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You are here: Home / Another One Down

Another One Down

by $8 blue check mistermix|  July 18, 20118:25 am| 51 Comments

This post is in: Our Failed Media Experiment

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The Guardian is reporting that John Yates, who was in charge of the Metropolitan Police’s phone hacking investigation, will resign today. That’s two top officials of the most important police force in England gone within two days’ time.

In related news, someone had better call the waahmbulance for the WSJ, because their latest editorial sounds like a teenage girl’s Facebook status update:

We also trust that readers can see through the commercial and ideological motives of our competitor-critics. The Schadenfreude is so thick you can’t cut it with a chainsaw. Especially redolent are lectures about journalistic standards from publications that give Julian Assange and WikiLeaks their moral imprimatur. They want their readers to believe, based on no evidence, that the tabloid excesses of one publication somehow tarnish thousands of other News Corp. journalists across the world.

Here’s a interview from July 5. After watching it, I agree with the Journal: why would we think that News Corp journalists would be tarnished by being associated with an organization as forthright and forthcoming as this one?

That last clip is via Jay Rosen, who has an interesting discussion of how a PR firm can keep its reputation while working for a firm with such a deeply entrenched culture of lying.

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Previous Post: « Hackgate: Rabid Weasels All the Way Down
Next Post: Nothing’s gonna pull us apart »

Reader Interactions

51Comments

  1. 1.

    Nutella

    July 18, 2011 at 8:31 am

    An excellent response to the ‘hoocoodanode’ in Stephenson’s resignation speech at the Guardian. We rarely see that kind of fact-checking in the US press.

  2. 2.

    WereBear

    July 18, 2011 at 8:35 am

    And they wonder why no one buys newspapers… or watches the network news.

    We had a lovely day with my BIL yesterday, and one of the topics we touched on is how he never watches the news or gets a newspaper any more; it’s pointless. And his 30 and younger co-workers claim they get all their news from The Daily Show.

    And we informed him that’s a highly reliable source.

  3. 3.

    BO_Bill

    July 18, 2011 at 8:41 am

    This is exactly why I get all my news by watching Rachel Maddow on TV.

  4. 4.

    someguy

    July 18, 2011 at 8:42 am

    WSJ is Murdoch owned. They should be shut down pending completion of a DOJ investigation, until we know how far this went. So too Fox News.

  5. 5.

    sb

    July 18, 2011 at 8:43 am

    The Schadenfreude is so thick you can’t cut it with a chainsaw.

    Well, to be fair, they got that right. :)

  6. 6.

    4tehlulz

    July 18, 2011 at 8:48 am

    The Schadenfreude is so thick you can’t cut it with a chainsaw.

    Therefore, needs more Schadenfreude.

  7. 7.

    alwhite

    July 18, 2011 at 8:50 am

    I hate the fact that “-gate” has been appended to this thing but the arch of the story line seems so similar. Even as the ship is taking on water faster than it can be pumped the crew is determined to change the subject, throw red herrings and outright lie. Maybe this will be more enjoyable than I thought!

  8. 8.

    sb

    July 18, 2011 at 8:50 am

    Adding: if our Sunday shows had interviews like the one I just saw in the video clip, I’d watch.

  9. 9.

    urizon

    July 18, 2011 at 8:53 am

    I have a vague recollection of American reporters, at one time, asking tough questions like this.

  10. 10.

    MikeBoyScout

    July 18, 2011 at 8:59 am

    They want their readers to believe, based on no evidence, that the tabloid excesses of one publication somehow tarnish thousands of other News Corp. journalists across the world.

    Roger Ailes Caught Spying on the Reporters at His Small-Town Newspaper

    I need a new chainsaw.

  11. 11.

    Belafon (formerly anonevent)

    July 18, 2011 at 9:01 am

    urizon
    You probably have a recollection of a movie about American reporters, at one time, asking tough questions like this.

  12. 12.

    arguingwithsignposts

    July 18, 2011 at 9:02 am

    That promise is worth repeating now that politicians and our competitors are using the phone-hacking years ago at a British corner of News Corp. to assail the Journal, and perhaps injure press freedom in general.

    This seems to be how the media overlords want to spin this thing – the second part: that any attempt to reign in the egregious excesses of Murdoch’s slimy influence over British politics is just an attack on press freedoms by those with an ideological or economic axe to grind.

