Many Australians must be slightly bemused to read of prosecutions in Britain arising from the " News of the World " saga. The editor of that Rupert Murdock paper and several senior journalists are appearing in court charged with paying public officials for information.
Is it against the law in Australia to reward someone who discreetly gives a journalist a tip to help them uncover a story ? If so, the police and the entire public sector must be rife with bandits, not to mention the various government agencies - which leak like the proverbial sieve !
This whole affair in Britain topped the headlines when it became known that the newspaper people were hiring technology experts to hack into conversations on the phone network. It seems money changed hands to obtain the private phone numbers of some members of the Royal family from palace insiders, and this may have broken national security laws.
The enquiry shone the light on several shady characters who caused family anguish when they hacked the phone of a missing teenage girl and by deleting messages, gave the impression that she was still alive and using her phone. In fact, this girl had been murdered.
This whole affair has a whif of " payback " and political overtones. Rupert Murdock is a controversial figure with great power because of the reach of his printing empire, and the enquiry took a political turn when it involved a journalist who took up a position as an adviser to the British prime minister. It delves into the murky world of information flow that - on one hand - keeps the politicians and movers and shakers honest for fear of disclosure, and on the other hand - is a weapon that can be used to blacken reputations and cause immense financial loss.
Some people are sworn to silence because of the nature of the job they hold. When they break that code of silence they are probably more at risk of losing their job than facing a charge, but in this British court case - no charges seem to be applied against the information givers. The entire prosecution is against those who received the information.
The " News of the World " has closed it's doors and no longer exists. This long running prosecution seems to be a prolonged attempt to extract the maximum political mileage from a story that has faded from public interest.
One thing is certain. There will always be people with sensitive information that can be traded for a little money. And there will always be journalists looking for a career enhancing story who will gladly pay to secure exclusive rights to that information !
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