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‘Souvenir pullouts’ and biased crosswords – the end of an era
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As with all my blog posts I do, although it may not be noticeable, try and construct as well as shape my writing to be as impartial as possible. I know with any sort of writing be it the nature of these amateur blog posts or professional journalism biases are anticipated and expected. I will continue my attempt to prevail with fairness throughout my literature but I refuse to give any falsehoods; especially where the News of the World disaster is concerned.
Wh
ile viewing the front pages of the newspapers on the week of Sunday 10th July, the severe majority (if not all) of the headlines were referring to the, is it fair to say, train wreck that has enveloped the News of the World recently. I expected more from this overvalued and overestimated final edition of the News of the World, but reading and observing this publication only continues to remind me why I have never purchased this newspaper before. The front cover reads ‘thank-you & goodbye’, which seems like an optimistic endeavour by the company to feign a gracious exit from the industry when we all know the real reasons behind this last edition. Reported as ‘the world’s greatest newspaper’, this News of the World issue is already being collected by some and listed by others on Ebay. I did I must admit converse about laminating my copy so in years to come it’s in perfect condition, but let me not hesitate to clarify that it was all in jest… honest.
Surrounding the seemingly minor (but what should be major) news articles is 48 pages full of reminiscent front pages in the form of what they title a ‘souvenir pullout’. Now I’m not sure about you, but my idea of a souvenir is a postcard, figurine or a novelty lighter – not newspaper cuttings. I guess they had to do something to justify and prove that they had some non-hacked legitimate stories before, but I really am questioning their choice of front pages. Several are about revealing affairs, taking drugs and sex scandals; no wonder the paper was given the
nickname ‘News of the Screws’. I understand why they would be proud of illustrating their efforts in aiding Sarah’s Law and stories of a similar vein, but I feel it loses all commendation when it’s followed by other stories including ‘Jacko’s deathbed’. Obviously everyone was interested in Michael Jackson’s death but having the photo of the bed he died in on the front page, really? It just seems tasteless that they published it in the first place let alone the fact that they’re proudly repeating it now. I just don’t see how headlines like ‘Crouch beds £800 teen hooker’ are something to be proud about as a company.
Nonetheless how I feel is completely irrelevant as NoW has clearly thrived on this malicious gossip and ridiculous headlines as statistics show it was a very successful product. To support they’re show of success they included scattered quotes from the public about how much they love the newspaper and can’t imagine not being able to read it anymore… slightly worrying attachment to a newspaper I feel. The front pages prior 1984 I noticed seemed more reserved and more news-orientated as oppose to the celebrity culture gossip-orientated news we as a society have been cultivated to buy into now. To be honest, the majority of stories either side of these 48 pages are focussed on mindless celebrity gossip that, I’m probably speaking for the minority, but I don’t actually care about in the slightest.
Sadly for some, it’s more than just vicious gossip and rumours concerning the NoW phone hacking scandal. It’s actually disgraceful it even went this far and on top of it all; the Chief Editor Rebekah Brooks will continue to act as such within News International. Surely she should be the first one to be fired; everything that was in every issue of News of the World would’ve gone through her. With the amount of employees who had nothing to do with the hacking yet have lost their jobs still, it just doesn’t seem right that she should get away with something that fundamentally wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for her. Rightfully bitter ex-colleagues have been seen to be making not-so-subtle negative references to Brooks in the final edition’s crossword – “Brook”, “digital protection”, “catastrophe” and “criminal enterprise” was just some of them. A Times article (referenced in bibliography) explains how ‘the clue for 24 across reads “woman stares wildly at calamity”, said to be a reference to the photo (shown above) of Brooks looking out from a car just moments after NoW announced closure. It’s less than what she deserves, but I’m glad that despite reportedly receiving help from Sun journalists to check for hidden messages in the final edition she ultimately failed in stopping the staff having the last laugh as it were. Brooks may think she’s landed on her feet by maintaining her job within the company, but honestly who is going to like her, respect her or trust her as a colleague now? I know I wouldn’t.
The question on everybody’s lips now is if this purchase of BskyB by Murdoch will happen. I think it’s unlikely many are pro-takeover and hopefully Ed Miliband and colleagues will work with Government and come to deny Murdoch’s potential “media plurality” monopoly. Some rumours are that he’s been planning all of this for a long time which wouldn’t surprise me. I may not agree with what he’s trying to do but I must admit, he is one clever man.
Bibliography
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jul/09/news-of-the-world-thank-you-and-goodbye
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jul/10/david-puttnam-rupert-murdoch-bskyb
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jul/10/charlie-brooker-news-of-the-world
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