Kevin Marshall's America

Musings & misadventures of a local treasure

News of the World staff, defiant to the bitter end


There are many surprising, shocking, and outrageous aspects to the revelation and extent of News of the World‘s invasive phone hacking. One of the more intriguing ones to me personally is the total lack of shame and decorum shown by guilty parties. In the above video, writer/comedian Steve Coogan and former BBC Director General Greg Dyke sit in on a news program panel with former News of the World editor and contributor Paul McMullen. Coogan and Dyke alternate between outrage and outright astonishment at McMullen’s defense of the practice. He sees nothing wrong with what was done and seems to regret more that they won’t be able to get away with it any longer.

His stance and some statements border on self-parody, but the man himself likely believes it, as does the rest of the staff of the now defunct 168-year-old British institution. On Sunday, after completing their last day of work, the staff triumphantly marched out of the building in a show of unity, holding the final edition of the paper that bore the headline “Thank You and Goodbye.” None of them hid their faces in shame, nor did they show regret for what the paper had done or become. Rather than hang their head in shame they held them high, while Britain stood agape at their audacity.

Yet, all knew of the not only illegal but highly unethical practices being employed by the paper. Four thousand individuals – and that’s just a conservative estimates – had their privacy violated for the sake of pushing a yellow rag that masqueraded as a public service. Common sense dictates that everyone knew it was happening, but reports go further than that and state that it was a very well known practice amongst not just the News of the World but the police that were paid off and, more often than not, the victims who were told that pursuing justice was a fruitless endeavor due to corruption at various levels of the justice system and British Parliament (Andy Coulson, whose last job was as Prime Minister David Cameron‘s Press Secretary, was arrested late last week). 

But there were no victims of circumstance amongst the former staff of the Murdoch paper. Not even Murdoch himself, who must have known what his right hand, Rebekah Brooks, was doing. Yet they were defiant to the end, because just like McMullen, in their mind no wrong was done. This is the danger of breaking ethical guidelines on a regular basis: it becomes the norm, and with it comes a sense that they’re entitled to do the wrong thing with no repercussions.

Many who marched and cheered after their final day at work will end up with work elsewhere…that is, if they can avoid jail sentences. Surely, many will avoid it by turning over evidence to authorities. In the end, though, whether they’re behind bars or narrowly avoiding it, that sense of guilt over what they’ve done will elude them. Someone just went too far and got caught, that’s all, and it’s worth it in the end for a dollar and glory.

Kevin Marshall

8 Responses

  1. GenWar says:

    I have no idea what this blog is about.

    Oh well, if it’s important, I’m sure I’ll read all about it in next week’s News of the Word.

  2. Tim in Waterford says:


    I could be wrong, but I thought I read somewhere that most, if not all, of the guilty parties at NOTW were dismissed long before the paper shut down. This is certainly true of management; I believe the outgoing editor-in-chief had only been there 18 months and was brought in to help clean up the mess.

    In the end, though, Murdoch sacrificed the paper to save one person, Rebekah Brooks, who he not only failed to fire but even promoted to chief executive of News International. She’s the one who needs to fry for this, not a bunch of staffers who weren’t even there at the time.

  3. Ann says:

    Unbelievable! But journalism is more about the sensationalism and the money than about anything like the truth or making sure justice is served. We’ve allowed the media too much freedom; not that this would ever happen here.

  4. HomeTownGirl says:

    Bloody hell it’s all rubbish!

  5. Billy The Kidd says:

    Ann, Too much freedom ?????????? Do you not like the Constitution???? Freedom of the press ????? You’re a LIBERAL ???????? Non issue in America !!!! Different rules in England.

  6. Tim – Most but not all. Three of the 12 arrests recently are currently staff members. This current investigation is also in relation to just what happened in 2002 and in 2007, after the former Royal editor Clive Goodman had already been arrested and jailed for it. Additionally, a chief reporter (who as far as I know was still with the paper) was arrested back in April in relation to the investigation. The impression that has been put forth is that the phone hacking and especially the police bribery was common knowledge and practice, and that it continued well after concerns were risen and investigations launched. That they’re arresting people for 2002 and 2007 transgressions does not mean they are exclusive to those years. Particularly not when 4,000 targets are involved. Additionally, the New York Times confirmed that in 2010 an unnamed television personality had been alerted that her phone had been recently hacked, and the number was traced back to News of the World.

    Additionally, there is even more being uncovered in relation to bribes distributed to police officers and more arrests forthcoming in those specific instances, some of which occurred this calendar year:

  7. Billy – I don’t think that’s quite what she meant.

  8. Jen says:

    It really makes you wonder about how people blindly follow the leader. Sure it’s easy to learn from your employer, because it’s easy to learn on a one-on-one basis. It makes you wonder about how many people are singing the praises of an employee simply because they are a push-over. I haven’t followed this, but thanks for the video, Kevin. It really has given me something to reflect on.

    I’d imagine that after arrests, these folks just carefully coached their employees on how to keep their mouths shut about what was going on, how to be complicit in the actions and how this practice is a widely used and only “slightly in the grey area of ethics” practice.