Scandal at the Sun

 Ever since the phone hacking scandal erupted last year, Rupert Murdoch has been mired in scandal after scandal. The most recent was at the Sun, one of his most important newspapers. Yesterday five senior journalists were arrested; this included chief reporter, John Kay, picture editor, John Edwards, foreign correspondent Nick Parker, reporter, John Sturgis, and even the deputy editor, Geoff Webster. The newspaper’s owner, Rupert Murdoch has stated that unlike its sister newspaper, the News of the World, the Sun will not be closed. Today’s arrests were not only significant because of the journalists arrested; an army officer, policeman and civil servant were also arrested. This is the first time that such arrests have been made under Operation Elveden, which is investigating illegal payments by journalists to get information. This crisis occurs during the Leveson Inquiry into press standards, which was set up after the fallout from the original scandal at NOTW. This, combined with evidence of harassment of people by journalists only further proves that there needs to be some sort of regulation of the press. This would not harm free speech, but strengthen the rights of individuals to privacy. The only reason you hear the likes of Paul Dacre claiming it would harm free speech is because of nasty practices going on in the Daily Mail, a newspaper which has been accused of dabbling in illegal activities by a number of high profile names.

We won’t know for a long time what the full extent of illegal activities at newspapers was, but unless a press regulator is created with real power, we will be looking at another press scandal in the future. This saga has shown that the press, particularly the tabloids, to be untrustworthy and must be dealt with harshly.

The Sun is the latest Murdoch newspaper to be mired in scandal