Declaration of Independence

Murdoch/Times of London: The Times should declare independence. With Rupert Murdoch on the run, his most prestigious UK newspaper has a golden opportunity to reassert its editorial autonomy. Although Murdoch reneged on a promise made 30 years ago to the government to guarantee that, the undertaking still stands. Now is the time to test it.

The Times has already asserted its independence a bit in covering the alleged phone-hacking and police bribery scandal at the News of the World. Although it initially decided not to comment at all and just report the facts, it changed its policy after allegations emerged that the phone messages of a murdered 13-year-old girl had been hacked. It criticised the News of the World’s alleged actions as “beyond reprehensible” and News International, the Murdoch company which owns the papers, for “uncertainty, opacity and defensiveness”. But it has still danced around the big elephants such as: whether Murdoch, his son James or Rebekah Brooks (who runs News International) have failed in their responsibilities, and whether Murdoch should have been allowed to buy BSkyB, the satellite TV group for which he has just pulled his bid.

The Times has its own board and its editorial independence is theoretically protected by independent directors. In normal times, these undertakings might not amount to much. Harold Evans, an iconic Sunday Times editor squeezed out by Murdoch in 1982, said “they are not worth the paper they are written on”.

But these are not normal times. If James Harding, the editor, explained to the independent directors that he was going to cover Murdoch’s News Corporation in exactly the same way that he would cover any other company — and put this on the record in an editorial — he would be unsackable. For good measure, he could rely on an extra defence that Evans didn’t enjoy: when Murdoch acquired the Wall Street Journal in 2007, he guaranteed to a newly-created independent News Corp special committee that all his papers around the world would be free to cover News Corp accurately and fairly.

There are few occasions when an employee can stand up to a boss as powerful as Murdoch. If Harding doesn’t seize the moment, he may come to regret it.