Murdoch forced into Strategic Withdrawal, British Public in Pursuit

[Gwathuial]

Surprised there's been no mention of this yet, here's a quick overview by Taiwan's best news source:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGegvzU9S8U

So this all started a while ago when it was revealed some royals and celebrities had had their phones hacked by journalists, but most people ignored it. After an investigation they declared it was just one black sheep from News of the World (part of News International and biggest selling newspaper in the world) doing the hacking, and that was that.

But while most people forgot about it, a few people, notably Hugh Grant and the Guardian newspaper, kept on the story and a few days ago revealed their findings on the full extent of the hacking.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011...-phone-hacking

Now the police are investigating up to 4000 possible victims of phone hacking, extending from royals and celebs into families or murder victims and dead soldiers.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14017661

The story that brought this all back into the public eye, that NotW had hacked into the phone of murdered 13 year old Milly Dowler. Not only did they listen to/read all of the frantic messages sent by friends and family, but when the inbox filled up, deleted the old messages so they could keep receiving more. They then went and interviewed her family over their renewed hope she might be found well after apparently having used her phone.

While the first time around the editors of the NotW (Rebekah Brooks and her successor Andy Coulson) had managed to claim ignorance and innocence, with the extent of the hacking now revealed it's now being questioned how it could have happened without their knowing, if not approval. Andy Coulson has already been arrested.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011...ng-allegations

Going for preemptive damage control, Murdoch closed News of the World, laying off regular staff to save Rebekah Brooks. Unsurprisingly there are a lot of disgruntled former staff now looking to spread the dirt they have accumulated.

http://twitter.com/#!/ExNOTWJourno

But this doesn't end at phone hackings. There have also been revelations of police bribery by NotW journalists, and independant investigations led by the judiciary and the Independant Police Complaints Commission have been ordered by the PM.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1AJjnl2y8U
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011...-arrest-bribes

But wait, this goes deeper than just one newspaper. Former chief editor Andy Coulson was hired by PM David Cameron as his media adviser, who denies any poor judgement in his choice, or that he or deputy PM Nick Clegg were warned beforehand. David Cameron is also buddies with Rebekah Brooks, living nearby, and of course shows the same loyalty to Murdoch as is expected of a politician. It would also appear that Andy Coulson, while working for Cameron, lied under oath in the trial of Tommy Sheridan.

Additionally, Murdoch is currently in the midst of a deal to buy BSkyB, a major broadcasting company in the UK. Despite opposition the coalition decided the case didn't need to be referred to the competiton commission. But now there is mounting pressure not just to review the deal, but whether NI is fit to hold any stake in BSkyB at all.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14075136
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14082692

Police are also starting to look into how high up the corruption goes, though what could possibly happen to a Murdoch remains to be seen.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011...ing?CMP=twt_fd
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011...-international

Bonus links:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/inte...ctive-timeline
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14052690
http://www.newstatesman.com/newspape...ameron-murdoch
http://avaaz.org/en/murdoch_messages_2/?slideshow
http://www.avaaz.org/en/stop_rupert_murdoch_3/
http://www.brandrepublic.com/news/10...tional-titles/

[Effluo]

I have been following this story. So many things wrong. I have been laughing my ass off at them getting caught, it's damn hilarious...

[Souj]

without reading any of that, is this Murdoch Rupert Murdoch owner of FOX and a billion other newspapers/newsprograms?

[ronin sparthos]

without reading any of that, is this Murdoch Rupert Murdoch owner of FOX and a billion other newspapers/newsprograms?

Yeah, its him.

[Cantih]

It's way to early to call it one way or the other.

But if it breaks him, and his damned empire, oh hell yes.
Though it's too much to hope anything will happen to Fox. =\

[Orden]

It's way to early to call it one way or the other.

But if it breaks him, and his damned empire, oh hell yes.
Though it's too much to hope anything will happen to Fox. =\

What is this fair sir?

[Shadowscythe]

I'll be honest, the whole situation reminds me of the Tomorrow Never Dies plot.

[Not Kuno]

Fuck Murdoch. That guy is a giant cunt.

Probably. Is he a giant cunt? I don't remember off the top of my head. Then again after everything that happened, I think he is regardless.

[Plow]

Fuck Murdoch. That guy is a giant cunt.

Probably. Is he a giant cunt? I don't remember off the top of my head. Then again after everything that happened, I think he is regardless.

giant cunt would be putting it nicely

[Not Kuno]

He's worse than that? I didn't read all those articles due to time restraints. I should probably read them all then. D:

[Cantih]

What is this fair sir?

A webcomic called Unsounded
http://www.casualvillain.com/Unsounded/

[Mazmaz]

Who's Rebekah Brooks?

edit: nvm. Why would Murdoch care about saving editors though?

[Popeh]

She's a little more than an editor

[Mazmaz]

Ok so who is she? I read all that crap and still didn't really get why she was worth shutting down a big newspaper for?

[Stumblingdrunk]

the newspaper wasn't shutdown to save her, it was to try and save newscorp. Now they can say "the problem has been dealt with, stop looking into our business"

[notorious bum]

Murdoch is already grooming 1 of his other papers to "re-brand" a Sunday newspaper for the UK. The man has power that won't go anywhere unless something epic like this is uncovered here in the states.

I couldn't help but grin profusely when this story finally cracked-open. However, it would be pretty naive to believe Murdoch would realistically be hurt by this in the States(maybe temporarily have dirt on his empire's image, which people will quickly forget in a couple years).

