The Rupert Murdoch Hacking Scandal

[romantico]

Posted: 7/6/11 at 11:05am

We all know he is a vile sick monster but all his years of corruption and lies may have caught up with him.


If News of the World reporters and private investigators had only illegally snooped on Sienna Miller and the Royal Family, the nearly five-year-old phone hacking scandal might have dragged on another five years without Rupert Murdoch, or one of his top lieutenants, taking the fall.

But it's looking increasingly unlikely that the 80-year-old News Corp. chief will get through this gathering media storm without throwing someone overboard. That's because the Guardian broke the news Monday that journalists allegedly intercepted messages from the phone of murdered teenager Milly Dowler during the agonizing months in which her family held out hope she was alive. Mild scoffing at Fleet Street shenanigans run amuck quickly turned into outrage. And the long-simmering tabloid scandal reached a boil Tuesday as the public and press finally got on the same page and demanded answers.

Now with rival news organisations churning out damaging follow-ups, readers voicing their disgust and advertisers dropping out, it’s no surprise that politicians feel compelled to jump in the fray.

Prime Minister David Cameron took a break from his Afghanistan trip Tuesday to condemn the “really appalling” allegations regarding the 13-year-old girl abducted in 2002. "If they are true, this is a truly dreadful act, and a truly dreadful situation," Cameron said. Meanwhile, Labour leader Ed Miliband called Tuesday for a public investigation and said that British journalism has had “one of its lowest days." He added that Rebekah Brooks, the tabloid’s top editor in 2002 and now chief executive of Murdoch’s News International, needs to “consider her position.”

(more)

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2011/07/06/news-of-the-world-phone-hacking-scandal_n_891005.html

Here is Keith's take on Rupert's Troubles.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8Z_pZIKmfo&feature=

Updated On: 7/18/11 at 11:05 AM

[romantico]

Posted: 7/7/11 at 12:21pm

'News Of The World' Last Edition: James Murdoch Says It's Over

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2011/07/07/news-of-the-world-last-ed_n_892241.html

[Scripps2]

Posted: 7/7/11 at 2:10pm

The News of the World may be toast but Rupert Murdoch isn't.

Yet.

Closing down the newspaper is the lesser of two evils from Murdoch's point of view. The other option would be to get rid of Rebekah Brooks, Chief Executive of News International, because if she goes (to jail) she will take Murdoch down with her.

But with the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition calling for her resignation there is cross-party concensus that matters need to be taken as far as they can possibly go.

And thus I hope they are taken.

I haven't bought even the Sunday Times for several years now as I will not have the Murdoch press and Murdoch television polluting my home or my mind.


Updated On: 7/7/11 at 02:10 PM

[romantico]

Posted: 7/7/11 at 4:10pm

Well, looks like they've picked their fall guy. I guess Billionares don't go to jail.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2011/07/07/andy-coulson-arrested_n_892488.html

[Scripps2]

Posted: 7/7/11 at 5:33pm

Not necessarily so! Conrad Black has been to jail and lost his newspaper in the process.

Andy Coulson is just the first in this House of Cards to topple.

The unanswered questions just get bigger: why didn't all this come to light at the initial trial for phone hacking four years ago? Corruption in the police? At who's orders? Could a former Prime Minister, speculated to be too friendly with Murdoch, have intervened to have kept things under wraps?

[Scripps2]

Posted: 7/7/11 at 5:38pm

Arianna couldn't have chosen a better week to launch the UK edition of the Huff Post.

It's almost as if she knew this was coming!

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 7/7/11 at 5:51pm

It's horrid what they did but hardly a shock, these allegations have been around for awhile.

The NOTW wont shut down it will simply rebrand (Sunday Sun etc)

Worse is this story has taken away from the anniversary of 7/7

[romantico]

Posted: 7/7/11 at 10:31pm

More of Keith's coverage. Odd how none of the "liberal media" is covering this here in the USA.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DA9V2k6C53g

[Scripps2]

Posted: 7/9/11 at 1:52pm

I guess the News of the World is not known in the US.

One of the things being said over here is that there is much more and much worse to come. When Murdoch is on the skids himself then it may get picked up.
Updated On: 7/9/11 at 01:52 PM

[romantico]

Posted: 7/9/11 at 2:32pm

Since Murdoch owns FOX and the New York Post one has to wonder, have the same tactics been used here in the USA? I mean seriously, would anyone put this sort of things past Fox or the Post? I'm thinking out loud here but they saw results when they did this for the News of the World so why would they not practice the same things here if they worked for that paper?

Updated On: 7/9/11 at 02:32 PM

[Scripps2]

Posted: 7/9/11 at 3:45pm

The coverage over here is literally sensational and compulsive. The liberal media are trying to be sombre and objective but can barely contain their glee that Murdoch's wizened, dry and useless gonads are now in public view.

A government minister made a gaffe 6 months ago that implied there was a hidden agenda to get Murdoch's influence out of the UK politics or media or both:

Starting here, starting now. Updated On: 7/9/11 at 03:45 PM

[romantico]

Posted: 7/9/11 at 7:22pm

Steve Coogan rips into The News Of The World

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkeSJLgzG8k&feature=

[kec]

Posted: 7/9/11 at 9:59pm

The local Fox news channel (channel 5) in DC and the WAshington Post both covered the story earlier this week.

