Lo Res P7076459
Anti-Murdoch flashmob demands Rebekah Brooks' sacking. London, 07.07.2011
On what proved to be a momentous day in UK press history, News International, the owners of the scandal-ridden News of The World newspaper suddenly announced the paper's shut-down following a last edition to be published this weekend. The newspaper's reputation has been destroyed by the infamous phone-hacking scandal which News International has tried desperately to underplay over the past few months, but which suddenly erupted into a fully-blown national outrage this week when it was revealed that the Metropolitan Police had evidence to suggest that not only had the newspaper's journalists been behind the hacking of murdered teenager Millie Dowler, the families of several of the victims of the 7/7 London Underground bombings and the families of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also that the News of the World had been secretly - and illegally - paying members of the Metropolitan Police to get hold of confidential data on up to a thousand people over the years to provide the paper with insider knowledge and many scoops.
These very serious allegations have been revealed against the backdrop of News International's current bid to buy the remaining 61% of shares in the pay-to-view TV company BSkyB, which had been protested vigorously by many people concerned about the unchallenged domination of Rupert Murdoch's media empire in the United Kingdom.
Today's flashmob, organised by the group 'Take Back Parliament', congregated outside the Department of Culture, Media and Sport - the domain of Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who, despite many demands for a full review of News International's suitability and trustworthiness in the light of months of revelations about the phone-hacking and News International's attempts to deceive Parliament during questioning several months ago, has ignored all the warnings and was pushing the Murdoch bid through the official channels at an indecent speed, raising suspicions that David Cameron's close relationship with News International Chief Executive Rebekah Brookes and with Rupert Murdoch himself was influencing Hunt's professional judgement.
The flashmob protesters - some wearing cutout masks of Rupert Murdoch - held up copies of today's London Evening Standard (which is not a Murdoch newspaper), displaying the front page headline "Murdoch Staff Pay Met £100K In Bribes", referring to the illegal supply of highly confidential information to reporters by trusted police officers to News of The World journalists.
Demanding an immediate and complete halt to the BSkyB bid attempt, the protesters also called for the sacking of News International's Chief Executive Rebekah Brookes who was Editor in Chief of the News of The World when all the worst offences were supposedly carried out and who, many maintain, must have known what was happening, despite her frequent denials of any knowledge of the phone-hacking offences. Also of the utmost concern is Brookes' close personal friendship with Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife, and the depth of the debt of gratitude he feels he owes to Rupert Murdoch and his media empire for the massive support he got from the Murdoch press during the last general election.
Many, many questions remain unanswered right now about "who knew what and when did they know it?", and as police enquiries commence it was announced today that five journalists will be arrested, as will ex-News of the World editor Andy Coulson who resigned when the first scandal broke after Royal Correspondent Clive Goodman was famously imprisoned for hacking into Prince William's phone. Coulson immediately became David Cameron's election strategist and press spokesman until more recent discoveries obliged him to resign his post as Cameron's spokesperson. Coulson has always maintained he had no knowledge whatsoever of the phone-hacking, but a cache of emails was handed to the police a few days ago which allegedly contradict Coulson's claims of innocence in the matter, and of the clandestine payments made to corrupt police officers, may be behind the news of Coulson's imminent arrest.
Today's shock announcement of the newspaper's sudden demise saw around 200 journalists made redundant today, almost none of whom were working on the paper during the period in question, prompting National Union of Journalist General secretary Michelle Stanistreet to make the following official statement this afternoon:
“This shows the depths to which Rupert Murdoch and his lieutenants at News International are prepared to stoop. The announcement James Murdoch should be making today is the dismissal of Rebekah Brookes as chief executive of News International. The shocking revelations this week show beyond doubt the systemic abuse and corruption at the top of the operation ran by both Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson. Yet News International has persistently lied about the extent of this scandal and tried to pass it off as a problem created by a couple of rogue reporters.
“Closing the title and sacking over 200 staff in the UK and Ireland, and putting scores more freelances and casuals out of a job, is an act of utter cynical opportunism. Murdoch is clearly banking on this drawing a line under the scandal, removing an obstacle to the BskyB deal, and letting his senior executives off the hook. That simply won’t wash. It is not ordinary working journalists who have destroyed this paper’s credibility – it is the actions of Murdoch’s most senior people.
“James Murdoch was absolutely right when he said in his statement today that ‘Wrongdoers turned a good newsroom bad.’ Yet those wrongdoers are still there today, at the top of the News International empire and ordinary staff at the paper are paying with their livelihoods.
“The closure of the News of the World – a newspaper that has been in print now for 168 years – is a calculated sacrifice by Rupert Murdoch to salvage his reputation and that of News International, in the hope that readers will switch allegiance to a new seven-day operation at The Sun, the government will wave through the BskyB deal and he will widen his grip on the UK’s media landscape.
“It is ironic that 25 years after the Wapping dispute it is the behaviour of Rupert Murdoch and his management that has caused the closure of the newspaper. The NUJ will offer all support to its members at the News of the World facing compulsory redundancies and will be organising an emergency meeting of all journalists at the title to offer advice and support.”
All photos © 2011 Pete Riches
Do not reproduce, alter or reblog my images without my permission.