[Stumblingdrunk]

However, it would be pretty naive to believe Murdoch would realistically be hurt by this in the States

It would be fucking awesome though

[Moridam]

Who's Rebekah Brooks?

edit: nvm. Why would Murdoch care about saving editors though?

One of CJR's bloggers puts forth one possible explanation as to why:

So it’s easy to see one reason why Rebekah Brooks might still have her job: News wants her on the inside, working for them, rather than on the outside, turning witness against them. And the same goes for Les Hinton, too. I still can’t really believe that Brooks is going to survive this scandal. But I can easily believe that the Murdochs will fight very hard indeed to try to keep her in her current position, at least until the police investigation is over.

http://www.cjr.org/the_audit/what_da...bekah_broo.php

They've been going pretty nuts with coverage on this, as one might expect, as this scandal is huge. Well worth reading through some of the entries in The Audit if you've got a bit of time to dig into it.

[Stumblingdrunk]

http://www.cjr.org/the_audit/what_da...bekah_broo.php

this part of that link might answer that question

In the grand scheme of things, News International is a very small part of the News Corp. conglomerate; it could disappear entirely and the financial impact on News Corp. would be small. The political clout which News International gives News Corp. in the UK, however, is extremely valuable. And if malfeasance at News International ends up poisoning News Corp.’s ambitions with respect to BSkyB, or results in criminal charges against either of the Murdochs, then at that point this scandal really could do serious damage to one of the world’s most powerful and notorious media organizations.

[BardonGaruda]

Brown 'Shocked' By Hacking Allegations


..Gordon Brown is "shocked" by allegations that his family's personal details were hacked by News International journalists, his office has said.

The Guardian has claimed the former prime minister was repeatedly targeted by The Sun and the Sunday Times, which allegedly hacked his voicemail, obtained his bank details and his family's medical records.

Among claims made by the broadsheet are that details from his son's medical records were obtained by The Sun, who published a story about the child's serious illness.

A spokeswoman for Mr Brown said: "Gordon Brown has now been informed of the scale of intrusion into his family's life.

"The family has been shocked by the level of criminality and the unethical means by which personal details have been obtained. The matter is in police hands.

"The police have confirmed Mr Brown is on Glenn Mulcaire's list. And some time ago Mr Brown passed all relevant evidence he had to the police."


His wife Sarah has said she was sad to learn about the allegations, writing on Twitter: "It is very personal and really hurtful if all true."

A former aide to Mr Brown has questioned how the Sun, when News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks was editor, obtained details of his son Fraser's cystic fibrosis.

Speaking on Sky News Jeff Randall Live, David Muir, one of Mr Brown's most senior advisers at No 10, said: "They were

contacted by Rebekah Brooks, who told them that they had information that Fraser had cystic fibrosis, which was a matter that they, the family, were just getting their heads around at the time and dealing with.

"And you've got to remember this is just after they had suffered the bereavement with Jennifer (the Browns' first child, who died soon after she was born) as well.


News International (NI) has responded to the allegations, saying it is "comfortable" that stories obtained about Mr Brown's children came from legitimate sources, according to Sky sources.

The publisher owns The Sun and the Sunday Times - it also owned the News Of The World which it closed last week amid allegations of phone-hacking and illegal payments to police officers.

The Guardian says there is also evidence that a private investigator used a serving police officer to trawl the police national computer for information on the former prime minister.

It claims Mr Brown was targeted during a period of more than 10 years, both as chancellor and as prime minister.


The Guardian says its investigation found that some of the activity was obviously illegal while other incidents breached his privacy but not the law.

It also says Abbey National bank found evidence suggesting a "blagger" acting for the Sunday Times posed as Mr Brown on six occasions and gained details from his account.

The paper further claims Mr Brown's London lawyers Allen & Overy was "tricked into handing over details from his file by a conman working for the Sunday Times".

However, Allen and Overy has told Sky News it has never represented Gordon Brown.

The Guardian article says: The sheer scale of the data assault on Brown is unusual, with evidence of attempts to obtain his legal, financial, tax, medical and police records as well as to listen to his voicemail.


"All of these incidents are linked to media organisations. In many cases, there is evidence of a link to News International."

A statement from News International said: "We note the allegations made today concerning the reporting of matters relating to Gordon Brown. So that we can investigate these matters further, we ask that all information concerning these allegations is provided to us."

In 2007, Clive Goodman, the News Of The World's royal editor, and Glenn Mulcaire, the newspaper's private investigator, pleaded guilty to hacking into mobile phones belonging to members of Prince William and Prince Harry's staff.

NI, the newspaper's publisher, then commissioned its own inquiry into phone hacking - widely understood to be a collection of emails rather than a report.

The Guardian claims a source at News International told the paper that five people at the company saw the report.


Tom Crone, News International editorial lawyer, was named by The Guardian as one of those who saw it.

Mr Crone has denied the allegation, telling Sky News: "I had no involvement in the 2007 internal inquiry which involved the e-mails.

"Not only that but I didn't even know about the inquiry until 2009. I was not made aware of the e-mails until the last few weeks.

"Finally, the evidence I gave to the Commons committee in 2007 was truthful as far as I knew it."

Furthermore, Sky News understands former NOTW editor, Colin Myler, who was also named by the Guardian, also denies having seen the 2007 report.
...

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/claims-brow...172330850.html

TLDR: Another UK newspaper claims that 2 other Murdoch Newspapers in the UK hacked the voicemail, bank and medical records of former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his family.

With how widespread this was in Murdoch's publications in the UK I would be very surprised if it wasn't also happening in the US.