Rupert Murdoch Blames his Journalists for Conspiring to Cover up a Culture of Phone-Hacking at Media Empire

Blaming the minions, eh, Rupert?  Things seem to be reaching Critical Mass.  Al Jazeera.  Excerpts:

Rupert Murdoch blamed News of the World journalists for conspiring to cover up a culture of phone-hacking at the tabloid, saying they hid their activities from his son James and protegee Rebekah Brooks and that he personally was not paying attention.



In a second day of testimony in Britain’s High Court on Thursday, Murdoch painted a picture of a rogue culture at the best-selling Sunday tabloid, in an echo of his company’s now abandoned defence that a single “rogue reporter” was to blame.


“I think in newspapers, the reporters do act very much on their own, they do protect their sources, they don’t disclose to their colleagues what they are doing,” Murdoch told a judicial inquiry into press ethics.


Showing frequent flashes of annoyance as the questioning became more pointed, the media mogul admitted he had not paid enough attention to the News of the World but did not accept that he had allowed a culture of illegality to flourish.


Asked where the culture of cover-up had originated, Murdoch answered: “I think from within the News of the World. There were one or two very strong characters there who I think had been there many, many years and were friends of the journalists.”


“The person I’m thinking of was a friend of the journalists and a drinking pal and clever lawyer and forbade them... to report to Mrs Brooks or to James,” said Murdoch, in a thinly veiled reference to the News of the World’s former top lawyer Tom Crone, who has accused James Murdoch of lying.


“That’s not to excuse on our behalf at all. I take it extremely seriously that that situation had arisen.”


The appearance at the inquiry of a man who has courted prime ministers and presidents for the last 40 years is a defining moment in a scandal that has laid bare collusion between British politicians, police and Murdoch’s News Corp.


On Wednesday, Murdoch had appeared calm and considered, but Thursday’s tone was more hostile as the inquiry’s top counsel Robert Jay ratcheted up the pressure and described the culture of phone-hacking as a “cancer”.


When Jay suggested that the response of News International, the British newspaper arm of News Corp, was a “desire to cover up, not expose”, Murdoch snapped back: “Well, to people with minds like yours,” before quickly adding “I take that back.”


Jay, keeping his cool, assured him: “I’m very thick-skinned Mr Murdoch. Do not worry one moment.”
The comment caused consternation among Murdoch’s legal team in the courtroom, forcing Judge Brian Leveson to ask one of the party to sit down before resuming proceedings.

I do believe there will be several, if not many, individuals who will gleefully tear his testimony apart.  And they'll do so in part with videotape of Rupert himself talking about how hands on he is regarding all facets of his news empire.  The twin Cultures of Influence and Corruption are too big to be repudiated.  Blamed minions will be out for revenge.  The politicians and police are in damage mode.  The Leveson Inquiry, in hindsight, will be looked at as the acceleration of the demise of the Murdoch Empire
More shoes will be dropping shortly..

Rupert's Crisis Expands, Deepens..

Carl Bernstein: Closing News of the World is Murdoch’s Watergate–just the beginning of the "seismic event"  From Americablog

Writing in Newsweek, Carl Bernstein (of Watergate fame) says that the closing of the scandal-ridden scandal-rag News of the World is the start of the crumbling of the Murdoch world-wide empire.
..
[T]he empire is shaking, and there’s no telling when it will stop. My conversations with British journalists and politicians—all of them insistent on speaking anonymously to protect themselves from retribution by the still-enormously powerful mogul—make evident that the shuttering of News of the World, and the official inquiries announced by the British government, are the beginning, not the end, of the seismic event.
..
“In the end, what you sow is what you reap,” said this same executive. “Now Murdoch is a victim of the culture that he created. It is a logical conclusion, and it is his people at the top who encouraged lawbreaking and hacking phones and condoned it.”
And:
Investigators are already assembling voluminous records that demonstrate the systemic lawbreaking at News of the World, and Scotland Yard seems to believe what was happening in the newsroom was endemic at the highest levels at the paper and evident within the corporate structure. Checks have been found showing tens of thousands of dollars of payments at a time.

As the scandal and its implications become clearer, you'll see more reports like this..

Rupert's Got A Real Situation Developing Now..

Uh-Oh.  Hacking scandal goes International.  Story/Video from Raw Story.  Excerpts:

As the phone-hacking scandal involving Rupert Murdoch’s media empire widens, attention is increasingly being focused on his son, James Murdoch. The Guardian reported on Friday that the younger Murdoch, who has already admitted misleading Parliament, “could face criminal charges on both sides of the Atlantic.”

James Murdoch is the deputy CEO of News Corp, the US company which owns the British company News International that allegedly paid police officers in the United Kingdom for information. This could make him liable to prosecution in the US under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which prohibits American companies from bribing foreign officials.