[Yawper]

Posted: 7/9/11 at 11:37pm

We already know Fox News and the NY Post are trash. The only thing that would be shocking would be if The Wall Street Journal got hit (but I think we'd hear rumbling from that corner well before anything broke - Murdoch is supposed to be hands-off with the WSJ and they really don't like to be messed with).

[Scripps2]

Posted: 7/10/11 at 3:54pm

There is a strong feeling that the News of the World has been sacrificed to save the neck of Rebekah Brooks, resulting in resentment amongst the workforce who have lost their jobs.
But it would seem they had the last laugh

[romantico]

Posted: 7/11/11 at 9:35am

Carl Bernstein: Murdoch’s Watergate? -This Is "THE BEGINNING-NOT THE END-OF THE SEISMIC EVENT"

http://www.newsweek.com/2011/07/10/murdoch-s-watergate.print.html

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 7/11/11 at 10:31am

So they're going to try to claim that all this was authorized at a level below not only Murdoch but Brooks???

[romantico]

Posted: 7/11/11 at 11:58am

The buck stops with the little guy. Murdoch and Co. were completely unaware of such things going on.In other news, News Corp Withdraws BSkyB Bid. I wonder who they will blame for this (certainly not themselves)

http://www.deadline.com/2011/07/has-scandal-doomed-murdochs-bskyb-bid/

[romantico]

Posted: 7/11/11 at 12:04pm

WOW!



MURDOCH'S Watergate Reaches America with Allegations of 9/11 VICTIMS' HACK

'A startling development that could harm Murdoch in America is the allegation that victims of the 9/11 attacks in New York “could also be among those targeted by phone hackers from the News of the World. The Daily Mirror cites an unnamed source claiming that a former police officer, working as a private investigator, was asked by News of the World journalists to retrieve the private phone records of those killed in the attack.

The voicemails would likely include harrowing messages from desperate loved ones trying to make contact with their relatives caught up in the 2001 terror strikes on the World Trade Center, in which thousands perished.'

http://www.politicususa.com/en/murdoch-america-911-victims-hack

Updated On: 7/11/11 at 12:04 PM

[Scripps2]

Posted: 7/11/11 at 4:35pm

Reaction from the world's media:

"With such a scale and tempo of snooping, every person on the British Isles could have been exhibited naked in their moments of love or grief in front of his countrymen. Certainly Murdoch is no more guilty than the two-and-a-half million people who rushed to the trough called the News of the World once a week in order to eat their fill. Everyone has his own freedom" - Russia's Novaya Gazeta

"British journalists - far more than German journalists - bend the truth, plagiarise competitors and break laws to get a story that sells ... It would be naive to believe that the demise of the News of the World will be a lesson to the British press." - Financial Times, Germany

"On the surface, Murdoch and his News Corp are the ones with the most to lose in this scandal. The scandal will directly affect the reputation and circulation of newspapers under News Corp... however, in reality, the British press itself has been hit badly" - China's Guangming Ribao

"For a long time, Rupert Murdoch has been widely viewed by journalists as a giant squid sitting on the face of the media, starving it of oxygen... in a world where the rich and the powerful get away with everything, including bringing down the banking system, it is deeply satisfying to see one of the mighty fall, or at least stumble." - Pakistan's Dawn

"Under a feeling of invulnerability, a culture of lawlessness thrived in Murdoch's company, where his staff did not even shrink from gambling with the fate of abducted children. The British political establishment tolerated this state of affairs - and will now have to pay the price." - Germany's Sueddeutsche Zeitung

"Even before this latest scandal, however, Murdoch and his family have been the target of a festering discontent among some News Corp shareholders after several years of hugely expensive deals that have not delivered. Had he been running almost any other company, or been an outsider appointed to News Corp by the board, Murdoch's job would be on the line." - Australia's Sydney Morning Herald

With regard to Novaya Gazeta's comment I'm happy to count myself amongst the 57.5 million who didn't (just in case I haven't made the point yet). Russia always loves it when a corruption scandal emerges in the UK.
Updated On: 7/11/11 at 04:35 PM

[romantico]

Posted: 7/11/11 at 10:19pm

Murdoch Tabloid Accused Of Hacking 9/11 Victims Phones! What Does This Mean For FOX News?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ykwrHf4puo

Murdoch Tabloid Paid Police For Royals Contact Information

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idLIKHmXj1c

[romantico]

Posted: 7/14/11 at 3:20pm

Murdoch being investigated by FBI

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/14/fbi-news-corp-investigation_n_898653.html

[Scripps2]

Posted: 7/14/11 at 3:35pm

And he's accepted the summons to appear before Parliament next week, along with junior and Rebekah Brooks. Only Brooks can be compelled to appear as she's a British national.

I'd guess that they've decided to appear as, if either of them end up in court, it will look better for them having not refused to appear before Parliament.

Expect long awkward silences...

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 7/14/11 at 4:03pm

Somewhere, a sled is being tossed upon a fire.

[tazber]

Posted: 7/14/11 at 4:40pm