Blaming everyone but yourself...

I have been able to think of little else over the past day or so other than The News of the World scandal. The thing about this story is that it makes it so easy to expose their hypocrisy.  Take for instance the tragic case of Baby P.  Both the NotW and the Sun lead with headlines such as:

Shoesmith blames everyone but self

Unfortunately the NotW articles are behind a paywall so I can't link to them, but The Sun is as good as the same.  

The argument is that because Baby P died on Sharon Shoesmith's watch she was ultimately responsible (she wasn't to blame, but she was responsible) and as such she had to go.  News Corp were very adamant about this (and probably rightly so).  However now the spot light is being shone on them it is a different story.  David Allen Green brilliantly analyses Rebekah Brooks' statement today and he sums it up much better than I can.  

It has also emerged (as I fear was to be expected) that this allegedly goes much deeper than the Milly Dowler case, as highlighted today.  I do like to presume innocence, but the sheer volume of accusations, the payouts already made to celebrities imply that there is no smoke without fire.  As such I am pleased to see that some big names such as Ford, Halifax and NPower are reviewing their advertising policy with NotW, this is an excellent thing, and because of this when I decide I need a car I shall look closely at Ford as I appreciate their moral stance.  News Corp wont give two hoots about the accusations unless they hit them where it hurts - their bottom line.   News of the World have promised:

"If the allegations are proved to be true then I can promise the strongest possible action will be taken as this company will not tolerate such disgraceful behaviour."

At the end of the day however, I feel that this should be a police matter - whether or not they are independent enough in the matter may be open to debate, but internal action against employees should not be enough - there must be legal ramifications. 


The excellent Richard Morris blogged similarly here including the tweet by Charlie Brooker that I had also seen and put the Sharon Shoesmith story back into my head.