Can the Tabloids Change Their Ways?
Prince Harry's moderate victory against Mirror Group Newspapers back in December turned into a total victory on Friday as multiple other claims were settled.
As MGN contemplates the significant sums that it will have to pay out in damages and legal fees, questions once again turn to how the tabloid newspapers should be regulated.
At this juncture, it is worth pointing out that the claims made by Prince Harry were historical instances of phone hacking dating between 2003 and 2009. Furthermore, it was concluded by a judge that the phones were hacked to only a modest extent.
That may seem like it was only a relatively short time ago, but during this period the media landscape has changed greatly. Tabloids no longer hold the sway that they once did, The Sun is run at an effective loss and papers are edited by people who understand that a privacy claim in the High Court can wrought significant damage to their paper's bottom line.
Of course, that doesn't mean that the concerns have simply disappeared. The Daily Mail is bigger than ever thanks to its online presence both here and in the States. Meanwhile, Prince Harry is involved in other cases including one with Elton John against The Daily Mail in respect of unlawful information gathering and another with Hugh Grant against News Group Newspapers (the publishers of The Sun) alleging the same offence.
The problem is that the discussions about reform take place in a media environment that is still dominated by the old figureheads who have always been a part of the problem. The BBC's World at One covered Prince Harry's legal success by talking to Kelvin MacKenzie. MacKenzie infamously being the former editor of The Sun who accused Liverpool fans of stealing from fellow supporters and urinating on the emergency workers in the wake of the Hillsborough disaster.
It is amazing, following that incident, that MacKenzie's a family still talk to him, never mind a flagship show on BBC Radio 4.
In a similar vein, the likes of Piers Morgan and Angela Levin are given prominence despite the former being a major player in phone-hacking scandals and the latter making a career out of barely veiled racist diatribes against Meghan Markle.
All of this discussion takes place against a media backdrop that has no interest in changing its ways and knows that it will not have to due to an absence of will from a political class that still pays obeisance to Rupert Murdoch and his ilk.
There is a sense that the Leveson Inquiry solved all of these problems, but the failure to implement its recommendations fully has merely left us with a toothless watchdog that knows all too well it is paid for and owes its existence to the newspapers themselves.
All of this leaves us in the strange situation where fundamental reforms are needed, and yet the exact forums where conversations about the nature of that reform need to happen are themselves beset by a need for reform.
This week on the podcast, we explore the dark world of piracy in the Gulf of Aden.
Episode link: https://uklawweekly.com/2024-uksc-2/
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Marcus