    I’m glad to see that quite a few comments on that article are calling them out on their hackery.

  13. 13.

    rikryah

    July 18, 2011 at 9:16 am

    they are dropping like flies. I’m enjoying it.

  14. 14.

    Dexter

    July 18, 2011 at 9:17 am

    The question is how long can David Cameron survive?

  15. 15.

    MikeBoyScout

    July 18, 2011 at 9:17 am

    The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977
    “Specifically, the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA prohibit the willful use of the mails or any means of instrumentality of interstate commerce corruptly in furtherance of any offer, payment, promise to pay, or authorization of the payment of money or anything of value to any person, while knowing that all or a portion of such money or thing of value will be offered, given or promised, directly or indirectly, to a foreign official to influence the foreign official in his or her official capacity, induce the foreign official to do or omit to do an act in violation of his or her lawful duty, or to secure any improper advantage in order to assist in obtaining or retaining business for or with, or directing business to, any person.”
    “The FCPA also requires companies whose securities are listed in the United States to meet its accounting provisions. See 15 U.S.C. § 78m. These accounting provisions, which were designed to operate in tandem with the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA, require corporations covered by the provisions to (a) make and keep books and records that accurately and fairly reflect the transactions of the corporation and (b) devise and maintain an adequate system of internal accounting controls.”

  16. 16.

    lldoyle

    July 18, 2011 at 9:18 am

    “The Schadenfreude is so thick you can’t cut it with a chainsaw.”

    This probably understates my level of enjoyment. It’s all I can do not to yell “Squeal like a pig!” when I read things like the WSJ editorial. Getting to read that kind of thing on their way down is the icing on that Schadenfreudelicious cake.

    More squealing. More blows. And more squealing. Let it go on and on. May this remain fresh and full of scornful commentary in early November 2012.

  17. 17.

    dmsilev

    July 18, 2011 at 9:20 am

    Shorter WSJ: Leave Britney Murdoch ALLLLLOOOONNNNEEEE!

  18. 18.

    me

    July 18, 2011 at 9:20 am

    That editorial, IMO, has the unintended effect of completely dispelling the notion so pushed by News Corp before the purchase of Dow Jones that the WSJ would be more independent than Rupert’s other papers.

    …and “competitor-critics”, really?

  19. 19.

    vh

    July 18, 2011 at 9:26 am

    It’s not Schadenfreude when the bullies in question are getting the thrashing they deserve. The feeling is one of long awaited satisfaction that justice is finally being served. In the movies, the audience cheers when the bad guy goes down.

    Freddie Mercury captures the moment:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rY0WxgSXdEE

  20. 20.

    daveNYC

    July 18, 2011 at 9:29 am

    That editorial, IMO, has the unintended effect of completely dispelling the notion so pushed by News Corp before the purchase of Dow Jones that the WSJ would be more independent then Rupert’s other papers.

    Naw, everyone already knew that their opinion page was batshit even before Murdoch bought it. It’s been their late and lazy coverage of this story on their actual news pages that has shown how under the thumb they are.

  21. 21.

    arguingwithsignposts

    July 18, 2011 at 9:30 am

    It should be noted here that The Guardian has responded to the wsj editorial.

  22. 22.

    MazeDancer

    July 18, 2011 at 9:30 am

    @Dexter:

    The question is how long can David Cameron survive?

    At least til Wednesday, when he addresses Parliament. He’s letting the questioning of the Murdoch 3 go first tomorrow.

    While I’m not expecting much in the way of answers from the Murdochs and Brooks, their word choices will be interesting PR wise. Also, one will not be able to stop imagining how fast the legal fee meter is spinning.

  23. 23.

    gocart mozart

    July 18, 2011 at 9:32 am

    I like how he says that you should establish the facts first before you do any investigation. (facepalm)

  24. 24.

    WaterGirl

    July 18, 2011 at 9:43 am

    mistermix

    What a splendid piece of writing!

    In related news, someone had better call the waahmbulance for the WSJ, because their latest editorial sounds like a teenage girl’s Facebook status update:

  25. 25.

