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You are here: Home / Today in News Corp

Today in News Corp

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Rebekah Brooks is out as CEO of News International, Rupert and James are going to be grilled by a House of Commons committee next Tuesday, and Rupert gave a self-serving interview to the WSJ, where he acknowledged “minor mistakes”. This is all via The Guardian, which is going medieval on News Corp. Those are the highlights, I’m sure you guys will have more in the comments.

Reader Interactions

45Comments

  1. 1.

    JPL

    This is from the Guardian

    Rupert Murdoch said he was “hands-on both economically and editorially” with his newspapers on the last occasion he gave evidence to a British parliamentary committee, the Press Association reports.

    His testimony is going to be interesting. I predict he will suffer from the I don’t know syndrome.

  2. 2.

    Linda Featheringill

    The UK seems to be thoroughly angry with Murdoch & Co. and with justification. I get the impression that Murdoch had way too much influence/power in that country. That’s probably a thing of the past.

    It would be very nice if we could bring some of those characters down in this country, too. Very nice. Fox and WSJ and maybe some more.

  3. 3.

    Hawes

    This just in: James Murdoch has decided to spend more time with Karen Hughes’s family. He won’t actually be IN the room with them, but rather he will listen in on their phone calls.

  4. 4.

    Brian R.

    The UK seems to be thoroughly angry with Murdoch & Co. and with justification. I get the impression that Murdoch had way too much influence/power in that country.

    It reminds me of Miller’s Crossing, when the crime boss who’s been dominating the town suddenly finds himself out of political favor, and all the toadies who’d been kissing his ass start trying to kill him.

  5. 5.

    RossInDetroit

    I keep expecting Tomasky to weigh in on this at TDB/Newsweek. He used to be a Guardian commentator and appears somewhat familiar with that bank of the pond. Nothing so far. The Beast gig seems to be more politics oriented and less personal blog than his Guardian work.

  6. 6.

    stuckinred

    Brian R

    Great movie, too bad Goodfella’s overshadowed it. Byrne, Finney, Harden and Tuturro are awesome.

  9. 9.

    DZ

    @Linda Featheringill:

    Please do not make the mistake of equating the execrable editorial and opinion pages of the WSJ with its quality as a business and financial journal. If you want to be informed on business and finacial matters, you need to read the WSJ – unfortunate, perhaps, but that is the way it is.

  10. 10.

    Brian R.

    Great movie, too bad Goodfella’s overshadowed it.

    And worse, that both were overshadowed by Dances with Cliches when it came time to hand out the Academy Award for Best Picture.

  11. 11.

    BruceK

    OK, I need to catch up on the Guardian’s coverage. Especially if they’re going medieval on News Corp.

    (I assume they’ve gotten past the maypole, the country dancing, and land tillage under the three-field system. I’m waiting for them to get to the invention of the -ing horse collar.)

    (End obligatory Pratchett reference.)

  12. 12.

    mistermix

    @BruceK – Unfortunately, I don’t have DougJ’s encylopedic memory of Tarantino movie quotes, so you get the garden-variety references.

  13. 13.

    ChrisNYC

    Just a schadenfreude note — according to the Guardian, when Brooks was asked how the phone hacking scandal would end, she said,

    “It ends with Alan Rusbridger (editor of the Guardian) on his knees, begging for mercy.”

    HA HA!

  14. 14.

    bkny

    It reminds me of Miller’s Crossing, when the crime boss who’s been dominating the town suddenly finds himself out of political favor, and all the toadies who’d been kissing his ass start trying to kill him.

    that is exactly what’s happening now. all those pols rupert used to control and expected to protect him, have instead turned on him…

  15. 15.

    Dennis SGMM

    I don’t know whether the Brits have any different means of handling things but, the “I didn’t know what those guys were doin’!” CEO defense seems to work out quite well on this side of the pond.

  16. 16.

    R-Jud

    Ah, I’m a little slow today, and hadn’t realized James and Rupert caved on appearing before the committee– they initially refused. James’s initial reply was exquisitely snotty, basically saying, “oh, sorry, booked up– will August 10th do?”

    I don’t think this initial hearing is under oath– that’s the judicial inquiry, which is in a few weeks– but I could be wrong.

