Submitted By Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
Britain’s largest weekly tabloid, News of the World, closes today, but not from lack of advertisers or readers. Instead, the Rupert Murdoch led tabloid succumbed to its own excesses amid shocking allegations of interceptions of cellphone voice mails of the families of a murdered 13-year-old girl, servicemen and women slain in Afghanistan, and victims of the 2005 London terrorist bombings. Glenn Mulcaire, a private investigator who worked for News of the World, is accused of the electronic hacking.
One of the victims, Graham Foulkes, whose son, David, died in the 2005 London attack, said “Janet and I were obviously having very intimate personal phone calls with friends and family. To think that when you’re at the lowest time in life that somebody, for the sake of a cheap story, is maybe listening to you, it’s just beyond words.”
The outrage from the British public has been complete and has political overtones. Perhaps not too surprisingly, Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron has been almost alone in not calling for the paper’s editor, Rebekah Brooks, to resign. Murdoch’s News International syndicate was a tireless and enthusiastic supporter of Cameron in last year’s British parliamentary elections. The cozy relationship between Brooks and the PM resulted in Cameron spending the Christmas holiday with Brooks and her family.
Criticism for the PM’s reluctance is growing and Cameron has moved to call for a complete investigation. Cameron is also dealing with the fact that his Director of Communications, Andy Coulson, is a former editor of NOW. Coulson resigned in January citing another scandal as a “distraction,” but the British public is all too aware that Coulson, while editor, was accused of paying police tens of thousands of pounds from NOW funds.
James Murdoch, son of the undisputed guru of sensationalist journalism, said the scandal will result in punishments for the newspaper’s culpable employees. “Wrongdoers turned a good newsroom bad and this was not fully understood or adequately pursued.” He pledged that “those who acted wrongly will have to face the consequences.” NOW has published for 168 years and is wildly profitable. The closing has real effects on the Murdoch Empire and is the most serious challenge to the what some regard as the voice of conservatism on both sides of the Atlantic and beyond. Murdoch’s Fox News is a vocal backer of conservative candidates in the U.S. as well, and has faced its own share of criticism in that enterprise.
As for Murdoch, Sr., he seems to realize the gravamen of the situation deciding to fly to London and axe the paper in an attempt to stem the wave of criticism. The mogul may be the victim of his own doing as well. Many newspaper scandals in the past have been ameliorated by the presence of strong and independent boards of directors who act immediately to discharge the offending editors and restore the paper’s image. Not so with Murdoch’s companies, whose boards show a disturbing lack of resistance to Murdoch’s will. Simon Duke, a financial writer for the UK’s “This is Your Money” website puts it this way, “All too often, Murdoch Sr has been able to bend the board to his will with embarrassing ease. The directors all appear to rub along very smoothly; so much so that the 80-year-old has been able to rail-road through a series of deals that, to the outside world, look a lot like pandering to the whim of the chief executive.”
Is this a “Rosebud” moment for the all-powerful tabloid mogul? Only time will tell, but what is beyond doubt is that the drive for sensationalism has shaken to the foundation the once unassailable House of Murdoch.
Sources: This Is Your Money; Washington Post
~Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
Elaine, great links- thank you very much. I put nothing beneath Mr. Murdoch. The spying, phone tapping/hacking has gone on at least as far back as 2005 and were public scandals in 2006 and 2009. Murdoch could have stopped it if he wanted to. He is now protecting his mentee, the Chief Executive of News International and I suspect she is protecting him. It looks to me like Murdoch had or was trying to positioned himself, through the actions of his agents, to play the Herbert Hoover role in British politics.
Actually what he was pointing out was your liberal hypocrisy, though in your case it’s more like stupidity, based on your comment.
Ooops, should be “that if” in the second sentence.
Mike S:
I agree but it’s in our nature to crush fools so we do it. I am trying to quit but they are amusing. Anyway, our resident troll did bring one interesting point from Mark Steyn.
What do you think about his argument that is we can’t condemn every bad thing we shouldn’t condemn any (especially if Steyn gets paid by it)?
