News International – time to act

Update: Obviously in the last few hours events have moved on, as it has been announced the News of the World will be closing after this week. Congratulations to everyone who has campaigned against them in recent days and weeks – but we must remain vigilant, the paper could easily just return under a new name.

Like most people, we’ve been appalled as more and more details emerge over News International’s involvement in phone hacking. That missing teenager Milly Dowler’s phone was hacked appears to have been a tipping point for the media and political establishment, but LabourList readers will not have been entirely surprised. After all, last month we reported on Tom Watson’s speech to the GMB, in which he outlined the gruesome and disturbing case against News International. As our editor wrote over at the Huffington Post yesterday, we still don’t know how deep this rabbit hole goes.

In recent days we have been inundated with posts from across the Labour movement, all united in condemnation of the News of the World, and their increasingly serious charge sheet. Yet condemnation from the Labour movement won’t motivate the News of the World to change. They need to be hit hardest where it hurts – their profits.

A successful campaign is being waged against the paper, led by Political Scrapbook and Liberal Conspiracy. If you haven’t seen the campaign yet, and you want to get involved, please check it out. Already numerous advertisers have announced their plans to distance themselves from the News of the World, but some are still content to pour millions into the coffers of an utterly discredited organisation.

The whole of the party is incredibly proud of the dogged determination that Labour MPs Chris Bryant and Tom Watson (and others) have shown in pursuing this case. It is only right that we back them. This is the most effective way to do just that.