Media Navel Gaze: December 3, 2012
The Week Unpeeled
It appeared to be a somewhat quiet news week following Sandy, the election and the fiscal cliff, but the UK press itself was in the headlines writ large and clearly on the defense in a move that is being watched closely worldwide as Lord Justice Brian Leveson issued his long-awaited assessment (nearly 2,000 pages in total and seemingly as many in coverage) on ethics following the News Corp phone-hacking scandal last year. The basic headline from the inquiry: A recommendation that UK Parliament pass a law to form an independent regulatory body that oversees the press. The basic response: No one excuses the countless bad practices but not surprise a resounding “no way” from the press and mixed from politicians. Stay tuned for more discussions on threats to freedom versus privacy.
Elsewhere:
- The Dow ended the week up 15.90 to close at 13,025 and FTSE 100 up 47.68 at 5,866;
- A Canadian (former investment banker who runs Canada’s central bank) has been picked to head the UK’s Bank of England, kind of a bombshell move but won that has won mostly raves;
- CNN announced (officially) that Jeffrey Zucker, the former chief of NBC, will be it’s the new president of CNN Worldwide; and
- Game on for new SEC chief, with a few new hats in the ring, including what The New York Times called frontrunner Sallie L. Krawcheck.
