Rupert has admitted at the Leveson Inquiry that there was a cover-up of phone hacking, while carefully noting that he and James and Rebekah didn’t do it, nobody saw them do it and there’s no way that they can prove anything.
Lisa O’Carroll and Josh Halliday at the Guardian:
Murdoch, the News Corp chairman and chief executive, giving his second day of evidence to the inquiry in London, said he was “misinformed and shielded” from what was going on at the News of the World, adding that there was a “cover-up”.
Robert Jay QC, counsel to the inquiry, said there had been a consistent theme of cover-up during the phone-hacking scandal, and asked Murdoch where he thought this emanated from. “I think from within the News of the World,” he replied.
Murdoch said there were “one or two very strong characters” on the now-defunct Sunday paper who, according to reported statements, had forbidden people from talking to Rebekah Brooks and James Murdoch, at the time News International chief executive and chairman respectively.
Murdoch said a News of the World editor was appointed – referring to Colin Myler, although he did not name him at this point – “with specific instructions to find out what was going on”. “He did, I believe, put in two or three new steps of regulation but never reported back that there was more hacking than we had been told.”
ETA: Rupert was questioned by a representative of the National Union of Journalists about allegations of bullying of journalists at his newspapers.
When the evidence of a female reporter was read to him, Rupert’s response was, “Why didn’t she resign?”. Justice Leveson immediately jumped in and commented that it probably had something to do with her wanting to have a job.
H/t gocart mozart for the thread title
Schlemizel
I heard something on NPR yesterday – didn’t catch all of it because the car pool was having a row about some other topic. It sounded like some clown suggesting that corporate management could not be held responsible for bribery because there was no way they could know everything that was going on in their company.
If that were true why are they responsible for the success they claim while cashing in those millions and millions of options and bonus checks? Are you telling me that in the most recent case (Wally) it is possible for some functionary to spend $24 million and nobody would notice? Yeah, right.
Good ol Rup is in this thing up to his eyeballs & the failing grandpa routine didn’t work so I guess the over worked businessman is his next dodge.
c u n d gulag
@Schlemizel:
CEO POV:
“The buck stops here. In my wallet.
The blame lies there, beneath me and my wallet.”
Shrillhouse
…I met a girl so fair….
JPL
How long will Cameron support Hunt? It appears that he spent several day in NY with the Murdoch’s before the Sky news bid. link
Linda Featheringill
The UK government needs to unhook itself from Murdoch. Maybe hearings will help.
beltane
Rupert Murdoch’s loyalty to the odious Rebekah Brooks is quite touching. It figures that is soul-mate would be a woman who looks for all the world like one of King Lear’s evil older daughters. Will this particular dynasty end in as spectacularly a cathartic fashion?
JPL
@Linda Featheringill: The republicans need to cut the cords but that won’t happen.
beltane
@Linda Featheringill: If the Anglo-American conservative movement wants to continue to shackle themselves to Murdoch who are to stop them.
El Cid
There’s a great Australian news analysis show (MediaWatch) which analyzes the recent performance of Australian press. On occasion, the local issues connect with larger themes.
This segment shows an example of how right wingers and their press make up utter bullshit about liberal commie-soshullists using global warming to steal peoples’ lands, except, of course, the headline news stories were completely and utterly false in every detail.
The Weekend Australian frightens all good patriotic conservative Australians that a local government council has ordered the seizure of all homes in a particular area due to false fears of distant climate change threats! Ahhhhrrggh! Rage! Damn you Al Gore!
Except, no, the local council was going to have some hearing on some planning and placed upon their website among other documents a study which said that the government may have to consider evacuating a particular area due to immediate flooding threats. Not due to global warming panic by soshullist commies.
But the figures and media involved are among the leaders setting the anti-global-warming-science debate in Australia.
It’s good to see an example of a TV show dissecting this kind of crap, on a regular basis. They’re careful enough to skeptically analyze stories from all, er, ‘sides’, so everyone can feel warm & balanced.
There’s only one really off-putting part of this show to me — every time the host refers to an article or statement, they get some other voice to read the text. Sounds logical, takes getting used to.
[Another highlight: major right wing Aussie radio host cannot understand numbers, takes a prediction of a certain sea level rise over about 100 years of (let’s round to) 100 cm, and then defiantly mixes measurements and declares that this means that they’re predicting a silly rise of 10 cm / year! Outrage! How silly! Also, what do numbers mean?]
EconWatcher
If the Murdochs were smart and avoided putting compromising things in writing, they’ll probably skate. If it works over there as it does here, the police will probably succeed in flipping some of the underlings, but you can’t rely entirely on the credibility of snitches to make a case like this.
Villago Delenda Est
Rupert Murdoch. The “I didn’t do it” boy.
He and his vile spawn need to hang for these crimes.
Joey Maloney
@El Cid: Truth vigilantism!
Frankensteinbeck
@EconWatcher:
It does not work over there as it works here. I’m not familiar enough with the details to possibly guess where this is going, but burdens of proof are different. Perhaps more importantly, politics are different. In England, liberals in government are allowed to be furious and vengeful.
gocart mozart
Awesome title Sarah ;)
gocart mozart
@Shrillhouse:
From the darkest depths of Murdoch
…I met a girl so fair….
and balanced.
amk
@Linda Featheringill: Not.Gonna.Happen. The fucker has sunk his hook too deep with the cons there. Gordon Brown had a chance to kill off this guy’s evil empire and blew it.
