Newspaper Scandal Hits Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown
Following the shutting down of “News of the World” Sunday paper in the United Kingdom, other media outlets owned by Rupert Murdoch are now being accused of unethical journalistic practices.
The new alleged immoral practices involve the invasion of privacy of former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
A source close to Brown told CNN that The Sunday Times and The Sun newspapers attempted to acquire private information regarding the former prime minister, and specifically targeted his financial records and text messages.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
The invasion of privacy particularly surrounds Gordon Brown’s sick son Fraser. The Sun newspaper allegedly obtained details about the sickness through unethical means and later published a story about Fraser’s illness, causing great distress to the Brown family who were still coming to terms with the illness.
Another incident allegedly took place with Brown’s finances when The Sunday Times obtained access to Brown’s financial information.
The latest news is a further blow to Rupert Murdoch as his media empire continues to take a bashing, and he may now halt his plans to expand his media conglomerate.
Murdoch has previously expressed his plans to purchase satellite broadcaster BSkyB, which would enable him to become the largest media company in the U.K.
"I know that colleagues on all sides of this house and the public at home feel very concerned at the prospect of the organization which allegedly allowed these terrible things to happen being allowed to take control of what would become Britain's biggest media company," said Hunt, British Secretary of State for Culture and Media.
