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The Sputnik // Wednesday September 14

NEWS

Matt Mente // news@thesputnik.ca

When Business Trumps Morality

Matt Mente Section Editor A surprising investigation into the operations of British tabloid News of the World recently revealed that the paper has been obtaining stories illegally. The tabloid is owned by News Corporation, the worlds second largest media conglomerate better known in Canada for owning Fox News and the Wall Street Journal, the corporation is run by media baron Rupert Murdoch. Investigations running from 2005-2007 revealed that employees of News of the World and some other tabloids owned by News Corp. routinely used phone hacking to access the voicemails of various public figures including the royal family, actors and models. Subsequent investigations in 2011 led to the discovery that reporters had also been accessing voicemail accounts belonging to the families of murder victims and people involved in terrorist attacks. Public outrage at these findings led to several papers, including news of the world, closing, as well as numerous editors being fired. There was little impact at the corporate level however, as News Corp. continues to operate unchanged and Rupert Murdoch has continued to deny any knowledge of the illegal activities of papers he owns. Despite Murdochs denial, reports from current and former employees of some of the tabloids involved indicate that phone hacking wasnt some isolated or secretive affair but that is was actively encouraged by a few high ranking employees and that knowledge of it was so common that even the office cat knew. In addition to this, a former minister of British parliament has claimed that Murdoch used his influence to have messages delivered to Prime Minister Gordon Brown urging him to slow down the investigation into the phone hacking. While not part of any official investigation these pieces of information are alarming given that they come from a company that not only owns a tremendous number of media outlets but is apparently not afraid to show blatant bias, as a growing number believe Fox News to do, or even use illegal methods to try and obtain information for stories. This brings up serious concerns about the ethics employed in the numerous media agencies owned by Murdoch and to a lesser extent the ethics employed by print journalists around the world. There has been heated debate about the best way to ensure similar situations do not occur again and while many blame Murdoch for creating a unique atmosphere of ruthless competitiveness within an amoral media corporation the British government has still deigned it necessary to launch two enquiries into media ethics and standards. The British government is not the only one concerned about the behaviour of Murdochs companies. Across the globe honest journalists are speaking up, and they are angry. Many consider these illegal actions to be disgraceful. Professor Karl Grossman, who teaches journalism at the State University of New York College, has accused Murdoch of making a travesty of what journalism is supposed to be about. Regardless of the backlash over these illegal actions, or the closure of a few papers Murdochs media empire continues on relatively unscathed as one of the largest in the world.
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Kyle W. Brown kyle.brown@thesputnik.ca
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Evan Robertson evan.robertson@wlusp.com (519) 756-8228 ext. 5719 PRODUCTION mANAGER Jen Schwenker jen.schwenker@thesputnik.ca PHOTO EDITOR Venetia Bodanis venetia.bodanis@wlusp.com ART EDITOR Bridget Parker bridget.parker@thesputnik.ca

WEB EDITOR Katelyn Wong web@thesputnik.ca COPY EDITORS Matthew Cook Alicia Saunders SECTION EDITORS Kiley Bell, A&E Jillian Courtney, Features Kristen Curtis, Student Life Kyle Denton, Sports Matt Mente, News Lin Abdul Rahman, Opinion CONTRIBUTORS
Kiley Bell Kyle Brown Venetia Bodanis Jillian Courtney Kristen Curtis Kyle Denton Matt Mente Lin Abdul Rahman

Brantford updating its transit system

Matt Mente Section Editor Brantford city council has recently agreed to a proposal to create a new downtown transit terminal. The project is in its earliest stages as the city still has to proceed with examining several possible sites for the new terminal. While located within the downtown area, the sites being examined cannot currently be disclosed as the city does not own all of the property being considered. A new terminal would mean several things for those who use Brantford Transit and for the Laurier students who use the Brantford Transit system to get around the city. The most obvious difference will simply be size. A new terminal will be much larger than the existing one and will be able to accommodate more busses, both Brantford city busses and coach busses. Another exciting prospect brought about by a new transit terminal is the possibility of Brantford finally being connected to the GO transit system. According to Brantford Mayor Chris Friel GO transit authorities hace been conducting a large scale study which includes the Brant region through this process Brantford has been pushing for a connection to the GO transit system. Obviously all of these plans will not be free and while the city will certainly subsidize a great deal of the cost students may be concerned about how this new project will affect them. Friel reassures that the citys first consideration was Laurier students he also expains that well no costs are yet known the burden of meeting them will not be placed on the end user. This is good news for students. At present Laurier students pay around 30 dollars for a bus pass and after the construction of a new terminal this shouldnt change signifigantly. While there is yet a firm schedule for the construction of the new terminal, the land acquisition process generally takes the most time in projects of this category so once a site is finally announced students and Brantford residents can expect the planning and construction process to be carried out swiftly. Once of the major goals of this new terminal is to move Brantford transit away from its existing hub and spoke system. Well it is part of a seperate process, the push for busses running at more frequent intervals has also been considered in the planning process for this project. The new terminal is intended to serve Brantford residents, and as such, the planning process is set to include signifigant input from residents. There are at least two planned phases for public input one regarding what should be included with the new station and what services are required. The second phase will occur after a site has been selected.

WLUSP BRANTFORD mANAGER OF OPERATIONS Allison Leonard allison.leonard@wlusp.com PHONE (519) 756-8228 ext.5948 FAX (519) 758-9434 111 DARLING STREET N3T 2K8

WLUSP OFFICE 75 University Avenue West Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3C5 PRESIDENT Erin Epp (519) 884-0710 ext.3565 erin.epp@wlusp.com ADVERTISING Angela Foster (519)884-0710 ext. 3560 angela@wlusp.com
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Brantford is considering a new transit terminal to replace the current one on Darling Street. (Photo by Matt Mente)