent times, they have frankly, been very tardy and have not been bringing criminal proceedings when necessary.”
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| REPAIR: Is the newspaper industry going to recover? |
There is no doubt that this is a developing story that will continue to rumble on. With a police investigation on the march, more celebrities coming forward with possible evidence and calls for all newspaper editors to reveal if they have been sending reporters into these dodgy situations, the future of the newspaper industry could be severely damaged beyond repair.