Far be it from me to limit anyone’s free speech, or censor their ideas. However, I think we regulars, myself included must look at the residue of debating with people who lack the inclination to actually engage in logical debate. How many “back and forths” do we have to go through before we realize that we are feeding a specific troll the attention “it” craves. At first I found it interesting in the sense that cogent, informative arguments are being made in troll response. However, you can see in this thread and in other threads, they’re being hijacked away from the original topic, the points lost in a sea of confusion slipping under the waves over burdened by the excess baggage of troll response. From the standpoint of logic/facts “it” has been destroyed time and again, to what profit? Buddha had pointed this out, long before his departure, that this engagement with “it” is like the Monty Python skit where the limbless knight refuses to admit defeat. Enough already, let it froth and don’t even bother to read its outpourings. In an unresponsive forest, with no notice, it will only be the sound of one troll yapping. My answer to this particular koan is that no one will hear it.
News Corp boss Rupert Murdoch under attack from British politicians Gregory Katz
From: AP July 12, 2011 12:00AM
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/world/rupert-murdoch-under-attack-from-british-politicians/story-e6frev00-1226092743906
Excerpt;
The scandal forced Murdoch’s News Corp to shut the 168-year-old tabloid, and the media tycoon flew to London on Sunday – the day of its last edition – to take charge of damage control.
But the fallout could just be beginning.
For now, the News Corp chief appears focused on scrambling to prevent his controversial $US19 billion bid for BSkyB from becoming a casualty of the scandal. But questions are mounting about his future and that of his sprawling business empire amid a wave of global revulsion.
Clegg’s lack of hesitation in condemning Murdoch amid Cameron’s perceived dithering also is also generating speculation about the health of the Conservatives’ coalition with the Liberal Democrats, which was already on shaky footing.
The criminal activities at Murdoch’s now shuttered tabloid have given his many adversaries an opening amid signs that the government is leery of its once close ties to Murdoch, who has substantial newspaper, television, film and book publishing interests in Britain, the United States, Australia and other countries.
Murdoch got more bad news yesterday when Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who had given preliminary approval to the BSkyB bid, announced plans to ask the communications regulator, OFCOM, whether News Corp. is ”fit and proper” to hold a broadcasting licence.
He raised questions about whether the phone hacking charges undermine Murdoch’s bid for the satellite broadcaster.
”These allegations are stomach-churning and everyone is shaken,” Hunt said. ”New information has come out in the last week. Things have changed in the last week, and these things have shocked everyone”. He said Britain’s long tradition of quality journalism is under threat.
If OFCOM decides Murdoch is not fit, a licence would be denied. The uncertainty sent BSkyB shares sharply lower yesterday. Miliband, the Labour Party leader, also said Murdoch must end his bid for BSkyB and called for a udge-led inquiry to avoid the risk of evidence being destroyed.
One of Murdoch’s short-term goals is to keep Brooks, widely described as being as close to him as a daughter. Top MPs, including opposition leader Miliband are demanding she step down.
Brooks maintains she didn’t know about the widespread hacking at the paper, which listened to the voicemails left on mobile phones belonging to a number of celebrities, including film stars, politicians and sports figures, as well as murder victims and their bereaved families.
She has volunteered to be interviewed by police investigators as a witness.
The British press has reported that emails given to police indicate that News International chiefs knew that phone hacking was more widespread than acknowledged and that police were being paid for information.
The police position is difficult because of allegations that some of its officers received payoffs from News of the World journalists. This possible conflict of interest has led the Independent Police Complaints Commission to announce that it will review all police actions on the case.
News Corp withdraws pledge on BSkyB takeover
By ROBERT BARR
The Associated Press
http://www.ajc.com/business/news-corp-withdraws-pledge-1009564.html
Excerpt:
LONDON — News Corp. has withdrawn a promise to spin off Sky News as a condition of its takeover of satellite network British Sky Broadcasting PLC.
The company’s move on Monday means the government is almost certain to refer the bid to Britain’s Competition Commission for a full-scale inquiry into whether the takeover would break anti-monopoly laws. If it does, the bid would likely be on hold for several months.
The government is under intense pressure to block the bid following revelations of phone hacking at the Sunday tabloid News of the World.
News Corp. Shareholders File Amended Complaint Amid Phone Hacking Scandal
10:35 AM 7/11/2011
by Georg Szalai
The Hollywood Reporter
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/news-corp-shareholders-file-amended-209608
Excerpt:
They had already alleged nepotism and failed corporate governance at the Rupert Murdoch-led conglomerate when it announced a deal to acquire Shine Group from his daughter Elisabeth.
