PHONE HACKING: SCANDAL-HUNGRY READERS APPALLED!

The phone hacking scandal has left all of us with a bad taste in the mouth.  The consequences of this debacle are already playing out in a predictable manner. By and large the role of the journalist has been placed under the microscope in order to diagnose a hidden systemic source of wrongdoing. “How could this have happened?” we all ask in dismay.

If we are not scrutinising the journalists, our attentions are focused on the corrupt and exploitative practices of big business. I certainly believe that Rupert Murdoch and his henchmen(woman) should be held accountable. In fact, I feel very passionately that justice should be done. But for Christians the desire for justice is not enough. We are called in light of the ills of our world to constant self-examination.

Having worked in the media for more than 10 years I recognise one overwhelming fact about this network of businesses – no one plays to an empty theatre. Newspapers wouldn’t hit the streets if a willing public wasn’t buying and reading them. In fact, it is now true to say that no one would bother firing up the printing press if a rag only garnered a small audience. If there is no audience, there is no advertising revenue. If there is no advertising revenue, there is no newspaper. This is an equation that Rupert Murdoch and his team understand better than anyone else.

So we should not delude ourselves that somewhere a secret society of media moguls meets to set the agenda for governments and global trends. Moreover, we need to abandon the naive assumption that media strategists are supreme beings and somehow trick us into abandoning all intelligent thought when we come into contact with their propaganda - are we merely helpless pawns in their game of wealth, power and persuasion? If anything, this is the great delusion of our time if not a convenient means of avoiding any responsibility.

Jesus constantly calls on those around him to be self aware, to recognise their own complicity in the sin and injustice of their culture:

When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, ‘Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her. John 8:7

Are we only prepared to give a prophetic voice to the injustice we witness or do we actually demonstrate a believable alternative to it? We may think we have found an authentic moral voice when in fact we are simply nursing our scandalised ideals. It is much more uncomfortable to accept that real change in the moral landscape can begin with us trying to live an honest (albeit flawed) pursuit of the Gospel.

I am a news consumer. Despite my best instincts I am sometimes tantalised by reporting that can only be described as malicious gossip. This is the very same type of reporting that makes millions of pounds for news corporations with whom I would not like to be associated. I am a news consumer. 

This letter to The Times, 8 July 2011 says it best:

Sir,

We hated the bankers, yet enjoyed the economic prosperity. We despised our MPs, yet made murky expenses claims ourselves. We are disgusted with our journalists but enjoy reading their exclusives. The British public has the freedom to be outraged by all these groups; individually we are disturbed by what we would have done.