    Also, too, the FBI is looking in to the allegations of stateside phone hacking by NOW reporters. Schweet.

  17. 17.

    Bostondreams

    I don’t know whether the Brits have any different means of handling things but, the “I didn’t know what those guys were doin’!” CEO defense seems to work out quite well on this side of the pond.

    In some cases, such a defense can get you elected governor of Florida

  18. 18.

    Jim C.

    Of course it’s via The Guardian. No American news source would ever dare to say something mean about Murdoch.

  20. 20.

    mellowjohn

    rupert will prepare for his testimony before parliament by watching tapes of alberto gonzales testifying before congress.

  21. 21.

    ChrisNYC

    NI is running ads in all UK papers this weekend, apologizing. Too late, I think. They hired a PR firm yesterday, I believe.

    Also too — this is a fantastic video of Nick Davies, Guardian reporter who really pushed this story.

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/video/2011/jul/07/news-of-the-world-phone-hacking-nick-davies-rupert-murdoch-video

    “It’s about the power elite … the way they casually assumed that the rules didn’t apply to them.” It makes my heart ache, longing for our press to speak like this.

  22. 22.

    bjacques

    And then there were two.

    Frank to Julia at the end of Hellraiser: “Nothing personal, babe!” *CHOMP*

    In the end, it’s down to complicity or incompetence. For the former, you face the law; for the latter, a lot of pissed-off stockholders (including one Saudi prince holding 7% of the stock).

  23. 23.

    scav

    I like this little bit from Rupe’s Sept 2007 chat with some Lords committee inquiring into media ownership and the news.

    First he blathers on about how hands-on and exercising of editorial control on major issues he is. Then

    The committee’s minutes said: “He believed that Sky News would be more popular if it were more like the Fox News channel.
    __
    “Then it would be ‘a proper alternative to the BBC’. One of the reasons that it is not a proper alternative to the BBC is that no broadcaster or journalist in the UK knows any different.
    __
    “Mr Murdoch stated that Sky News could become more like Fox without a change to the impartiality rules in the UK.
    __
    “For example, Sky had not yet made the presentational progress that Fox News had. He stated that the only reason that Sky News was not more like Fox News was that ‘nobody at Sky listens to me’.”

    That just might play better behind closed doors in 2007 than now in 2011 in a windier setting. (Guard live, 1:05)

  24. 24.

    handsmile

    On Rebekah Brooks’ abrupt resignation: Zandar had a great catch last night from Agence France-Presse.

    Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talid, a major shareholder in NewsCorporation, asserted in a BBC interview yesterday, “For sure she has to go, you bet she has to go!” And at the snap of those fingers little Rupert trotted to attention.

    http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/07/14/major-news-corp-investor-calls-for-brooks-to-quit/

    These object lessons in how the world actually works are a necessary colonic. David Cameron can yap away all he wants on the subject on the floor of Parliament, but once again that proverb on money and bullsh*t reveals the true lever.

    (Zandar seems to have disappeared from the BJ front page or perhaps I missed his farewell note. His blog “Zandar versus the stupid” is a real gem, if you don’t know it already.)

  25. 25.

    eemom

    I think another Tarantino quote is in order here: “Let’s not start sucking each other’s dicks just yet.”

    Once again, money always wins.

  26. 26.

    scav

    handsmile: interesting. Because I was just reading her letter of resignation and was taking this little bit

    Therefore I have given Rupert and James Murdoch my resignation . While this has been a subject of discussion, this time my resignation has been accepted.

    to be a slight attempt at a “I wanted to resign all along (like simply everyone else) but they made me stay” polish to her reputation. But they may be more to it. very nice.

    Another slight giggle if Rupe thinks this is competent handling of a crisis. The Repubs are handling their little situation equally well. Competency in stereo.

  27. 27.

    leo

    Treating the disease instead of just the individual symptoms (from the UK House of Lords debate):

    Our media concentration rules are archaic. News Corp may not own more than 20% of ITV, but it may own a far bigger entity, the whole of BSkyB. We should prize plurality and seize the moment. We must severely reduce the concentration limits in respect of UK media and cross-media ownershp. And, for clarity, I would no more wish to see the Guardian gain a dominant position than News Corp.

