News of the World shuts down

[Arthmail]

I've heard he's shutting it down in an attempt to limit the damage to his US holdings, which account for 20billion of his 32 billion empire. The fear is that investigations will range out to other countries. Which of course i think that they should.

[Zoë Sumra]

I've heard he's shutting it down in an attempt to limit the damage to his US holdings, which account for 20billion of his 32 billion empire. The fear is that investigations will range out to other countries. Which of course i think that they should.

Media Matters believes that the US arm has problems ahead, due to the current Wall Street Journal head having been head of the UK newspapers, including News of the World, at the time. Said guy carried out the initial internal investigation that found just one bad apple...

[VarysTheSpider]

Partly I agree with Maltaran: the Murdoch empire needs to do something to dissociate the BSkyB bid from this mess, and this would be it. However, the fact that the NOTW brand is rapidly becoming toxic to consumers and hence advertisers might have had an effect even without the BSkyB situation.

I don't think that's too big of an issue to be honest: the NotW is one of the few papers that is not only profitable, but very profitable, and it's probably only becoming toxic to people who would never touch the paper in the first place. Hell, even if the NotW was loss-making it's still useful to have a paper for the influence it gives it's parent company (if Murdoch cared so much about money, he would have shut down the Times ages ago).

Ultimately, I think it's a PR exercise to ensure that if this BSkyB deal goes to the CC then it will get approved. The Sun on Sunday will be up and running shortly thereafter and no harm done. Long term, the best outcome won't be a break up of Murdochs empire but a better regulatory system of the press in general. I suppose it would be to much for that to happen to the police too, but I suspect them to fare much better.

And apparently Andy Coulson is to be arrested tomorrow morning for payments to the police - seems News International have released emails to the police. Which is really fucking funny when you think about it.

[Lyanna Stark]

And apparently Andy Coulson is to be arrested tomorrow morning for payments to the police - seems News International have released emails to the police. Which is really fucking funny when you think about it.

Isn't Mr Coulson a mate of Cameron's? I thought people like that hardly got arrested at all. I feel like the world is upside down!

[Usotsuki]

Former News of the World editor Andy Coulson has been arrested by police investigating phone hacking and corruption allegations.

It came as David Cameron defended his decision to give Mr Coulson a "second chance" and employ him as his director of communications - a job he has left.

The PM announced two inquiries - one led by a judge - into the phone hacking allegations and newspaper ethics.

I do hope there will come a time when a political scandal in the UK doesn't invariably lead to an inquiry by a judge, an inquiry led by a half trained Labrador puppy would probably come to the same convenient conclusions, be considerably cheaper and of course be much, much cuter.

[Horza]

Isn't Mr Coulson a mate of Cameron's? I thought people like that hardly got arrested at all. I feel like the world is upside down!

As of an hour and a half ago it is.

[john]

Murdoch reminds me of Geder in the Dragon's Path by Daniel Abraham.

yeah, just burn that shit down.

[mormont]

There is some quality coverage on this story going around. I like this bit by Peter Oborne (and it's not often I use that phrase). Bagehot at the Economist has a couple of good blogs: one explaining why this is a deeply important political issue, focusing on David Cameron's employment of Andy Coulson and how that still leaves him vulnerable, and another quoting the Guardian on an aspect of the story that simply needs no further comment:

News International (NI) continued its internal investigation into phone hacking at the News of the World. Senior sources said they were examining whether former News of the World journalists may have kept money claimed on company expenses instead of passing it on to police officers in exchange for stories. Paying police officers is itself illegal.

In other words, the paper’s bosses fear some staff may not have been honourable enough to pay policemen illegal bribes, but merely pretended to in order to trouser the cash.

[Zoë Sumra]

:rofl: I hadn't heard that last bit at all, Mormont; thank you very much.

[Blue Roses]

Speaking of the delusional:

Gordon Brown I'd still be PM if....

[Commodore]

Steve Coogan is awesome

[Horza]

I dunno if you non-antipodeans can view this but Paul McMullan's interview with ABC News24 is a corker.

[ThinkerX]

Now if we could just have a scandal with comparable consequences for Fox News...

[Lummel]

I dunno if you non-antipodeans can view this but Paul McMullan's interview with ABC News24 is a corker.

That was hilarious (and viewable in the UK).

So much to love, how his lawyer has already told him not to give away details because he has implicated himself but he just can't help himself, how his face lights up when he describes listening in to Charles and Diana's mobile phone conversations and how in the opening seconds of the film he looks like something the cat dragged in.

He also mentioned this incident when Hugh Grant recorded a conversation with him (and didn't pay for his beer).