Hi-Res versions of these files are available on application
Lo Res P7076459
Anti-Murdoch flashmob demands Rebekah Brooks' sacking. London, 07.07.2011
On what proved to be a momentous day in UK press history, News International, the owners of the scandal-ridden News of The World newspaper suddenly announced the paper's shut-down following a last edition to be published this weekend. The newspaper's reputation has been destroyed by the infamous phone-hacking scandal which News International has tried desperately to underplay over the past few months, but which suddenly erupted into a fully-blown national outrage this week when it was revealed that the Metropolitan Police had evidence to suggest that not only had the newspaper's journalists been behind the hacking of murdered teenager Millie Dowler, the families of several of the victims of the 7/7 London Underground bombings and the families of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also that the News of the World had been secretly - and illegally - paying members of the Metropolitan Police to get hold of confidential data on up to a thousand people over the years to provide the paper with insider knowledge and many scoops.
These very serious allegations have been revealed against the backdrop of News International's current bid to buy the remaining 61% of shares in the pay-to-view TV company BSkyB, which had been protested vigorously by many people concerned about the unchallenged domination of Rupert Murdoch's media empire in the United Kingdom.
Today's flashmob, organised by the group 'Take Back Parliament', congregated outside the Department of Culture, Media and Sport - the domain of Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who, despite many demands for a full review of News International's suitability and trustworthiness in the light of months of revelations about the phone-hacking and News International's attempts to deceive Parliament during questioning several months ago, has ignored all the warnings and was pushing the Murdoch bid through the official channels at an indecent speed, raising suspicions that David Cameron's close relationship with News International Chief Executive Rebekah Brookes and with Rupert Murdoch himself was influencing Hunt's professional judgement.
The flashmob protesters - some wearing cutout masks of Rupert Murdoch - held up copies of today's London Evening Standard (which is not a Murdoch newspaper), displaying the front page headline "Murdoch Staff Pay Met £100K In Bribes", referring to the illegal supply of highly confidential information to reporters by trusted police officers to News of The World journalists.
Demanding an immediate and complete halt to the BSkyB bid attempt, the protesters also called for the sacking of News International's Chief Executive Rebekah Brookes who was Editor in Chief of the News of The World when all the worst offences were supposedly carried out and who, many maintain, must have known what was happening, despite her frequent denials of any knowledge of the phone-hacking offences. Also of the utmost concern is Brookes' close personal friendship with Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife, and the depth of the debt of gratitude he feels he owes to Rupert Murdoch and his media empire for the massive support he got from the Murdoch press during the last general election.
Many, many questions remain unanswered right now about "who knew what and when did they know it?", and as police enquiries commence it was announced today that five journalists will be arrested, as will ex-News of the World editor Andy Coulson who resigned when the first scandal broke after Royal Correspondent Clive Goodman was famously imprisoned for hacking into Prince William's phone. Coulson immediately became David Cameron's election strategist and press spokesman until more recent discoveries obliged him to resign his post as Cameron's spokesperson. Coulson has always maintained he had no knowledge whatsoever of the phone-hacking, but a cache of emails was handed to the police a few days ago which allegedly contradict Coulson's claims of innocence in the matter, and of the clandestine payments made to corrupt police officers, may be behind the news of Coulson's imminent arrest.
Today's shock announcement of the newspaper's sudden demise saw around 200 journalists made redundant today, almost none of whom were working on the paper during the period in question, prompting National Union of Journalist General secretary Michelle Stanistreet to make the following official statement this afternoon:
“This shows the depths to which Rupert Murdoch and his lieutenants at News International are prepared to stoop. The announcement James Murdoch should be making today is the dismissal of Rebekah Brookes as chief executive of News International. The shocking revelations this week show beyond doubt the systemic abuse and corruption at the top of the operation ran by both Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson. Yet News International has persistently lied about the extent of this scandal and tried to pass it off as a problem created by a couple of rogue reporters.
“Closing the title and sacking over 200 staff in the UK and Ireland, and putting scores more freelances and casuals out of a job, is an act of utter cynical opportunism. Murdoch is clearly banking on this drawing a line under the scandal, removing an obstacle to the BskyB deal, and letting his senior executives off the hook. That simply won’t wash. It is not ordinary working journalists who have destroyed this paper’s credibility – it is the actions of Murdoch’s most senior people.
“James Murdoch was absolutely right when he said in his statement today that ‘Wrongdoers turned a good newsroom bad.’ Yet those wrongdoers are still there today, at the top of the News International empire and ordinary staff at the paper are paying with their livelihoods.
“The closure of the News of the World – a newspaper that has been in print now for 168 years – is a calculated sacrifice by Rupert Murdoch to salvage his reputation and that of News International, in the hope that readers will switch allegiance to a new seven-day operation at The Sun, the government will wave through the BskyB deal and he will widen his grip on the UK’s media landscape.
“It is ironic that 25 years after the Wapping dispute it is the behaviour of Rupert Murdoch and his management that has caused the closure of the newspaper. The NUJ will offer all support to its members at the News of the World facing compulsory redundancies and will be organising an emergency meeting of all journalists at the title to offer advice and support.”
All photos © 2011 Pete Riches
Do not reproduce, alter or reblog my images without my permission.
Hi-Res versions of these files are available on application