Invasion of Privacy

Secondly, I have chosen an invasion of privacy story to look at. This will be the phone hacking scandal of 2006/07. Voicemail messages were intercepted by the News of the World and a Private Investigator. This of course caused outrage amongst the public and people involved. A lot of people that had been in the public eye since then also had to question whether their phones had too been hacked when the Guardian reported that the News of the World had hacked the murdered school girl Milly Dowler’s phone. 

Rightly so, the family of Milly Dowler were upset and angry by the situation, after having found out that their daughters phone and privacy had been invaded, and there was nothing that she could do about it. Therefore it was a story of priority, and caused uproar. 

It then worsened as the police found out that many other phones had been hacked, including those of celebrities, Prime Ministers and those that had been murdered. 

This story wasn’t that big at first, it was only second page news when it was discovered, it was only the nation found out that it starting hitting the headlines and breaking news stories were created. However it was very big online, on websites such as the Daily Mail which is always updated with new news stories very quickly, and social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook also helped spread the news. This is story immediacy. 

Follow up stories then came out because the public started wondering, if the newspapers had hacked the phones of those in the public eye, whats to stop them hacking theirs? 

This of course sparked panic and paranoia, with everyone questioning the News of the World and their motives. Celebrities also got involved which helped with popularising the story because fans of the celebs will share the stories they tell. 

This story was huge in Britain, with the News of the World being a British Newspaper. There was a big need for availability of audio. The Prime Minister actually released a statement saying the whole situation was “Truly dreadful.”
A lot of celebrities also gave statements, like Hugh Grant who quotes things such as “Toxic, Bullying and Blackmail.” These statements would trigger emotions in the public as they know who these people are, almost making the story more personal to them. 

Radio stations all have different news room policies. Some stations will feel more strongly about the ratings that they are getting, rather than who they are going to offend or upset when they release the stories. Stations like Radio 1 and Key 103 would broadcast a story like this because of their target audience being the generation that are more accustomed to using their mobile phones. 

I feel that this story is a public interest one because everyday could of just as easily had their phones hacked. However it isn’t a story that we need to know about, as it’s not likely that we did have our phones hacked. Also the older generation may not be as interested in the story as mobile phones aren’t as popular amongst them so it doesn’t seem to effect them as much. 

Overall I think that the media have definitely gone a step to far with the phone hacking. A mobile phone is there for private use, and for someone to invade that is disgusting. 

Also, the thought of someone going through your phone once you have died, like in the case of Milly Dowler, is horrible. She is not here to say what she thinks on the situation so the News of the World have been very cowardly in this instance.