Shares in Rupert Murdoch's companies tumble as investors take fright  Will this news be covered on Fox Business Channel?  From The Guardian UK.

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. Many hedge funds which had bought into BSkyB in the hope of making a quick profit from the bid have been selling the shares on fears that the deal now faces substantial delay.

Phone hacking: will closing News of World save Rupert Murdoch's empire?  The Telegraph UK.  Excerpts:

Closing the News of the World may seem like the most radical step Rupert Murdoch could take to stop the telephone hacking row from engulfing his News Corporation empire. 

But it may not be enough to insulate his son from the fall-out — and preserve him as his heir apparent.

Furious News of the World staff to sue for unfair dismissal and it could land News International with a £14m bill  Also Delicious.  The Daily Mail Online.  Excerpts:

The 200 staff who were effectively made redundant by News International when it shut down the News of the World are set to sue the company for unfair dismissal - and it could cost the company £14million.


Many of the paper's journalists believe they have been badly mistreated because they had no involvement in the phone hacking scandal, and the large majority were not even working on the paper when the alleged offences took place.

There is the belief among the staff that the axed journalists have been used as scapegoats for NI's chief executive Rebekah Brooks and BSkyB's James Murdoch.

Legal experts said that if the staff did chose to sue for unfair dismissal, each of the 200 could receive £70,000 at employment tribunals.

That would leave News International with a £14 million bill, reported the Evening Standard.

There was yet another problem for News International today as car manufacturer Renault become the first company to extend its bar on advertising to all of News International's title, not just the defunct NotW.A source in the NotW newsroom told The Independent: 'Murdoch has sacrificed a newspaper to save one woman.'


Prior to the plug being pulled on the paper, a flood of major advertisers began withdrawing their custom from the News of the World specifically.


If Renault's boycott proves the be the first of many, it could have serious repercussions for its other title such as The Sun,The Times and the Sunday Times.  (Think BIGGER..)
And:


I'm curious as to how much Rebekah Brooks knows about everything. Thank god I've been stocking up on popcorn, as this is going to be a pretty fun and funny scandal!  And I do love a good comedy..  Let the shoe dropping and hilarity begin!
 

Could The Worm Be Turning For Rupert Murdoch's Evil Empire?

How Murdoch’s paper allegedly broke into voice mail of dead girl, gave parents false hope, and interfered with a police investigation  Fucking gross. I hope this is the evil that finally gets repaid in kind 1000 fold. It couldn't happen to a nicer Evil Plutocrat and his evil, sychophantic minions..  Excerpts from Americablog and from their coverage from The Guardian..

Murdoch's people allegedly deleted voice mails from family members to the murdered girl imploring her to get in touch with them (they didn't know she was dead already). The paper then found that the voice mail was filling up, and they wanted to hear more messages, so they deleted some of the current messages for the dead girl, making the family think the girl was checking her messages and was still alive. The paper then interviewed the family who talked about their hope that the girl was still alive, while the paper said nothing about how it had helped create this false hope.

Excerpted from The Guardian..

Then, with the help of its own full-time private investigator, Glenn Mulcaire, the News of the World started illegally intercepting mobile phone messages. Scotland Yard is now investigating evidence that the paper hacked directly into the voicemail of the missing girl's own phone. As her friends and parents called and left messages imploring Milly to get in touch with them, the News of the World was listening and recording their every private word.

But the journalists at the News of the World then encountered a problem. Milly's voicemail box filled up and would accept no more messages. Apparently thirsty for more information from more voicemails, the paper intervened – and deleted the messages that had been left in the first few days after her disappearance. According to one source, this had a devastating effect: when her friends and family called again and discovered that her voicemail had been cleared, they concluded that this must have been done by Milly herself and, therefore, that she must still be alive. But she was not. The interference created false hope and extra agony for those who were misled by it.

The Dowler family then granted an exclusive interview to the News of the World in which they talked about their hope, quite unaware that it had been falsely kindled by the newspaper's own intervention. Sally Dowler told the paper: "If Milly walked through the door, I don't think we'd be able to speak. We'd just weep tears of joy and give her a great big hug."

The deletion of the messages also caused difficulties for the police by confusing the picture when they had few leads to pursue. It also potentially destroyed valuable evidence.

For Murdoch,this is serious.  These allegations could be pointing to systemic criminality not only at NOTW, but in potentially ALL of Murdoch owned media.  Investigations will spread, and more evidence will surface.  I wonder what those investigations will find?  Fox News has pissed a lot of people off--Don't you think those people won't want every shred of evidence they can get?  How ever will anyone come to a fair and balanced decision without every last shit nugget?

Also:  Canada to Rupert:  Real News need only apply, so fuck off..

Rupert is now 80, and facing what will probably be the largest and most destructive scandal of his career.  In the spirit of Fox News itself, I wish you well, Rupert, in all your future endeavours..