World Phone Hacking Scandal
In March of 2002, Milly Dowler, a 13 year old student, was abducted and later murdered. From the time of the abduction until her body was found in September of that year, her family and friends had maintained hope through the fact that Milly’s voicemails were being deleted, giving them hope that Milly may have still been alive. However, in July of 2011, it was reported that it was in fact reporters from the Rupert Murdoch owned News of the World paper checking the phone messages and inadvertently deleting them. This was when the public became aware of an ongoing investigation into a scandal that had started years before.
Every corporation faces ethical decisions on a daily basis, including the news media. While a news outlet may not have to worry about consumer safety or environmental factors as much as a factory or another type of company, unethical practices do occur. The way in which information is obtained is highly regarded ethical practice in the journalism world. Hacking into cellphones and voicemail boxes is not only considered wrong, it is illegal.
Corporate intelligence is the collection and analysis of information on markets, technologies, customers, and competitors, as wells as on socioeconomic and external political trends (Ferrell, 2011). Ethical corporate intelligence can include companies using secret shoppers to price competitors, focus groups to learn what is popular among certain demographics, or obtaining information through public sources such as court records, libraries, or sanctioned interviews. Corporate intelligence can be used in an unethical way as shown by the News of the World. Private investigators hired by the company and journalists on payroll were actively eavesdropping and hacking voicemail passcodes to get the scoop on stories.
The News of the World scandal originally came to light in 2005 when Buckingham Palace suspected that Prince William’s phone had been hacked when news of his knee surgery was released before the surgery
Every corporation faces ethical decisions on a daily basis, including the news media. While a news outlet may not have to worry about consumer safety or environmental factors as much as a factory or another type of company, unethical practices do occur. The way in which information is obtained is highly regarded ethical practice in the journalism world. Hacking into cellphones and voicemail boxes is not only considered wrong, it is illegal.
Corporate intelligence is the collection and analysis of information on markets, technologies, customers, and competitors, as wells as on socioeconomic and external political trends (Ferrell, 2011). Ethical corporate intelligence can include companies using secret shoppers to price competitors, focus groups to learn what is popular among certain demographics, or obtaining information through public sources such as court records, libraries, or sanctioned interviews. Corporate intelligence can be used in an unethical way as shown by the News of the World. Private investigators hired by the company and journalists on payroll were actively eavesdropping and hacking voicemail passcodes to get the scoop on stories.
The News of the World scandal originally came to light in 2005 when Buckingham Palace suspected that Prince William’s phone had been hacked when news of his knee surgery was released before the surgery
References: Bernstein, C. (2011, July 9). Is Phone Hacking Scandal Murdoch’s Watergate? [Editorial]. Newsweek. Colvin, G. (2011, August 15). Behind the Murdoch Scandal? Scandalous Governance [Editorial]. Fortune, 164(3), 63-65. Retrieved from Business Source Complete database. (64003871) Ferrell, & Fraedrich. (2011). Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making (8th ed.). Mason, Ohio: Cengage Learning. Moment Prince William Discovered ‘Voicemail Scam’. (2006, August). Retrieved from The Daily Mail website: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-399814/Moment-Prince-William-discovered-voicemail-scam.html The New York Times Company Policy on Ethics in Journalism. (2005, October). Retrieved from The New York Times Company website: http://www.nytco.com/company-properties-times-coe.html Oliver, C., Davies, N., & Canter, A. (2011, July 7). Rebekah Brooks, Andy Coulson, the News of the World and Phone Hacking – Interactive Timeline. Retrieved from The Gaurdian website: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/interactive/2011/jan/21/andy-coulson-interactive-timeline Phone-hacking Scandal: Arrest Timeline. (2012, March 13). Retrieved from The Guardian website: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/jan/28/operation-elveden-weeting-full-arrests Pressman, G. (2011, July 12). In Journalism, the End Doesn’t Justify the Means. Retrieved from NBC New York website: http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/In-Journalism-the-End-Doesnt-Justify-the-Means-125446643.html Small, M. (2011, November/December). The Lessons of the Hacking Scandal. Information World Review, 268, 14. Retrieved from Business Source Complete database. (72887448)