    Carbon Dated

    July 18, 2011 at 9:47 am

    Not cool to compare the whinging septics at the WSJ with teenage girls, Mr M. If you don’t recognize that grrls are pre-womyn who deserve better, you’re obviously just another duped twonk of the patriarchy.

    Also: “a interview”?

  26. 26.

    shortstop

    July 18, 2011 at 9:59 am

    I enjoy the way that big media seems to be under the impression that its only readers/critics are components of other big media. It’s as though these people are completely unaware that there are millions of subjects/citizens out here who can’t fucking believe what NewsCorp did and want to see it go down. No, it’s only the Guardian grinding its little axe.

  27. 27.

    TBogg

    July 18, 2011 at 10:05 am

    I kept expecting the PR flack to explain that Rebekah Brooks “goes up to eleven”.

  28. 28.

    AlanM

    July 18, 2011 at 10:07 am

    I have been a Guardian reader since I was 12. I have never been prouder to be a Guardian reader.

    I think its quality can be guaged by the enemies it gathers. It can be risky becoming an item of investigation by the Guardian if you really have something to hide.

    Unlike the Met, they always get their man.

  29. 29.

    MikeBoyScout

    July 18, 2011 at 10:12 am

    They want their readers to believe, based on no evidence, that the tabloid excesses of one publication somehow tarnish thousands of other News Corp. journalists across the world.

    Yet…
    In 2009, a federal case in New Jersey brought by a company called Floorgraphics went to trial, accusing News America of, wait for it, hacking its way into Floorgraphics’s password protected computer system.

  30. 30.

    Jane2

    July 18, 2011 at 10:12 am

    Wow, the interviewer doesn’t take the bs at face value and keeps at the interviewee…kind of like a real journalist! Perhaps the cable sycophants could take a page from this….nah, won’t happen.

  31. 31.

    Violet

    July 18, 2011 at 10:14 am

    Oh, that WSJ editorial is a thing of beauty. What a bunch of whingers. Can’t wait to see what Stewart and Colbert do with the story this week.

  32. 32.

    Roger Moore

    July 18, 2011 at 10:20 am

    @AlanM:

    Unlike the Met, they always get their man don’t accept bribes from Murdoch to leave his company alone.

    FTFY.

  33. 33.

    GregB

    July 18, 2011 at 10:29 am

    Surely there would be no news reportage from Fox or the WSJ if a news outfit associated with George Soros were to have been caught wire-tapping the voice mails of dead children and families of war dead.

    Surely they would not find such trifling matters newsworthy.

  34. 34.

    ChrisNYC

    July 18, 2011 at 10:33 am

    nevermind

  35. 35.

    Xenocrates

    July 18, 2011 at 10:55 am

    Way to come up with a great false equivalency, WSJ editorial writers! Because, y’know, Julian Assange’s behavior was just as rotten as that of Murdoch’s gang, right? How many private citizens did he “hack” again? None, you say?? I am shocked, shocked, I tell you! Oh, and go screw yourselves, too. Too late!

  36. 36.

    aimai

    July 18, 2011 at 11:15 am

    Go Jon Snow!

    But, aside from that, one of the most interestig things in the WSJ editorial and the commentary from the cheap seats after is the open attack on capitalism. When Murdoch and Fox are riding high then competition, attacking the competition, trying to get a better market share by embarassing the competition are not only fair goals, they are lauded as the best way to get things done. A positive virtue. But now that Murdoch’s empire is going down because of the exposure of its own criminal dealings suddenly its not the crime and its not the coverup its unfair competition from the Guardian and from DailyKOs (yes, dailykos and the liberals and leftists come up quite frequently in the comments to that piece.) Talk about the Waambulance. These MOTU are absolutely astonished to find out that they aren’t totally protected from competition.

    aimai

  37. 37.

    Jay C

    July 18, 2011 at 11:40 am

    arguingwithsignposts @ #21:

    The editorial provoked an instant outpouring of comment on Twitter, much of it unfavourable. As one tweet, by Jesse Elsinger, put it: “Best adj to use for this WSJ editorial: delusional, oedipal, sycophantic or craven?”

    Why not all four?

  38. 38.

    ABL

    July 18, 2011 at 11:42 am

    i can’t eat anymore popcorn. i simply can’t.

  39. 39.

