This paper examines the Murdoch phone hacking scandal involving News International and its parent company News Corporation, in which employees were accused of illegally hacking phones and bribing police to obtain stories between 2005 and 2007. The paper identifies the ethical deficiencies that enabled the misconduct, reviews how organizational leadership responded to the crisis, and traces the scandal's international impact in the United Kingdom, United States, and Australia. It concludes by proposing a framework for implementing ethical standards in journalism, including regulatory reform, watchdog organizations, and legislation with enforceable consequences for violations.
The Murdoch scandal involved various leading British newspapers — most notably the News of the World, but also other tabloids — all published by News International, a subsidiary of News Corporation. The owner of News Corporation was Rupert Murdoch, hence the name "the Murdoch phone hacking scandal." Employees of the corporation were accused of employing improper means to obtain news stories, including telephone hacking and bribing police officers during the years 2005–2007. Their targets almost always included celebrities, members of the Royal Family, and politicians.
On 6 July 2011, British Prime Minister David Cameron announced that a special investigation commission would be established to examine the incident. Lord Justice Leveson was named chairman of the inquiry on 13 July, with the mission of investigating the phone hacking and police bribery. A separate inquiry was simultaneously set up to establish conventions for directing the culture and ethics of the wider British media. The judge also abolished the Press Complaints Commission.
These proceedings resulted in the resignation of several prominent individuals, foremost among whom were Dow Jones chief executive Les Hinton, News International legal manager Tom Crone, and chief executive Rebekah Brooks. Former News of the World managing editor Andy Coulson, former executive editor Neil Wallis, and CEO Rebekah Brooks were arrested. Murdoch and his son James were also summoned before a parliamentary media committee (Davies, 2008).
The Murdoch scandal had significant consequences in the United States. The Federal Bureau of Investigation launched its own inquiry to determine whether the U.S. News Corporation — which directs multiple national news channels — had improperly accessed the voicemails of victims of the 2001 terrorist attacks and engaged in other forms of phone hacking. This was followed by a further inquiry in July into whether the company had violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act through the bribery of police personnel (O'Carroll, 2011).
The scandal also reverberated in Australia, where the Australian Greens party called for an investigation into the country's own national News Corporation entity, known as News Limited (O'Carroll, 2011).
The absence of clear guidelines for media conduct appears to have been a primary factor enabling the scandal. It was precisely for this reason that Prime Minister Cameron moved to establish a separate committee tasked with developing and implementing conventions to govern the culture and ethics of the British media more broadly. Without enforceable standards and institutional accountability, employees faced little structural deterrent against resorting to illegal newsgathering practices.
"Resignations, arrests, and cooperation with inquiries"
"Policy, watchdog, and legislative remedies proposed"
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