Should Journalism and Politics remain independent?

 

The Levenson enquiry was a public, judge led enquiry that was commissioned to investigate the practices and ethics of the press by Prime Minister David Cameron.The enquiry was started in the wake of the phone hacking scandal that saw members of the public and celebrities have their phone records being hacked into and used in papers such as The News of the World.The most famous of the phone hacking cases was that of school girl Milly Dowler who was murdered in 2002; journalists at The News of the World had hacked into the school girl’s voice mails and messages giving a false hope to her parents who believed that she was still alive; this sparked a massive public outcry, forcing the government to look into the standards and ethics that the press use in order for them to produce news.Other members of the public have also been affected by the phone hacking scandal, where voice mails were routinely accessed. British soldiers, relatives of the victims of the 7/7 London tube attack and the mother of murdered school girl Sarah Payne were all affected. With all these cases and all the controversy, it sparks the question,’’should journalism and politics remain independent?’’

With the continuation of the press getting involved in our private lives, I do believe that journalism and politics should remain independent.  When the Levenson enquiry saw that the public was affected; it got into the very heart of this country by highlighting to them, that news organisations can gain knowledge from anywhere. When murder victims and British heroes are involved, in such a scandal; it proves that there is no faith in our society. Seedy, dark and underhanded are some of the words, which come to mind when I think about the journalist we have today. Getting a front page story is all that matters to them, as it’s their job to report the news as they see it and let the people of the world know what’s going on around them. Politics however, did play a part in the Levenson enquiry. The government did begin to get the message from the nation; when the outcry began, forcing them to sit up and pay attention to what the people had to say. Lord Levenson was able to conduct a well structured and sort out case; which led to the eventual investigation into the press system. He was able to examine every inch of the press, and to vanquish, the sordid elements that were not needed in the system. The aftermath of the enquiry has proven to be strong; with the press now more aware as to, where there sources come from and what stories they publish. Journalism and politics do need to remain separate; purely for the public’s sake, to keep our lives private. As a final statement from all British citizens, our lives need to remain private and out of the press’s forever roaming eye, we are not celebrities wanting to further a career, so don’t use us for your next front page story.

 

Should Journalism and politics remain independent-written assignment-full article page link here

---