Every day it seems a new angle unfolds on the phone hacking saga at News International. How widespread was the hacking and blagging? How much did Rupert Murdoch know himself?

Just today, the news that Rebekah Brooks has been arrested with allegations that she was in on the act — that’s before she gets a grilling this week in front of a parliamentary committee, along with her former boss Rupert Murdoch.

We’re all shocked by the allegations and wonder how far some journalists are prepared to go for a news story. But is Rupert Murdoch getting a fair go in all this? Or is he the subject of a witch hunt by the other elements of the press, and by politicians, all bent on revenge?

British journalist Brendan O’Neill, editor of spiked-online, says calling it a witch-hunt might be going too far, but he says people are being irrational. They seem to believe that if Murdoch is knocked down to size all the wrongs of the press and politics will instantly correct themselves. He questions whether the world will be a better place without Murdoch’s influence.

First published on CBS News