The head of the Vatican paper L'Osservatore Romano says the recent
phone hacking scandal involving a British tabloid shows the need for
better ethics in the field of journalism.
“What happened has been
very unfortunate and News of the World was just the tip of the iceberg,”
editor-in-chief Gian Maria Vian told CNA July 11.
At least nine
journalists and three police officers are facing prison for hacking into
the phones of celebrities, royals and families of crime victims to
garner stories for News of the World – a British tabloid paper owned by
the media mogul Rupert Murdoch.
The latest news reports indicate
that even former U.K. prime minister Gordon Brown and other national
figures had their phones hacked by News of the World journalists.
According
to Scotland Yard, some of the imprisoned 12 have already been
questioned and bailed but officials say it's likely that further arrests
will be made soon.
Investigators also recently discovered a 2007
internal News International report indicating that hacking practices
within the paper was more widespread than previously thought but that
evidence was not given to police until this year.
Senior
Metropolitan police officer John Yates has vowed that any police found
to have been paid cash for stories by the newspaper would be imprisoned.
Up to now, three corrupt Metropolitan police officers – listed
under false names in the News of the World's payroll records– were
compensated around $200,000 in bribes by journalists.
Vian said
that the mounting scandals involving the now defunct British paper show
that ethical guidelines must be outlined for the field of journalism, as
with any other profession.
The scandal makes it “evident that
all information – and the Pope himself said this in his message for the
World Day for Social Communication – needs a focus that allows for talk
of 'info-ethics,' as bioethics is spoken of.”
The violations of
privacy by committed by the News of the World reporters, Vian said, show
a fundamental lack of regard for the humanity of the victims.
“Before information come the demands of justice and the demands of respect for the dignity of every human person.”
Vian
said that L'Osservatore Romano is planning to address the scandal and
the increasing need for “info-ethics” with an editorial by noted
columnist Fr. Jose Maria Gil Tamayo.
Ethical criteria, he emphasized, must be respected by those in the field of journalism.