Journalism and Popular Culture

The News of the World phone-hacking scandal shook the journalistic world and society at large. In the aftershock of this issue, a question arises that I find to be particularly significant – what effect has this incident had on the profession of Journalism and its relationship with its community?

Within Popular Culture, journalists have, on numerous occasions, been depicted as selfish, immoral, conniving people. One has only to look as far as the portrayal of journalists in films and televisions series such as Once Upon a Time, Definitely Maybe, Dexter and Ides of March, to find such examples. Many, and I as a journalist student, would argue that such a representation is unfair and misguided. Unfortunately, however, the phone-hacking scandal has not helped correct this misrepresentation but instead has fuelled society’s distaste for the media and the field of journalism. Indeed, as stated in an article posted in the Melbourne Herald Sun on the 9^th of July, 2011, “[t]he behaviour uncovered at the News of the World newspaper in London … is a terrible slur on the progression of journalism.”

Courtney Forde, the unethical Journalist in Dexter (Season Four)

 Intrigued as to whether this event, described by Jonathan Holmes, presenter of the ABC’s Media Watch as “the biggest media story to hit [Britain]… in my lifetime,” had truly affected Australia’s perception of journalists, I asked family and friends their opinion on the subject. My mother interestingly noted that such an event had undermined the legitimacy of this profession, causing people to question the ethics of journalism. As my twin brother, Alexander, another journalism student submitted, the scandal has affected the standards of quality of journalism all over the world. Though the criminal and unethical behaviour that occurred in Britain has not been witnessed in Australia, journalists in this country are still unfortunately feeling the reverberations of such an incident. Unfortunately, it appears only time will improve society’s perception of journalists.