A Human Rights Defender's Perspective

  Picture C ourtesy of BBC The drama that has been building up in London lately, on phone hacking allegations and generally on the irresponsibility of the Media in the quest for stories to sell. I therefore watched with great interest when Rupert Murdoch (recently ranked among the most influential personalities in the world) appeared before Culture Media and Sport committee on phone-hacking in London. Not only was an owner of one of the largest (global) media enterprise on the dock, but more importantly there was a general spotlight on the media. Background in a nut-shell The News International phone hacking scandal is an ongoing controversy involving the News of the World, a now-defunct British tabloid newspaper published by News International — a subsidiary of News Corporation — and the allegations that individuals working for the newspaper engaged in phone hacking. There are related allegations that the newspaper had obtained information in further illicit ways including makin