The Republic of Stupidity
@beltane:
In Rupert’s case, I’m guessing more of a catheter fashion…
The Republic of Stupidity
What were the two most recent excuses I heard?
Didn’t Rupert dismiss the hacking as a case of ‘lazy journalism’?
And James simply said, ‘If I had ONLY known…’?
Very convincing, boys… we can all go home… that certainly explains everything…
Now… what I wanna know… is when are we gonna hear something about News Corp’s… uh… extracurricular activities on THIS side of the Atlantic… ’cause if you think they wouldn’t dare do anything like that over here, I’ve got some magic beans for sale…
handsmile
The Levenson inquiry, other parliamentary hearings, and on-going police investigations (e.g. Operation Elveden, Operation Weeting) are all the result of the original 2008-9 Guardian reporting on phone-hacking by Murdoch’s News of the World tabloid.
What continues to be uncovered is decades-long collusion between both Tory and Labor parties, Scotland Yard, and the Murdoch media empire. With such systemic rot, there is no British institution of civil society powerful and independent enough to initiate and sustain the necessary wholesale reforms. True, some modest brick-laying between government and media will be enacted and police procedural reforms will be declared. There have been and will probably be a handful more trivial jail sentences.
But the enormously consequential benefit of all these exposes, inquiries and investigations has been to depose the heir apparent of the Murdoch empire (feckless James, “the man who wasn’t there”) and to arrest the expansion of Murdoch media holdings in the UK. The withdrawal of News Corporation’s bid to acquire the BSkyB network was a monumental achievement in efforts to combat and weaken the despicable Rupert Murdoch.
handsmile
@The Republic of Stupidity:
In a reply to you on yesterday’s Murdoch thread, I posted a link to a Guardian article that addressed the question you posed above on investigations into NewsCorp activities in the US. It’s there if you’re interested.
Roger Moore
@Schlemizel:
Privatize gains, socialize losses. Same old, same old.
Origuy
@El Cid:
Here in America, we have late-night comedians to do that.
Jay C
@El Cid:
Yeah, of course: I mean, it’s not like there are ever any floods in an arid country like Australia….
@The Republic of Stupidity:
Unfortunately, that will probably be some time in the interval between “never” and “a great deal longer than that”. FWIW, the Fox Empire on this side of the pond seems to have consciously steered clear of suborning the sort of blatant illegalities that have gotten them in trouble in the UK. And also, Home In Blighty, “Freedom of the Press” is considered less of an all-purpose whitewash to excuse bad behavior by the media: AND they have authorities willing to push back: Not Gonna Happen here, IMO, more’s the pity….
Nemesis
Job creators rarely end up in the pokey.
We must look forward, not backward, bitchez.
El Cid
@Origuy: They have comedians do that too, it’s just that it’s not the exclusive domain of comedy there.
feebog
Is it me, or is this investigation dragging on at an excruciating slow pace? I mean come on, break out the pitchforks and torches and get on with it.
scav
There is a certain comedic justice in watching Murdie Sr. attempt versions of the the fluttering ingenue defense: “I don’t know anything! Those meanies at the newspaper never tell me and my BFFs anything!” and “I don’t know why those men in long black cars keep picking me up. All I’m doing is standing there on the kerb! They just force their money and affection on me! It’s just what politicians do to everybody, it’s not like I’m anybody special.” after a history of working on his junk-yard-dog street-wise Australian-vowel master of the universe alpha-guy persona. Rip off Darth Vader’s mask and he’s wearing eye-liner and heels and is being controlled by tiny gay Ewoks.
Brachiator
@Linda Featheringill:
I doubt that Murdoch is going anywhere. He’s in too deep. A surprisingly incisive and cynical BBC reporter interviewing somebody of self-importance, noted that almost every major political figure in the UK was happy to kiss Rupert’s ring, eager to swap influence and power for positive media play.
Meanwhile the subversion of the police departments, complicit in Murdoch being able to do what he wanted, has been downplayed after a few heads rolled.
And while Murdoch has been slowed down a bit, he is still a major player in media business in the UK.
Nice dog and pony show, so far, but not much more than that.
So Rupert could say he’s sorry, pay a fine of $100,000,000 euros, and still be worth billions.
ETA: great freakin’ thread title!
brettvk
@gocart mozart: Beautiful.
greenergood
Oh puhleeze! BBC keeeps quoting Murdoch that ‘I never asked the British government to do anything [whatever that might be]’ – under oath at this Levenson inquiry, Murdoch’s not lying: Murdoch didn’t ASK, he TOLD them what would be acceptable to his press empire. Tony Blair crawled three times to Australia to see the chief serpent – do you think Blair went there to dictate to R. Murdoch, or to listen to Murdoch’ ‘ask’ Blair for a favour? No, Blair went there for a Murdoch (Fox news) anointing. I really hope this spreads to the US – to the Wall St. Journal, the NY Post, Faux News, and whatever other ‘outlets’ Mr Murdoch owns. Damage might be minor – but any weakness in the armor is welcome.