[Horza]

Poor guy, it's clear he's got something resembling a conscience bubbling up but he's been in that world so long he's on another moral plane and he can't quite work out what everyone's so upset about.

[Sophelia]

I dunno if you non-antipodeans can view this but Paul McMullan's interview with ABC News24 is a corker.

Good heavens! That's really shocking. I hadn't taken much interest in following this crisis because I thought (and still think) it was totally clearcut: phone hacking is totally unacceptable, police/government have to root it out. But here's a fellow who thinks hacking celebrity phones is understood by everyone to be absolutely fine because these people earn so much money and will do anything to get themselves in the paper so it's fair game. And he also thinks nobody would have any moral objections to hacking a phone if it casts a poor light on the phone user (e.g. they're having an affair). He only thinks there's a 'grey area' when it comes to hacking phones to get other information, especially 'readers' phones'*, and only seems to think it's a bit too much to hack into victims' phones (though he understands how it could have happened - selective empathy there!).

* Wouldn't want to put them off buying the paper, I guess :rolleyes:

That was hilarious (and viewable in the UK).

So much to love, how his lawyer has already told him not to give away details because he has implicated himself but he just can't help himself, how his face lights up when he describes listening in to Charles and Diana's mobile phone conversations and how in the opening seconds of the film he looks like something the cat dragged in.

Yeah.

He is most of the way into describing how he bribed a bodyguard with 30k in two plastic bags (with strong implications this bodyguard was a policeman), when he remembers (out loud) that his lawyer told him not to give any specific details in case he incriminated himself.

Priceless. I think he realises the joke's on him when he says at the end he's thinking of fleeing the country and going to Australia. ;)

Poor guy, it's clear he's got something resembling a conscience bubbling up but he's been in that world so long he's on another moral plane and he can't quite work out what everyone's so upset about.

I'm not sure if he has a conscience bubbling up, more that he has realised that other people might not think very well of him. His (apparent) honesty is admirable though and must surely (she says optimistically) help bring this whole thing down.

Of course what I really want to see is a total revolution where readers realise that all these human interest stories (unless based on voluntary interviews) are not just tasteless but unethical. Not going to happen I fear.

[Addien]

Did any of you guys see Hugh Grant on about it? I know, he's "just an actor", but he actually secretly recorded Patrick McMullan, a NOTW journalist, after Patrick told him that he'd hacked his phone.

He debates Patrick and condemns the hackers here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14052690

He really is a very intelligent guy. I love that unlike some actors who think they are saving the world or “honing their craft” that he understands he is a somewhat mediocre actor who got very lucky. And he articulates his position against NOTW’s unethical hacking brilliantly.

Smart, on-point, doesn’t take himself too seriously, and more handsome with age. If only we had more Hollywood stars like him.

[Trebla]

There really should be a tv show called Dynasty 3: The Murdochs

Rupert has ceded substantial power to his son James, who made the decision to close the News of the World. While James’ power is part of a calculated succession plan, he also has his own leverage: he’s his father’s closest family ally in accommodating Wendi—the patriarch’s divisive third wife. His father needs his support. James has an often tense relationship with his sister, Elisabeth, who has a tense relationship with Wendi. Elisabeth has built her own media company, which her father bought this year—giving her great say within News Corp. James and Elisabeth’s relationships, indeed many of the family relationships, are facilitated by Elisabeth’s husband Matthew Freud, the most famous, and most famously slippery, PR man in London. One of Freud’s closest friends is Rebekah Brooks, the CEO of News International, who almost everybody believes needs to be fired. Rebekah, counseled by Matthew, has become James’ most dedicated lieutenant. James and Matthew are determined not to fire her (indeed, she is an important instrument in Matthew’s business). As it happens, Wendi doesn’t like Rebekah. Rupert, who has described Rebekah as a social climber in his family, can’t press for her ouster for fear of siding with Wendi against his children. Rupert’s oldest son Lachlan, once the presumed heir and now a sullen presence in Australia, fights with his brother and is most closely aligned with his sister Elisabeth. Their older half sister, Prudence, is aligned with James. Ultimately, they will have four votes between them when it comes to running the company—with no tie breaking mechanism.

[Nearly Headless Ned]

Patrick Mcmullen is a classic tragi-comic character. You know they're gonna do a tv drama or film in the future and he'll be one of the plum roles.

Its a superb but also very sad story.

[Stark White Blk Untruth]

Hugh Grant...secretly recorded Patrick McMullan, a NOTW journalist, after Patrick told him that he'd hacked his phone.

