News

Hartigan: News of the World is an affront to all of us

News_of_the_World logoNews Ltd boss John Hartigan has told his staff that the activities of sister title the News of the World in the UK “in no way reflect” how the company does business in Australia.

The note from Hartigan – CEO and chairman of News Ltd in Australia – came a few hours after News Corp announced the closure of British tabloid the News of the World.  

The scale of the paper’s voicemail-hacking activities emerged this week with those targeted including murder victims, dead servicemen’s families, politicians and celebrities.

Concluding his message in which he reminded staff of a duty to follow the company’s ethical code, Hartigan said: “Regrettably, a line has been crossed and it’s important at times like this that if we care about the power, value and relevance of responsible journalism then we must express in the strongest terms our distress and dismay at such a breach of faith.”

The full text:

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This weeks events vindicate the stance of Sunday Telegraph editor Neil Breen who was one of the first News Ltd editors in the world to question claims that the hacking was the work of a rogue journalist.

At the beginning of the year, Breen told Mumbrella editor Tim Burrowes: “If people on my staff were phone tapping people I’d know about it.”

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