When does their conscience kick in?

When the news first broke about the News of the World hacking into the phones of celebrities, I must admit I wasn’t too surprised. They’re a sleazy tabloid for goodness sake!

Fast forward a few months, and the paper has been shut down and the Leveson inquiry is currently in the news.  To me, the celebrities whose phones were hacked well, sorry but I have no sympathy for them. As my granny used to say “You live by the sword, you die by the sword”. I know that everyone is entitled to their privacy but they can’t seriously put themselves on the same wavelength of that such as the family of Milly Dowler and the McCanns?

Recently, Piers Morgan has been involved with claims that phone hacking went on when he was editor at the Mirror. Of course he denies this. Wouldn’t you? Another thing my granny used to say was “when rumours spread, there is truth somewhere”

Someone somewhere needs to take responsibility for this whole sorry mess. It’s dragging journalism, as a profession, through the mud.

When I sit in class at college, right above my computer is the NUJ Code of Conduct. Members of the NUJ are expected to abide by the 12 set of principles that seemed to be overlooked by the majority of newspapers and journalists today. I feel like posting them all a copy of these principles along with a copy of the Press Code of Conduct. When do their consciences kick in and the guilt takes over? Even in my class, articles have been written using shall we say, dishonest means. I couldn’t. I’d be wracked with guilt and couldn’t live with myself. Plus I actually want to be a journalist, not just play at it.

I want to be a journalist not just because of my love of writing but because I want to make a difference in some way no matter how small. (I originally wanted to be a music journalist but I’m kind of swaying towards investigative journalism.)

I remember back in first year when my law lecturer asked us if we would ever work for the Sun newspaper of similar tabloid. Everyone put their hands up. Not me. I like to think that I have some sort of morals and principles.

I’d rather end up working on the checkout at a supermarket then sell my soul to the devil and work where dishonesty and phone hacking becomes the principles that journalists follow. Maybe I’m a martyr or maybe my conscience would just kick in.


http://www.levesoninquiry.org.uk/