NEW YORK – A group of institutional investors of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., led by Amalgamated Bank and several municipal and union pension funds, said Monday it has filed an amended complaint alleging nepotism and failed corporate governance at the conglomerate amid the phone hacking scandal.
The updated allegations supplement a lawsuit originally filed earlier this year in Delaware Court of Chancery when shareholders challenged News Corp.’s $615 million acquisition of production firm Shine Group, which was run and majority-owned by Murdoch daughter Elisabeth Murdoch.
The recent escalation of the phone hacking issue is adding to their concern, they said. “These revelations should not have taken years to uncover and stop,” the shareholders argue in their complaint. “[They] show a culture run amuck within News Corp. and a board that provides no effective review or oversight.”
“In the week of the News of the World revelations, it was reported that the Atlanta Public Schools system has spent the last decade systemically cheating on its tests”
This is just silly as an argument. Really it’s a shallow smoke and mirrors ploy to distract from the topic being discussed. In the same week, by that line of reasoning, another “Family Values” Republican’s licentious behavior was disclosed. This is not argument, nor is it discussion, it is fit for the debates of ten year old’s.
Selective Shaming — Mark Steyn
Excerpts:
… If one were so inclined, one might be heartened by the swift responsiveness to pressure of the allegedly all-powerful bogeyman Murdoch. But you can’t help but notice that this supposed public shaming is awfully selective. In the week of the News of the World revelations, it was reported that the Atlanta Public Schools system has spent the last decade systemically cheating on its tests. Not the students, but the superintendent, and the union, and 38 principals, and at least 178 teachers — whoops, pardon me, “educators” — and some 44 of the 56 school districts. Teachers held “changing parties” at their homes at which they sat around with extra supplies of erasers correcting their students’ test answers in order to improve overall scores and qualify for “No Child Left Behind” federal funding that could be sluiced into maintaining their lavish remuneration. Let’s face it, it’s easier than teaching, right?
The APS Human Resources honcho Millicent Few illegally had an early report into test-tampering destroyed. So APS not only got the federal gravy but was also held up to the nation at large as a heartwarming, inspirational example of how large urban school districts can reform themselves and improve educational opportunities for their children. And its fake test scores got its leader, Beverly Hall, garlanded with the National Superintendent of the Year Award, the Administrator of the Year Award, the Distinguished Public Service Award, the Keystone Award for Leadership in Education, the Concerned Black Clergy Education Award, the American Association of School Administrators Effie H. Jones Humanitarian Award, and a zillion other phony-baloney baubles with which the American edu-fraud cartel scratches its own back.
In reality, Beverly Hall’s Atlanta Public Schools system was in the child-abuse business: It violated the education of its students in order to improve its employees’ cozy sinecures. The whole rotten, stinking school system is systemically corrupt from the superintendent down. But what are the chances of APS being closed down? How many of those fraudulent non-teachers will waft on within the system until their lucrative retirements?
Or consider “Operation Fast and Furious,” about which nothing is happening terribly fast and over which Americans should be furious. The official explanation is that the federal government used stimulus funding to buy guns from Arizona gun shops for known criminals to funnel to Mexican drug cartels. As I said, that’s the official explanation: As soon as your head stops spinning, we’ll resume the narrative. Supposedly, United States taxpayers were picking up the tab for Mexican drug lords’ weaponry in order that the ATF could identify high-up gun-traffickers. But, as it turns out, these high-up gun-traffickers were already known to other agencies — FBI, DEA, and other big-spending acronyms in the great fetid ooze of federal alphabet soup in which this republic is drowning. And, indeed, some of those high-ups are said to have been paid informants for those various federal agencies. So, in case you’re wondering why Obama’s second annual Recovery Summer is a wee bit sluggish at your end, relax: Stimulus dollars went to fund one federal agency to buy guns for the paid informants of another federal agency to funnel to foreign criminals in order that the first federal agency might identify the paid informants of the second federal agency.
…
Meanwhile, what did the drug cartels, the recipients of the guns, do with them? Well, they used them to kill at least one member of a third federal agency: Brian Terry of the United States Border Patrol.
…
We’re not talking about hacking a schoolgirl’s cellphone here. Real people are dead. Yet nobody’s going to close down any wing of the vast spendaholic DEATFBI hydra-headed security-state turf-war. And while Eric Holder, the buccaneering attorney general at the center of this wilderness of mirrors, doesn’t yet have as many Distinguished Public Servant of the Year awards as Beverly Hall, judging from his cheerfully upfront obstruction of the congressional investigation, he’s not planning on going anywhere soon.
