So, Rupert's son James "knew what was going on," but Rupert did not? How believable is that?
What the public needs to know, is how far up the chain of command this goes, because that's the only way to determine accountability. Is phone hacking and (possible) obstruction of justice company policy or not? That's the question. If it is, there needs to be a thorough investigation and criminal penalties. That means jail-time.
The editors at News of the World should be required to sign depositions stating whether they knew that private investigators were being used to hack phone-lines or not. If they knew, then one can assume that it wasn't merely overzealous reporting, but company policy. And if it was company policy, then whoever set the policy is guilty. Was it Murdoch?
The hacking scandal has sent shares in News Corporation tumbling and is now threatening to derail Murdoch's bid to take over BSkyB. Public revulsion has also forced the government to get involved. Prime Minister David Cameron has called the hacking claims "truly dreadful," but has been restrained in his criticism due to his connections to Murdoch. (He is now calling for an investigation) Others, like Tim Farron, the president of the Liberal Democrats, have been less diplomatic. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Farron said...
"News executives had shown they were not 'fit and proper persons' to take over BSkyB and joined calls for a public inquiry into the hacking scandal....This goes far deeper than one individual. It appears to have been about a culture and a complete lack of ethics." (The Sydney Morning Herald)
And, the Telegraph reports...
"Labour MP Chris Bryant was even more strident in his criticism. Bryant said. These were the 'immoral and criminal deeds of organisation that was appallingly led,' he said. 'Journalists and investigators should be ashamed of what happened, so too should the people who ran the paper. Editorial negligence is tantamount to complicity,' said Mr Bryant." (The Telegraph)
The News of the World phone hacking flap is a fast-breaking story that could go any number of ways. But one thing is certain, we're going to find out a lot more about the intrusive (and, possibly, illegal) means the media uses to generate headlines. That may be good for the public, but very bad for Rupert Murdoch.
Part 2 -- Murdoch Update (Friday) Blood in the Water
It's all beginning to unravel for Rupert Murdoch, the serpentine media tycoon, whose empire has been rocked by a phone hacking scandal that's ballooned into a full-blown crisis. On Thursday, Murdoch shuddered the 168-year-old "News of the World," laying off 200 workers while retaining beleaguered NoW editor Rebekah Brooks. Brooks is at the center of the controversy, although she still maintains she knew nothing of the phone hacking. The facts are likely to prove otherwise. She will undoubtedly be questioned by the police in the near-future. If she is implicated, she could go to jail.
On Friday, the former editor of News of the World, Andy Coulson, and former royal editor, Clive Goodman, were arrested by the Metropolitan Police in connection to phone hacking allegations. The investigation is widening and more arrests are expected in the coming weeks.
The scandal has sent shares of News Corp. tumbling and taken a toll on Murdoch's business interests. According to The Guardian, the prospects for the big BSkyB deal appear to be fading. Here's an excerpt from the article:
"Rupert Murdoch's plan to take full control of BSkyB have been scuppered by the political fallout from the News of the World phone-hacking scandal, the City believes."Sam Hart, media analyst at broker Charles Stanley said: "Murdoch's plan to bid for the satellite operator has been kicked into touch.
"Shareholders are discounting the possibility that this bid won't happen for the foreseeable future. Some people wonder if it will happen at all. It could take years before the various inquiries have wound up, so the deal has been pushed much further back than anyone would have guessed a week ago." ("BSkyB deal could collapse, City experts warn," Guardian)
And here's more on the sell-off of Murdoch stocks:
"Investors in companies controlled by Rupert Murdoch have been dumping the shares amid fears on both sides of the Atlantic over the fallout from the phone-hacking scandal at the News of the World. Shares in broadcaster BSkyB are down 5% in the last week, wiping some $666m off the value of the business, while News Corp had lost 2.6% -- slicing some $400m off the value of the News of the World's ultimate parent company." (The Guardian)
The phone hacking incident has helped to crystallize the public's growing contempt for the media and its methods. In a matter of days, Rupert Murdoch has gone from a king-maker to pariah, a transformation that he has brought about for many of his victims. Murdoch knows how fickle people can be and how much they enjoy seeing the rich and powerful get skewered in the press. He probably wonders if he is next on the list. Here's a clip from and interview with Nick Davies on Wallace's blog:
"To me it isn't a story about journalists behaving badly. It's about the power elite. It's about the most powerful news organisation in the world. It's about the most powerful police force in the country. It's about the most powerful political party in the country, and for good measure it's about the press complaints commission and how they all spontaneously colluded together to make everybody's life easier. It's about how they casually assumed that the law didn't apply to them, and how they equally casually assumed that it's perfectly all right to lie to the rest of us...the little people." (Wallace's blog: Rupert Murdoch -- destroying standards)
The phone hacking scandal has its tentacles everywhere, from NoW front offices to Scotland Yard to 10 Downing Street. How is Prime Minister David Cameron involved? Were the police taking payoffs for information? How high up the chain of command did they know about the hacking? Did Murdoch know what was going on?
This wasn't some trifling, part-time hacking operation. Oh no. As former employee at the News of the World Paul McMullan told actor Hugh Grant:
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