At the time when the News of the World was commonly known as the Barmaids Bible, there were few "Scoops" compared with what we are used to nowadays. There were no Mobile Phones and there was little "Investigative Journalism".
What the N of the W did was to publish detailed reports of court cases which revealed the consequences when young ladies strayed from the straight and narrow path. Victorian principles were still the fashion and the moral standard in an era when "The Pill", or anti natal pill, had not yet been produced.
Just as preachers were moralizing their flocks, each Sunday morning, the News of the World was also published for its readers; they were hungry for more stories.
Television coverage, "The Pill", Mobile Phones and other modern means of communication, increased competition for "Scoops" which also led to Investigative Journalism where no holds were barred. This was also visible in other countries, not just in Great Britain. In some cases judges were encouraged, not to say obliged, to impose reporting restrictions. In fact what is really required is a code of conduct for reporting with stiff penalties (fines and/or imprisonment) for Journalists and Editors who abusively invade the privacy of others.
Today the N of the W publishes its last edition. Surely a sister newspaper will try to recover its millions of abandoned readers !!! Scoops will still be required in future, they do sell a lot of newspapers, but the winding up costs may be heavy.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment