Murdoch's minions reach a new low

[Cain]

I doubt anyone here has been following the phone-hacking scandal, so a brief explanation:

The "phone-hacking scandal" is the ongoing and expanding list of people who had their phones illegally hacked into by The News of the World (owner: Rupert Murdoch) over at least the last nine years, to gain exclusive scoops on stories and including politicians, celebrities and those unfortunate enough to end up in the press by other means.  Said hacking was undertaken by "private investigators", which is to say, former police officers (almost to a man canned from the force during their periodic anti-corruption campaigns) but was also, it seems, increasingly aided and abetted by the Metropolitan Police, who dragged their feet over investigating incidents of phone-hacking by the News of the World to such an extent that worried celebrities such as Hugh Grant went out and investigated the claims themselves.

This is a very big story, because, as it turns out, not only was Murdoch minion and former NotW editor Andy Coulson made Director of Communications (ie Chief Spin-Doctor) at 10 Downing Street (he later resigned, to "spend more time with his family") but Rebekah Brooks, former editor of the Sun and News of the World and now Chief Executive of News International, is a very close friend of David Cameron.  As in, she has dinner with the Cameron family and Cameron refuses to divulge what they talk about on the basis of "constituent-MP privacy" close.  Murdoch himself has backed Brooks to the hilt.  The Sun and News of the World backed Cameron in his campaign for Prime Minister, incidentally, switching their alleigance from Labour.

Also, Murdoch is in negotiations with the government if his News International can go ahead and buy-out bSkyb - a move which would cement his hold over the UK media.  Vince Cable was originally in charge of deciding whether or not to allow this deal, until it was found out he did not like Murdoch and so was sacked, with the more Tory and pro-Murdoch Jeremy Hunt, Minister for Culture, Media and Other Crap the Rest of Parliament Don't Want to Deal With being tasked with it.  So there are some huge business stakes here, in addition to the political ones.

Anyway, it turns the News of the World allegedly hired a private investigator to hack into the phone of Milly Dowler, a 13 year old girl who was abducted and murdered several years ago.  Her body was not discovered for 6 months after her disappearance.  Not only did this investigator listen in on the private messages and pleas from the family for Milly to get in touch and let her know she was OK, he deleted messages.  This deletion was not only to make room for more messages, but also to create the impression that Milly Dowler may have been alive.  This can be seen from how the News of the World did a brutally cynical interview at the time they were doing this, toying with the family over the possibility she may still be alive because someone is deleting the messages.  They then made a profit off of this.

It also turns out the phones of family members of the victims of the Soham murders, two 10 year old girls (if I recall right) had their phones hacked.  Several others will also no doubt be named in the coming weeks.

Murdoch's minions have crossed a line.  While the Guardian readers may be cheering for his downfall regardless of circumstance, the Daily Mail, Express and Telegraph crowd couldn't really give a fuck.  Until now.  Now, though....well, those papers are mawkish and emotional at the best of times with stories like these, and finding out their commercial rival was involved in such cynical manipulation, they're going to hit him with this as hard as possible.

[Luna]

Fucking hell...

[Disco Pickle]

Saw this the other day.  So fucked up.

[LMNO]

Holy shit.  That's evil.

[Doktor Howl]

Saw this the other day.  So fucked up.

"Murdoch".

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Wow.

[Elder Iptuous]

i saw some blurbs in the news pages about it, but then on the commute home yesterday NPR had a piece on it that i heard.

really sickening.

[MMIX]

EXTRA, EXTRA, READ ALL ABOUT IT

News International ditches the News of the World. Sunday's issue will be the last and the proceeds will go to good causes.

The advertisers have been leaving in droves; the market demanded this

[Cramulus]

press:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/blog/2011/jul/07/news-of-the-world-phone-hacking-live-coverage


from James Murdoch:

News International today announces that this Sunday, 10 July 2011, will be the last issue of the News of the World.

Making the announcement to staff, James Murdoch, Deputy Chief Operating Officer, News Corporation, and Chairman, News International said:

"I have important things to say about the News of the World and the steps we are taking to address the very serious problems that have occurred.

It is only right that you as colleagues at News International are first to hear what I have to say and that you hear it directly from me. So thank you very much for coming here and listening.

You do not need to be told that The News of the World is 168 years old. That it is read by more people than any other English language newspaper. That it has enjoyed support from Britain's largest advertisers. And that it has a proud history of fighting crime, exposing wrong-doing and regularly setting the news agenda for the nation.

When I tell people why I am proud to be part of News Corporation, I say that our commitment to journalism and a free press is one of the things that sets us apart. Your work is a credit to this.

The good things the News of the World does, however, have been sullied by behaviour that was wrong. Indeed, if recent allegations are true, it was inhuman and has no place in our Company.

The News of the World is in the business of holding others to account. But it failed when it came to itself.

In 2006, the police focused their investigations on two men. Both went to jail. But the News of the World and News International failed to get to the bottom of repeated wrongdoing that occurred without conscience or legitimate purpose.

Wrongdoers turned a good newsroom bad and this was not fully understood or adequately pursued.

As a result, the News of the World and News International wrongly maintained that these issues were confined to one reporter. We now have voluntarily given evidence to the police that I believe will prove that this was untrue and those who acted wrongly will have to face the consequences.

This was not the only fault.

The paper made statements to Parliament without being in the full possession of the facts. This was wrong.

The Company paid out-of-court settlements approved by me. I now know that I did not have a complete picture when I did so. This was wrong and is a matter of serious regret.

Currently, there are two major and ongoing police investigations. We are cooperating fully and actively with both. You know that it was News International who voluntarily brought evidence that led to opening Operation Weeting and Operation Elveden. This full cooperation will continue until the Police's work is done.

We have also admitted liability in civil cases. Already, we have settled a number of prominent cases and set up a Compensation Scheme, with cases to be adjudicated by former High Court judge Sir Charles Gray. Apologising and making amends is the right thing to do.

Inside the Company, we set up a Management and Standards Committee that is working on these issues and that has hired Olswang to examine past failings and recommend systems and practices that over time should become standards for the industry. We have committed to publishing Olswang's terms of reference and eventual recommendations in a way that is open and transparent. We have welcomed broad public inquiries into press standards and police practices and will cooperate with them fully.

So, just as I acknowledge we have made mistakes, I hope you and everyone inside and outside the Company will acknowledge that we are doing our utmost to fix them, atone for them, and make sure they never happen again.

Having consulted senior colleagues, I have decided that we must take further decisive action with respect to the paper.

This Sunday will be the last issue of the News of the World.

Colin Myler will edit the final edition of the paper.

In addition, I have decided that all of the News of the World's revenue this weekend will go to good causes.

While we may never be able to make up for distress that has been caused, the right thing to do is for every penny of the circulation revenue we receive this weekend to go to organisations – many of whom are long-term friends and partners – that improve life in Britain and are devoted to treating others with dignity.

We will run no commercial advertisements this weekend. Any advertising space in this last edition will be donated to causes and charities that wish to expose their good works to our millions of readers.

These are strong measures. They are made humbly and out of respect. I am convinced they are the right thing to do.

Many of you, if not the vast majority of you, are either new to the Company or have had no connection to the News of the World during the years when egregious behaviour occurred.

I can understand how unfair these decisions may feel. Particularly, for colleagues who will leave the Company. Of course, we will communicate next steps in detail and begin appropriate consultations.

You may see these changes as a price loyal staff at the News of the World are paying for the transgressions of others. So please hear me when I say that your good work is a credit to journalism. I do not want the legitimacy of what you do to be compromised by acts of others. I want all journalism at News International to be beyond reproach. I insist that this organisation lives up to the standard of behaviour we expect of others. And, finally, I want you all to know that it is critical that the integrity of every journalist who has played fairly is restored.

Thank you for listening.

[LMNO]

That was refreshingly unexpected...

[Cain]

Awesome.

Now we need to destroy the Sun.

[MMIX]

The Murdoch Empire will survive. You know the drill ; "Too big to fail" aka bigger than the damn government and more powerful to boot. That exculpatory statement by James Murdoch was neither refreshing nor really unexpected. The really interesting bit is the alacrity with which their advertisers have jumped ship. Maybe that does signify something "refreshingly unexpected".


edit to tighten

[Cain]

True.  But getting rid of The Sun would be a very good thing, even with Murdoch retaining his hold over Sky News, The Times etc

Also, the bSkyb deal is now a poison chalice.  Either Vince Cable played the greatest Xanatos Gambit of the last decade of British history, or he got very lucky.  Either way, the government is now between a rock and a hard place.

Plus, sooner or later, I'm sure it is going to turn out that "special advisors" to high ranking Tories were using the phone hacking to gather political intelligence on Labour (and, in the earlier years, vice-versa), in which case this whole thing goes highly toxic.

[BabylonHoruv]

This is the guy that runs Fox news too isn't it?

[MMIX]

This is the guy that runs Fox news too isn't it?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/News_International


Yes, welcome to the News World Order