He debates Patrick and condemns the hackers here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14052690

+1 Well done Hugh. 'The Bugger, Bugged' http://www.newstatesman.com/newspapers/2011/04/phone-yeah-cameron-murdoch

There is a suspicious, or typical, lack of coverage here in the U.S. on the repulsive Murdoch; but in the spirit of sharing good news, here:

"Murder victims. Terror victims. Film stars. Sports figures. Politicians. The royal family's associates. Killed military soldiers' families.

'Corrupt (Murdoch media staff) illegal bribes phone hacking deleting voicemails …as the scope of tabloid intrusion into private voice mails became clearer:

'Almost no one, it seems, was safe from a tabloid determined to profit, whatever it takes.'

'What began as an investigation of…tabloid listening to voicemail messages of celebrities…widened to include much more serious allegations

the newspaper paid police officers for information and even interfered with murder investigations'

**U.K. to U.S., Hackergate to Watergate, after decades, on July 4 2011, murdered child Milly overpowers Morally Dead Murdoch:

Milly's ghost spoke "Now, Unleash Hell…

…on him, feeding off the dead - the murdered children, the killed soldiers, the dead terror victims of 7/7

…on him feeding off our families' suffering, grief, fear, agony

…on him posthumously raping the sacred and private pain of the dead.

1. Murdered teen Milly Dowler's voicemail hacked by News of The World: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/jul/04/milly-dowler-voicemail-hacked-news-of-world

2. Murdoch's Watergate Unravels: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eric-boehlert/murdochs-watergate-unrave_b_892200.html

3. Carl Bernstein: Is Phone-Hacking Scandal Murdoch's Watergate? The esteemed author of All The Presidents Men on the NotW scandal: http://www.newsweek.com/2011/07/10/murdoch-s-watergate.html

4. Will Bunch: Murdoch's American Sins: Less Sensational, But More Dangerous. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/will-bunch/murdochs-american-sins-le_b_892938.html

'…NotW has abandoned its morals - if it ever had any…how could any humane person interfere with a disappeared child's voicemail, listen in to the anguish of the parents of murdered children, and stroll through the pain of families who have lost members in conflicts. This is just sick behaviour.

'…Murdoch slimy rumor monger. So glad the baggers get all their 'news' from this source "network"

(on other media 'whipping itself up into a frenzy' over Palin's email archives just a few weeks ago;

'…FOI Act; They were public domain, not hacked from a dead child's phone. Don't you understand?

'…just the tip of a very nasty iceberg. NotW didn't just hack into the private phones of celebrities but...relatives of the dead victims from the terrorist bombings on 7th of July and parents of murdered children not including Milly. How sick is that?'

'…It's not good enough for senior execs of the parent company to allege that they were on holiday at all material times (?? who else would get away with that) or that they were not in full possession of the facts

> 2003 Video of Rebekah Brooks, editor of NotW current CE of News Corp, saying, during testimony to a British Parliamentary committee, “We have paid the police for information in the past"

> Radio 4 report …how NotW cultivated a relationship with the police…were tight with Murdoch's papers. The News corrupted and bribed the police to ignore or delay investigations so that the newspaper could continue to hack and get the scoop.

> Over 4,000 names phones in Murdoch's NotW reporters notebooks; 400+ from dead military family phone hacked… collected in an information gathering operation by Murdoch companies

"he talked about the very unsettling cozy relationship not only between this prime minister and the Murdoch news organization, but basically all our prime ministers going back to Margaret Thatcher, who've all realized they can't get elected unless the man who controls 37 percent of our powerful print media in the country is on their side."

'…The above quote is food for thought. NotW, Murdoch and Faux News are one 'n the same. This group is completely unabashedly willing to stretch, exaggerate, lie and hack in order to sell newspapers, up their ratings and control national elections'

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/07/06/earlyshow/main20077145.shtml?tag=contentMain;contentBody

Items; - False 'internal monitoring' by RBrooks: equal to a pedophile guarding the nursery

- Delay of investigation: more time for evidence shredding, deleting, purging

- Closing of 'NotW' tip of iceberg of lies twisted corrupted info: Murdoch strategy

- Murdoch company tools: illegal corrupt bribes, blocking investigations, scanners, phone hacking for decades

- Murdoch and execs claim 'Deniability'…bullshit, like a crimelord saying he didn't tell his people to use guns: if they DIDN'T know, then they are unfit to takeover Sky; if they DID know, then they are unfit to takeover Sky;

'…given what has come out in the last week one must really ask whether the entire organisation is "fit and proper" to be publishing four national newspapers (soon to be three, but one on a seven day schedule) and be seeking to take full control of the largest non-BBC broadcaster in the UK. AND to be trying to drag the BBC down (Matthew Parris on Any Questions)