So, at the News of the World, every single employee is clearing out his desk. But, at the Atlantic Public Schools, at the DEATFBI, life goes on. A curious contrast. The striking feature of Big Government, from Athens to Sacramento, is its imperviousness to any kind of accountability — legal, fiscal, electoral, popular. A media mogul, a bank chairman, an oil executive, a corporate-jet depreciation-claimant are easily demonizable: As President Obama cautioned CEOs a couple of years back, “My administration is the only thing between you and the pitchforks.”
More fool us. Our pitchforks are misdirected.
Rupert Murdoch Exposed
Rupert Murdoch’s influence in Britain
CBS
From Media Matters:
ABC’s This Week: Murdoch-Controlled “News Of The World Made Criminality An Industry”
July 10, 2011 12:05 pm ET
From the July 10 edition of ABC’s This Week with Christiane Amanpour:
http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/201107100005
Watch the video.
See how cutting edge we are here on the blog!
Rupert Murdoch’s BSkyB Bid: Government Lawyers Reportedly Moving To Block Buyout
By Paul Sandle
Huffington Post/Reuters
July 10, 2011
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/10/rupert-murdochs-bskyb-bid-british-government-lawyers_n_894306.html
Excerpt:
LONDON, July 11 (Reuters) – British government lawyers are drawing up plans to block Rupert Murdoch’s bid to buy out the broadcaster BSkyB, the Independent newspaper said on Monday, a move that could spare Prime Minister David Cameron a potentially damaging parliamentary vote.
Opposition Labour party leader Ed Miliband said on Sunday that he would force parliament to vote this week if Cameron did not take steps to halt the $14-billion bid by Murdoch’s News Corp for the 61 percent of the profitable pay-TV operator BSkyB that it does not already own.
Looks like the dominoes are strting to fall, Elaine.
A Top British Leader Urges Murdoch to Drop TV Deal
New Yrk Times
July 11, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/12/world/europe/12hacking.html?_r=1
Excerpt:
LONDON — Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg on Monday became the most senior official to publicly urge Rupert Murdoch to drop a $12 billion bid by his embattled News Corporation for Britain’s most lucrative satellite broadcast company, British Sky Broadcasting, as the government sought advice on possible regulatory proceedings.
Murdoch’s hacking woes grow; 9/11 victims eyed?
CBS News
July 11, 2011
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/07/11/501364/main20078345.shtml
Excerpt:
AP) Media mogul Rupert Murdoch is under increasing pressure this week to repent in more glorious fashion for the misdeeds of his News of the World tabloid, even after sacrificing the century-and-a-half-old paper to try and sweep the mess away from his empire of newspapers and television networks.
The phone-hacking scandal jumped across the Atlantic, meanwhile, with a report from rival tabloid the Mirror that journalists from the News of the World tried to pay a former New York City police officer for the personal information of victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attack.
The Mirror quoted an unnamed source as saying the also-unnamed ex-cop, who currently works as a private investigator, was asked for phone numbers of victims who died in the World Trade Center.
“His presumption was that they wanted the information so they could hack into the relevant voicemails, just like it has been shown they have done in the UK,” the Mirror quoted its source as saying.
According to the report, which could not be corroborated, the PI turned down the alleged request from the British reporters, recognizing, “how insensitive such research would be, and how bad it would look.”
Murdoch backs UK exec amid hacking scandal
Video: Britain’s “News of the World” comes to an end
Tabloid’s hacking scandal: More dirt to come?
Whether or not the Mirror’s claims are verified, the allegations may raise the volume on questions about the editorial judgment and ethics employed by Murdoch titles in the U.S.
“The News of the World has lots of reporters at any given time on the ground in the US,” Murdoch biographer Michael Wolff tells CBS News. “Many of its stories, particularly many of its celebrity stories, are dateline here. So, I think that’s the next step.”
Not MeMe,
Let’s get this straight….I have been doing yard work all day…I just got through with dinner and cleaned up…It was and still is hotter than the 4th of July….I have not had time to play much today….I am watching Masterpiece Mystery on PBS….Maybe you should take the time to educate yourself…..and watch quality TV before the ilk of your party finishes off the remaining quality shows….Other than that, get a life…I am NOT posing as MeMe and certainly NOT MeMe….