Phone Hacking : Does a Pursuit of the Truth Give Journalists the Right?
Phone Hacking : Does a Pursuit of the Truth Give Journalists the Right?
Clearwater, FL (PRWEB) August 01, 2011
Events are finally unfolding to the fullest extent with the English based newspaper, “News of the World”, a company owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation. After 168 years, the company has ceased publications on July 10th, 2011 due to a scandal involving the practice of hacking into phones to read voice messages and overhear private conversations. Two sources from the law firm of Carlson, Meissner, Hart & Hayslett explain how this incident may amend state laws regarding modern technology.
According to a New York Times article by Robert Mackey on September 7, 2010, Sean Hoare claimed that former News of the World editor, Andy Coulson encouraged the practice of phone hackings. Hoare went on to explain “that he had played tape recordings of hacked messages for Coulson and that his former boss “actively encouraged him” to break into the voice-mail accounts of public figures.”
Sparking further outrage came reports that journalists were even hacking into the phones of surviving family members of victims involved in the September 11 attacks on the world trade center and the July 7th suicide bombings in London. William K. Rashbaum of the New York Times, writes that the FBI has officially launched an “inquiry into allegations that News Corp sought to gain access to the phone records of victims in the Sept 11 attacks.”
On the matter of legal statutes, Attorney Robert Vessel with the law firm of Carlson, Meissner, Hart & Hayslett went on to say, “Civil damages for invasion of privacy by phone hacking would have to be determined under the law of the state where the hacking occurred.” Vessel goes on further to say, “As phone hacking is a modern phenomenon, most states have no laws governing this act and traditional tort laws would have to be used. No doubt if phone hacking is proved in the case of the 9/11 victims, many states would pass laws providing a civil remedy for the victims of phone hacking.”
One the most controversial allegations to come forth, is the story of Milly Dowler. Dowler was a thirteen-year-old girl who was kidnapped and murdered in 2002. As stated in a Guardian article written by Nick Davies and Amelia Hill on July 4th 2011, “phone messages were intercepted and deleted by News of the World journalists in the first few days after Dowler’s disappearance.”
Brandon Cohen at Stetson University College of Law in Tampa Florida stressed the point that the issue of consequences isn’t a constitutional matter, but a matter of civil rights. Cohen goes on to explain, “the only thing an individual can do in regards to a crime committed against them is to sue in the civil court system. For the family members related to the 9/11 victims, they can probably sue for some kind of tortuous violation. But they have to show that there was some kind of damage caused against them. In the case against Milly Dowler however, there I can see an intention of emotional harm with a strong case of receiving a substantial amount of money, due to the fact of deleting messages that could of led to her being saved and may have resulted in her death.”
In a BBC interview held on July 8th, former News of the World editor, Paul McMullan tried to justify his actions stating, “I’ve always tried to write articles in a truthful way, and in what better source of getting the truth, is to listen to someone’s messages.” In the same interview, comedian Steve Coogan attacked McMullan, stating, “You’re not uncovering corruption and bringing down institutions that are inherently corrupt, you’re just trying to find out who’s sleeping with who. It’s about selling papers!”
However, even if phone hacking was used to uncover inherently corrupt institutions, would that still make it all right? Would the ends justify the means, or are even criminals allowed their right to privacy? While it’s questions like these that explain why such a storm won’t dissipate for some time, there is no question about the blatant intrusions committed against the families suffering from tragedies.
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More than Six Million People a Month Get their News from Citizen Journalists on Allvoices
More than Six Million People a Month Get their News from Citizen Journalists on Allvoices
San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) July 7, 2010
Allvoices.com, the largest open media site in the world, today announced that 6.5 million unique monthly visitors now get their news and information from more than 375,000 registered citizen journalists reporting on its platform, making it the largest citizen media site in the world. Allvoices is the only media platform where anyone can report unfiltered news and other timely information from anywhere, anytime for immediate consumption by a global audience. Contributor and reader growth is in direct proportion to, and an affirmation of citizen journalism’s popularity, the ease of which anyone can publish reports on Allvoices, and the site’s ability to verify report credibility—an industry first and a necessity in citizen journalism.
