I'd rather write about Kate than Rebekah...

I must confess to getting very little work done this afternoon. The breaking news item that flashed up on my computer sent me rushing to my T.V. to watch the news channels while keeping one eye on Twitter.

So Rupert Murdoch was pulling the plug on The News of the World. In the light of this gobsmacking development about the closure of the newspaper with the biggest circulation in the UK, I wanted to write a post about corporate social responsibility and ethics in the workplace etc etc..

James Murdoch, son of Rupert, and News International Chairman, stated that in closing News of the World he was ‘committed to doing the right thing’. He went on to state that he is satisfied with the conduct of Rebekah Brooks. That would be the same Rebekah Brooks who was editor of the newspaper at the time that alleged hacking of the phones of murder victim, Milly Dowler, relatives of the London 7/7 bombings and loved ones of soldiers killed on active duty. The same Rebekah Brooks who keeps her job as 200 employees of the newspaper lose theirs.

And how did they hear that they were losing their jobs? On the newswire, just as the rest of the world received Murdoch’s statement. No staff meeting, no courtesy, no consideration for these people who are completely innocent of the heartless and tasteless activities that a few ‘rogue individuals’ undertook on behalf of the tabloid several years ago.

I started to write this blog with indignant commentary about how corporate culture is shaped from the top – that the regime where Brooks and her sidekicks were known as ‘the princes of darkness’ should be brought to account. The alleged hacking, invasion of privacy and potential interference of a police investigation all took place on Rebekah Brook’s watch.  

As the news coverage continued I became more depressed. This was a clear example of how the big boys play nasty and the little people get bruised.  But I have very little to add on this tragic story.

So I switched channels and watched a delightful programme about William and Kate’s visit to Canada. The love that shines between them, the joy that they both seemed to bring to every public occasion and the positive way they represented this country  is clear for all to see.

What a wonderful antidote to the murky goings on back home.