Politics Worldwide Journal

For a long time Britain’s had a pushy, raunchy, tabloid press, with a big readership. It exposed hypocritical politicians, randy footballers and published nonsense about celebrities gaining weight.

It was a simple case of supply meeting demand. The tabloids dug the dirt, millions paid to read it. If the tabloids were immoral then so were their readers. The tabloids were like playground bullies with a large gang of hangers-on. It made them virtually untouchable. Anyone who tried was liable to receive the tabloid treatment.

A few brave journalists, politicians and celebrities refused to be intimidated. But that’s another story.

That cosy, amoral, market relationship, underpinned by good old fashioned blackmail and political patronage, has now collapsed. The readers have decided that they are more moral than the tabloids.

To hack the ‘phones of politicians and celebrities was one thing. Unlawful, wrong, but who cares? Politicians and celebrities court publicity. If they then moan that their privacy has been invaded, so what? If they don’t like the heat, so the argument runs, they should get out of the kitchen.

But then a tabloid was caught hacking the ‘phone of a murdered schoolgirl. Voicemail messages were deleted, giving her parents false hope that she was still alive. A red line had been crossed, a scandal ensued.

The tabloids are now chastened and keeping their heads down. The main ‘phone hacking publication – Rupert Murdoch’s News of the World – has closed. Senior politicians, who were in bed with tabloid management, have grabbed their trousers and scarpered. Various inquiries, involving the great and the good, will examine the matter and issue Reports. A seemingly vigorous police inquiry is ongoing. Editors, journalists and, ideally, proprietors, may end up in jail.

But where does that leave Britain’s tabloid culture? The scandal will pass. The readers – millions of them prepared to spend their money on tabloid journalism – will remain. The politicians will continue to court those readers and seek to form relationships with tabloid editors and owners, better to lubricate the romance.

Can Britain’s liberal elite really instruct tabloid owners and their readers on what’s right and proper, and wrong and improper, for them to publish and read? Because that’s what it boils down to. Personally, I hope they – the liberal elite – have a damn good crack at it.

Some people loved the Roman Circus, bullfights, and public executions. But does that mean such events must and should occur? Would freedom of choice and freedom of the press suffer a terrible assault if British tabloid journalism is defanged?