Launched just two years ago and already ranked a top 3000 site by Alexa and top 2000 site by Quantcast, Allvoices has quickly become the web’s leading resource for first-hand event accounts from hyper-local to global locales. The public’s hunger for alternative news sources and un-sanitized information has been a major contributor to the site’s popularity as a repository for raw news accounts.
To ensure reports are thorough, Allvoices employs a unique combination of technology, automated aggregation and community content curation to provide a 360 degree view of every contribution. Fully-realized “news packages” can start with as little as a text message. Once received and vetted for authenticity, Allvoices Automated News Room surrounds reports with related information from other mainstream and user-generated sources such as blogs, video, pictures and Twitter to produce a richly detailed accounting from multiple, immediate perspectives.
“Allvoices was born into a media climate where we were the ‘right idea at the right time,’” said Amra Tareen, founder and CEO, Allvoices. “Citizen Journalism is finally coming into its own; there are simply too many information sources now for the mainstream media to keep up with news consumers’ growing expectations of immediacy, unfiltered and unedited content, first hand perspective, the ability to share and manipulate information or become an information source themselves. Allvoices’ rising popularity affirms our belief that news is not defined by a finite number of publishers, but by anyone, anywhere with the means to capture an event and explain its significance.”
Over the past year Allvoices’ rapid technological innovation has raised bar for citizen journalism. The site is responsible for introducing a number of other firsts which have contributed to the site’s popularity as a destination-location for news you can’t find within mainstream sources. Concurrently, interest in specific world events such as the Iranian elections, the World Cup, the Olympics and other political, cultural, socio-economic and human interest stories has also contributed to Allvoices’ rapid user acquisition.
Advancements in citizen journalism coming out of Allvoices this year include:
–The Global Assignment Desk – where both professional and citizen journalists provide regular in-country reports from 30 major cities around the world.
–The appointment of David Warthen, Ask Jeeves (Ask.com) co-founder and Internet visionary as Allvoices’ Chief Technology Officer
–Warthen revolutionized online search and marketing while at Ask Jeeves and helped lead the company through its initial public offering (IPO) in 1999.
–The most lucrative incentive plan in the citizen journalism industry, including health care for citizen reporters
–The Allvoices Syndication Program where:
–Allvoices offers world wide exposure to media and image buyers.
–Allvoices licenses submitted images
–Allvoices international platform showcases contributor images and increases the chances of selling images
–Innovative reporting assignments such as the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa News Reporting Contest, and
“We’ve worked very hard to get to this point, and the reception we’ve received from both the mainstream media and proponents of citizen journalism alike has been tremendous,” said Aki Hashmi, Chief Marketing Officer, Allvoices. “There is broad recognition of the importance of the citizen reporter’s perspective on world events, and before our inception there were few places for that unique, first hand voice. Our goal is to make sure we maintain a strong platform where journalists of all types can publish and promote their work. The numbers we’re announcing today agree with and affirm our intent of providing the best vehicle for anyone who wants to expose news to the world.”
About Allvoices, Inc.
Allvoices.com is the largest global community offering local to global news and perspectives in one place. With its proprietary technology, Allvoices provides a 360p view of news by enabling citizen reporting from its community and international news bureaus that is automatically surrounded by additional sources of content including mainstream news feeds and blogs, social media feeds (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube), images and videos which provides context, insight and diversity of opinions around a broad range topics and issues on the global, national and local levels. Allvoices utilizes professional online news stories and media to determine relevancy and credibility with each contribution made to the site. Its highly automated system blends the latest advances in natural language processing and machine learning with a vibrant, diverse and engaged community so anyone can easily publish relevant, trustworthy news for a global audience. The resulting connection and dialogue between contributors and readers makes Allvoices the destination for breaking news, hyperlocal topics and popular global interest stories (http://www.allvoices.com).
Contact:
press(at)allvoices(dot)com
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©Copyright 1997-
, Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.
Vocus, PRWeb, and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.