Making Headlines Is Their Business

One would have to be living under a rock to not be aware of all the news regarding the hacking scandal involving Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp publishing empire, and specifically with his News of the World publication. The headlines regarding the scandal are everywhere: on the internet, TV, print media, social network sites, and blogs such as this one.  Rupert Murdoch has built an empire making headlines, writing headlines and reporting the news that impacts the world.  Now, he is at the center of it all and making headlines of his own for all the wrong reasons.

To put it in very simple terms, what is at stake with the issues facing Murdoch’s media company is that they accessed information that did not belong to them and they got caught.  They hacked. They (allegedly) broke the law, trying to use the information to benefit themselves in the form of big stories, which of course leads to more newspapers to sell—and in turn—more revenue. I can’t help but think of Gordon Gecko’s infamous line…“Greed is good” from Wall Street.  Bad decisions, based on the need to have access to information, got in the way of good business.

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They were after information like voicemails, cell phone numbers, personal information, and in short—data.  I have said for years that data is the lifeblood of any company.  Whether it be a multi billion dollar organization, a mom-and-pop shop or even a family or individual person.  Data is what we use to run our lives and make decisions within our personal ecosystems.  Data drives behavior, aids us in our choices and determines how global markets will react. Data can help a country rise up and change for the better, or it can bring it down.

The fallout from the News Corp scandal has already been significant.  Peoples’ lives have been impacted in irreparable ways. The collateral damage extends to the loss of privacy of the direct victims of the hacking, to their families and personal ecosystems.  Murdoch’s massive publication, News of the World, is shutting down as a result of this, resulting in the loss of employment for hundreds of employees. Their families will soon feel the impact and the pain as well in the form of no income, loss of benefits, added stress of looking for new jobs, etc. Once hailed as a successful, albeit mercurial CEO, Murdoch’s personal brand and his integrity may be permanently damaged. How can you trust someone whose company accessed data illegally?

A euphemism for data is information.  Call it what you like but not a day goes by that people are not seeking out information that will help them in some way, shape or form.  Look back to the events earlier this year and the protests in Egypt that took place. People rallied and came together in Tahir Square in Cairo based on information that was shared over social media.  The information helped people make a choice to take a stand, rally together and realize that they could change the fate of both themselves and their country.  Look at what happened with Raj Rajaratnan and his Galleon investment fund. They were indicted and found guilty of insider trading and using information illegally.  The fallout from that was enormous and far-reaching, and will be felt for quite some time.

Military planners use data to make decisions on national security: Wall Street and the financial markets use data to make investment decisions.  Most, if not all of America, it watching and waiting to see what happens with the debt ceiling and when (not if) the President and the Gang of Six will reach an agreement.  What is driving this behavior and these decisions?  Data, or Information.

Whether Rupert Murdoch and his News of the World team are guilty and what the fallout will be is yet to be determined, and it’s for others more qualified than me to decide.  Regardless of the outcome, I’m sure that Rupert would rather be reading headlines along the lines of “Dewey Defeats Truman” or “Victory In Europe!”

So, given the importance of data and the impact it can have on the world, why would anyone not want to protect it?