‘A treacherous combination of press, police and politicians that hide in plain sight’
Dave Gorton
“We’ll never win people to the ideas of socialism because they believe what they read in The Sun.” Nowadays, substitute social media for newspapers but many of us recognise such comments. However, history is littered with examples where the forces of capitalism have been powerless to prevent the organised working class from moving into action.
ITV’s The Hack relates the story of Britain’s phone hacking scandal – one of the most shocking events of recent times. A multinational corporation – Rupert Murdoch’s News International – hacked the voicemails of countless victims by resetting codes meaning journalists could listen in to private messages of celebrities, politicians, the royal family, relatives of deceased armed forces members and even murder victims, including those who were killed in the 2007 London bombings.
One journalist and one private investigator were originally ‘sacrificed’ and imprisoned. Later, the practice was found to be widespread. This exploitation was just to sell newspapers to profit owners and investors.
The series demonstrates the bravery of some journalists and the legal profession and others who put their necks on the line. They faced vicious harassment, breaking up marriages, threatening careers and livelihoods. But it also shows why, ultimately, unorganised individuals will fail.
It is the workers’ movement who can have real influence over multinational corporations and change the course of events. Workers directly make the profits for big business. By withholding labour – or threatening to – private profit accumulation can be affected in a way the actions of journalists in ones and twos cannot hope to match.
Compelling drama
At the beginning of The Hack, journalist Nick Davies, excellently portrayed by David Tennant, struggles to write a scene setter. Yet one attempt – deliberately – gets to the truth: “Imagine a country. Imagine the people in this country believe they are living in a democracy, believe in their own freedom, but they are being abused by a power so ‘every day’ they don’t know how to look for it. A treacherous combination of press, police and politicians that hide in plain sight”.
The press, police and politicians – three arms of the state used to try to prevent revolt from below. The following five and a half hours (over seven episodes) make compelling drama.
This review doesn’t tell the story. The star-studded cast featuring Robert Carlyle, Rebecca Front, Phil Davis and countless others, do that ably themselves. Once again, as in ITV’s Mr Bates vs The Post Office, Toby Jones shines through, playing Guardian editor, Alan Rusbridger.
Murdoch and Rebekah Brooks, one-time editor of both the News of the World (which was closed down) and The Sun and now CEO of News UK, the renamed News International, may have suffered superficial harm in the scandal but their riches and powerful positions remain. Both escaped prison sentences. Andy Coulson, once deputy editor of The News of The World and former Conservative Party Director of Communications under David Cameron, served just five months of his original 18-month sentence.
The Leveson Inquiry, instituted to investigate the wrongdoings, was abandoned by the Cameron government and Starmer’s promises to reinstate it were quietly dropped before the 2024 election.
Real justice over the scandal may never be delivered. But workers’ struggles against all oppression, fighting to bring an end to this rotten, corrupt, crisis-ridden capitalist system, will mean such valiant attempts were not in vain. In the meantime, watch The Hack. You won’t be disappointed.
