Letter: News reactive

There are calls for a public inquiry into the actions of the News of the World, over the alleged hacking into murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler's mobile phone by a private investigator hired by that newspaper (your report, 6 July), part of News International Ltd, owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation.

Without wishing to sound blasphemous, many believe Murdoch thinks he is a God and is above the law. If he is found guilty, the only way the general public can bring the likes of Murdoch to heel is by refusing to buy his publications, refusing to purchase from any companies that advertise in his newspapers and also refusing to subscribe to his Sky TV channels. Is this ever likely to happen?

Sadly, there is more chance of aliens being found on Mars, or of the Scottish football team winning the World Cup. For far too long, in my opinion, society has gone down the apathetic route, pretending problems in this country are for someone else to sort out.

R T Smith

Braeside Terrace

Aberdeen

Hacking into personalities' phones is one thing but hacking into the phone of a girl who is the subject of a missing person investigation by the police is quite another.

News International seems to have taken journalism into sickening and depraved depths where anything goes in order to get a story. It has certainly insulted and dented the reputation of journalism in the UK.

I was delighted to see that advertisers have already cancelled national advertising in the Murdoch empire papers and readers should do what they can in not buying any of the Murdoch publications as a personal stand against this distasteful behaviour, and not wishing to be tarred by this type of journalistic brush.

Dennis Grattan

Mugiemoss Road

Bucksburn, Aberdeen