What is happening in the British media now looks like somebody has opened Pandora's box.

It was revealed a week ago that News of the World, a Rupert Murdoch newspaper, had been involved in a phone hacking scandal in 2006. Since then troubles for the media titan have come in quick succession and compelled him to assume the role of a firefighter.

Murdock made the decision to make Sunday's edition of News of the World, Britain's best-selling tabloid with a history of 168 years, its last.

Nonetheless, the scandal lives on and is still growing. On Monday, two more newspapers owned by Murdoch's News Corporation, the Sunday Times and the Sun, were accused of hacking, deception and privacy violations. Prominent figures such as Queen Elizabeth II and former prime minister Gordon Brown were reportedly among the victims.

The hacking scandal has aroused public indignation and proven to be an embarrassment to the British government as one of the News of the World's former senior editors worked for Prime Minister David Cameron as his communications director.

It also broke at a sensitive time when Murdock is making a $14-billion bid to win full ownership of Britain's profitable pay-TV operator BskyB.

The scandal could deal a heavy blow to Murdoch's media empire in Britain.

It also provides much food for thought about the legal and ethical obligations of the media. If proved, the British newspapers, and the media professionals involved in the scandals, will not only have broken the law, they will also have seriously violated universally applied media ethics.

To operate within the boundaries of the law and abide by ethical norms are the fundamentals for media operations. It is a legal and ethical obligation for media professionals to obtain information from appropriate channels. Otherwise, the credibility of both the profession and the entire sector will be at stake.

Regrettably, recent years have witnessed a decline in ethical standards among some Western media organizations. Under the impact of the increasingly market-driven social environment, the wide application of new technologies and the rise of new media, the competition has become much fiercer. Under such circumstances, some media organizations have opted for sensationalism as a means to grab the audience's attention and drive up their ratings or circulation.

Freedom of speech and the right to know - which protect investigative reporting for the public good - have unfortunately been abused by some media organizations and journalists in pursuit of this sensationalism.

The malpractice of media organizations of various kinds has tarnished the image of the media as an objective and fair-minded watchdog and given rise to widespread public criticism.

The ongoing British media scandals should make media organizations and professionals reflect upon whether they have been faithfully fulfilling their responsibilities.

(China Daily 07/13/2011 page8)