    From the Guardian “Medieval” Live Blogging

  28. 28.

    scav

    eemom. Probably. But we all die in the end so what the hell. I’m just enjoying the quick peek into the actual debris and churning mechanics of a gut-shot pseudo-god as he’s wheeled by to the hospital. I’m also so foolish as to think knowing what’s actually going on behind the fake six-pack abs of the golden boys and girls might prove useful later on. Even if I didn’t believe in the idiots before or after: I like knowledge and I’m an empiricist.

  29. 29.

    Yurpean

    I’m just going to keep posting links to Steve Bell cartoons. This is from last week, after she said that it was inconceivable she knew about the Milly Dowler phone hack:

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cartoon/2011/jul/06/rupert-murdoch-rebekah-brooks-phone-hacking

    Love the little journalist snakes!

    I posted this in an open-thread yesterday, but for those who missed it, I think it’s perfect:

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cartoon/2011/jul/14/cartoon-steve-bell-murdoch-bskyb

  30. 30.

    scav

    Must admit, I’m also hoping for some tech details to start oozing through all the personal will-she-or-won’t she details. Bit here. Pinging would be my personal tech of choice, but hey, I’m a geographer. Minor bit of detail. This triangulation using cell-phone towers is the live use of what was/is being carried around, unencrypted, on all those iphones and snoopy gits are as often interested in where targets have been as where they are now.

  31. 31.

    handsmile

    Because I am contractually obligated to link to a Guardian story at least once a day, this (mostly because of the headline. N.B. put down your beverage before linking):

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jul/14/rupert-murdoch-man-lost-penis

    And to reference Brad DeLong’s frequent plaint, “why oh why can’t we have a better press corps?”, I just learned why the excreable Graham Norton was on my TV this morning rather than BBC World News. BBC journalists are on strike today!!

    It’s well beyond my feeble powers to imagine the powdered and pomaded members of our Fourth Estate engaging in such a distasteful work action. The Village bordello must never be closed!

  34. 34.

    Berial

    The last time the White House ‘picked on’ a news organization the other news orgs joined ranks about how ‘unfair’ that was. That doesn’t seem to be the case in the UK with the Guardian “going medieval” on Murdoch. Will the US news organizations again join ranks to defend a ‘fellow’ or will they be gleefully attacking them as well this time?

  36. 36.

    JGabriel

    @Linda Featheringill:

    I get the impression that Murdoch had way too much influence/power in that country.

    Too bad Murdoch has power and influence over so many more people in this country.

    .

  37. 37.

    pete

    On Steve Bell: A friend of mine sent me a report of a talk Bell gave on Wednesday, including this gem:

    Bell tells the story of once being approached by Cameron who asked him why he – Bell – always showed him – “Dave” – with a condom over the head. Bell says he explained it to “Dave” as the caricaturist’s response to his smoothness and youth … “Nothing of course” says Bell “about his being a complete dick.”

  40. 40.

    JGabriel

    @DZ:

    If you want to be informed on business and finacial matters, you need to read the WSJ – unfortunate, perhaps, but that is the way it is.

    Is it? Can’t you get better coverage from a combo of Bloomberg, Reuters, Financial Times, The NY Times Business Section, and The Economist?

    .

  42. 42.

    Nutella

    @benpolitico “BREAKING: Les Hinton, Murdoch lieutenant for 50+ years and Dow Jones CEO, to leave the company.”

    Retweeted from @DRoseTimes

  44. 44.

    Royston Vasey

    From The Guardian:

    On the Fox and Friends show, Fox journalist Steve Doocy wondered just what the fuss was all about: “The company has come forward and said: ‘look, this happened a long time ago, at a tabloid, in London, somebody did something really bad,’ and the company reacted. They closed that newspaper, all the people got fired, even though 99 percent of them had nothing to do with it.”
    .
    Doocy’s guest, public relations consultant Robert Dilenschneider, was in agreement:
    “If I am not mistaken, Murdoch, who owns it, has apologised but for some reason, the public, the media keeps on going over this, again and again. It’s a little bit too much.”
    .
    “The bigger issue is hacking and how we as a public are going to protect outselves,” said Dilenschneider, who earlier listed a number of US companies which had recently become the targets of hacking.
    .
    Doocy added later: “One of the things about the media, you look at some sites and you would think that martians had landed in New Jersey – again”

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