    ABL

    July 18, 2011 at 11:43 am

    I recently watched the interview with Paul whatshistoes and Coogan. I thought Coogan was going to reach across the table and punch Paul in the face. What a sanctimonious dickwiggler. (Not Coogan. Coogan is the business.)

  40. 40.

    piratedan

    July 18, 2011 at 11:49 am

    @BO_Bill: if only you paid attention to it…..

  41. 41.

    Yurpean

    July 18, 2011 at 12:07 pm

    This isn’t the first time that the Guardian have wielded the sword of truth against the powerful. In 1995 they reported on Tory minister Jonathan Aitken’s connections with Saudi arms dealers. He launched libel proceedings, however the libel case collapsed and Aitken was subsequently jailed for perjury.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Aitken#Libel.2C_arrest_and_prison

  42. 42.

    Yurpean

    July 18, 2011 at 12:11 pm

    And at the risk of sounding like a broken record, some front pager really should use this cartoon tomorrow if they post on Murdoch’s appearance before the culture, media & sport select committee.

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

  43. 43.

    Yurpean

    July 18, 2011 at 12:12 pm

    (I’m not going to post that link again after this, as I risk coming across as monomaniacal as M_C or fred.)

  44. 44.

    Yurpean

    July 18, 2011 at 12:18 pm

    I’m personally hoping that Michael Wolff’s prediction for Murdoch R’s performance comes true tomorrow: “It is very likely he will get angry. He will say things that people should not say in public.”

  45. 45.

    gocart mozart

    July 18, 2011 at 12:42 pm

    Poor shiftless moochers and their endless thirst for the latest juicy celebrity gossip caused this. There is nothing about these unfortunate incidences that can’t be fixed by greater media consolidation and another round of tax cuts.

  46. 46.

    MikeBoyScout

    July 18, 2011 at 1:01 pm

    More totally unpredictable news – from the Guardian

    The independent police complaints commission has announced that it is investigating an allegation that John Yates helped the daughter of the former News of the World deputy editor Neil Wallis get a job in the Metropolitan police. The IPCC has also said it is investigating Yates’s review of the phone hacking case in July 2009, and two other former senior officers involved in the original inquiry.

  47. 47.

    Janeane The Acerbic Goblin

    July 18, 2011 at 1:30 pm

    @Jane2…

    Absolutely. It’s refreshing to see the British reporter actually ask follow up questions and not simply accept the spin as fact. But, of course, the reporter/news reader is British, not an American sycophant, a very important distinction.

  48. 48.

    Cris (without an H)

    July 18, 2011 at 1:35 pm

    Interviews like this always make me think of Martin Short as Nathan Thurm.

    Mike Wallace: Pardon me for saying this, but you seem defensive.
    __
    Nathan Thurm: I’m not being defensive! You’re the one who’s being defensive! Why is always the other person who’s being defensive? Have you ever asked yourself that? Why don’t you ask yourself that?

  49. 49.

    LanceThruster

    July 18, 2011 at 1:42 pm

    As if the synchronicity of media conglomerates wasn’t clear enough; just last week on the drive home, I heard on “progressive” LA radio 1150 KTLK a message that for some reason surprised me.

    On THE DAILY WRAP with Michael Castner, who breaks down the major news from the Wall Street Journal every weekday from 3pm-6pm, he had this to say in his closing remarks.

    He said that any speculation about malfeasance by the WSJ is unfounded and that people claiming or insinuating such need to just stop.

    OIC. Move along. Nothing to see here.

  50. 50.

    Nellcote

    July 18, 2011 at 2:28 pm

    News of the World phone-hacking whistleblower found dead

    Death of Sean Hoare – who was first named journalist to allege Andy Coulson knew of hacking – not being treated as suspicious

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jul/18/news-of-the-world-sean-hoare

  51. 51.

    kmeyerthelurker

    July 18, 2011 at 10:00 pm

    Ok. Here’s my totally non fact based hunch (like anyone asked for it but I’m +4 so hey): Somebody (cough Koch cough) is getting tired of stoopid ol roopert being king-maker. After all, this has been under investigation in England for a couple years. The sudden movement now strikes me as a F-U to Ailes, Murdoch etc. on how the Republicans have been slightly too retarded. The paranoid part of my brain thinks this was all orchestrated to shove plugzilla into Roger Ailes’ butt.

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