This weekend, we covered the News of the World phone hacking scandal on our show (for the second time). This story has been developing so quickly that it's been hard to keep up. Fortunately, in yesterday's New York Times, Sarah Lyall took a fascinating look at the tense relationship between British Parliament and the British Tabloids, explaining that recent criticisms of News of the World are certainly uncommon in the British Political firmament.

The article uses many colorful examples, but Roy Greenslade, journalism professor at the City University of London gets to the heart of the story in describing the News of the World's bloodthirsty attitude toward politicians, especially those that criticized the paper or News International.

“They go on little feeding frenzies against various politicians,” said Roy Greenslade, a professor of journalism at City University London. Until the floodgates opened on Wednesday, when the outrage over the latest phone-hacking revelations had politicians voicing disgust in a cathartic parliamentary session, most members of Parliament were terrified of crossing Mr. Murdoch, Professor Greenslade said.

“Privately, M.P.’s say all sorts of things, but most of them have kept very, very quiet about Rupert Murdoch until now,” he added. “When you are facing the wrath of News International, you can bet they will turn up anything about you — whether it be true or just spun in a certain way.”

The whole article is worth a read. Take a look by following this link.

(Via The New York Times)