The Phone Hacking Scandal - Examination of Goverment/Media Relationship

(Click on the image to open the diagram from it's original source, in a new window)

The News International Phone Hacking Scandal dominated online news, newsprint and social networking sites such as twitter for months. But what actually happened? A detailed interactive diagram created by the Guardian explains all.

The ongoing controversy involved British tabloids owned by News International, fundamentally the News of the World, hacking into phones and bribing police in the pursuit of publishing stories. Investigations began in 2005, where it was revealed that employees hacked phones of celebrities, politicians and the Royal family. In 2011, it was found that they had also hacked the phones of relatives of British solders, victims of the London bombings and murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler. This is where the public outcry began against Rupert Murdock, the owner of News Corp. The News of the World closed in July 2011, it's last edition sporting the phrase 'Thank You and Goodbye'.

The scandal represents important aspects of the relationship between the media and the Goverment. An inquiry begun by the prime minister looked into the actions of the News of the World, and the culture and ethics of the British media in general. A parliamentary media committee was set up in British Government.

The most relevant thing to note for our narrative is the power the Government had over the Media: they were able to arrest, enquire and could have had the power to close the tabloid. It brings up certain issues, how much power should they have to control an industry who's fundamental role is to encourage opinion through accessible news? How much 'truth' or 'fact' is really published in modern media? If the goverment brought in new laws which restrains media or controls it, is it possible for them to influence media, and therefore influence the people who media accesses?

Media is one of the basic outlets for opinion, and has a huge influence over how people vote, among many other things. If the government were to gain more control over the media, would it lead to smaller vote margins and perhaps one party continuing to be in power?

This is the idea we based our narrative on. The goverment has gained complete and utter control over all media outlet, leading to a totalitaristic political system.