Tony Blair: Too close to Murdoch?

Tony Blair has told the Leveson inquiry that Rupert Murdoch did not lobby him directly over media policy when he was prime minister and highlighted examples where his government had gone against the News Corporation founder’s wishes.

Blair said on Monday that he and Murdoch had “a working relationship until after I left office”. After this they became closer and Blair was godfather to Murdoch’s daughter Grace, he added.

He told Lord Justice Leveson that Murdoch “didn’t lobby me on media stuff”, but said that was “not to say we weren’t aware of the positions their companies had”, in particular his strong views in opposition to European integration.

But he said on regulatory matters affecting Murdoch’s business directly, “we decided more often against than in favour”.

Lance Price, former Labour and No 10 press officer, had previously described Murdoch as the “24th member of the cabinet”.

Blair said: “Am I saying he’s not a powerful figure in the media? Well no, of course he is, and, of course you’re aware of what his views are, and that’s why I say part of my job was to manage the situation so that you didn’t get into a situation where you were shifting policy.

“I would say very strongly we managed the position that I believed in on Europe and that was a position the Sun and the News of the World frequently disagreed with me on.”

On his relationship with Murdoch, Blair said: “Europe was the major thing that he and I used to row about. I believed in what I was doing, I didn’t need him or anyone else to tell me what to do.”

Robert Jay QC, counsel to the inquiry, said Price had also said he had been told Blair would never change policy on Europe without talking to Murdoch first.

He replied: “No we would never have given an assurance to Mr Murdoch or anybody else that we were not going to change policy without seeking their permission. That’s absurd.

“Having said that, if we were about to engage in a major change of policy on an issue that mattered to any particular media group we would probably have tried to prepare the way for it, but I think that is perfectly sensible and there’s nothing wrong with that.”

Blair also said that his relationship with Murdoch changed after he stepped down as prime minister in 2007. “So I know there has been all this stuff about me being godfather of one of his children. I would never have become a godfather of his children on the basis of my relationship in office. After I left, I got to know him and his family and the relationship can be easier and better,” he said.

Read more at the Guardian…

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Rupert Murdoch: Media empire rotten to the core (Photo credit: DonkeyHotey)

By Ben Cohen: The news that Rupert Murdoch has confessed to there being a “cover-up” at News International over the phone-hacking scandal at the Leveson inquiry should come as no surprise to anyone. Under serious public scrutiny, Murdoch has done his best at the inquiry to play nice, expressing regret over the scandal and a desire to help authorities uncover exactly what happened.

However, Murdoch is still insisting he knew nothing about the extent of the scandal. Had he know, he claimed, he would have closed the News of the World “years before and put a Sun on Sunday in”. Murdoch stated he was “misinformed and shielded” from what was going on at the paper. Murdoch has blamed layers of management and individuals hired by other people – everyone other than himself.

It is quite possible that Murdoch didn’t know anything about the hacking and is telling the truth. But that isn’t the point. Murdoch’s media empire produces the type of journalism that relies on nasty gossip, and given the pressures to produce in such a competitive industry, it is hardly surprising phone hacking of celebrities and nationally recognized figures occurred.

Rupert Murdoch has had an deeply insidious effect on the media, particularly the news. He single-handedly created today’s current brand of personality driven news shows (Sean Hannity and Bill O’Reilly being the prototypes in America), and turned major newspapers and networks into propaganda outlets for Right wing political parties and big business. Accurate and honest reporting was never something Murdoch was interested in – he simply followed the money. Murdoch saw that a mixture of entertainment and coddling up to power interests was the way forward and built his empire around those principles. He was right, and he has become one of the most powerful figures the media has ever seen.

His disregard for ethical journalism has caused untold damage to what used to be considered a serious craft. It laid the foundation for a new type of journalism that put ratings above anything else. Murdoch cares only about profit, and the natural consequence of this has been to feed people’s insatiable desire for gossip at any cost.

Murdoch may claim innocence when it comes to the specifics of the phone hacking scandal, but he is responsible on a far broader basis. Murdoch’s media empire and what happens in it is a reflection of his own values – and sadly he doesn’t have any.

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Colin Myler‘s editorship of the New York Daily News, one of the most prominent newspapers in America, has come under renewed scrutiny following allegations that he attempted to intimidate members of the UK parliament investigating phone hacking at the News of the World at the time he led the now-defunct tabloid.

Media monitoring groups and experts in journalistic ethics in America have described the allegations raised against Myler as “horrifying” and “abhorrent”. New York magazine has also published a 5,000-word profile of Myler in its current issue, putting a spotlight on to Myler within the US media that he has assiduously tried to avoid – until now with relative success.

Myler was the final editor of the News of the World from 2007 until it closed last July. In January he was appointed editor-in-chief of the New York Daily News, a job that puts him on the high table of American journalists.

Media monitors in the US have reacted to claims that Myler attempted to bully British MPs investigating the News of the World as anathema to journalistic standards in the US. Eric Boehlert, senior fellow of the progressive watchdog Media Matters, said that the allegation “would put any American newspaper editor in a very uncomfortable position. Anything like it would be seen as completely horrifying and beyond the realm of responsible journalism”.

Edward Wasserman, Knight Foundation professor of journalism ethics at Washington and Lee University, said that if the allegations were correct, it was “such a transparent breach of ethics in that it’s hard to imagine the very idea even being discussed in a US newsroom. Even the most politically zealous journalist would find it abhorrent.”

In his position as editor of the News of the World, Myler is alleged to have instructed a team of six reporters to dig for dirt on every member of the Commons culture select committee that at the time was investigating phone hacking at the British tabloid. Reporters were asked to find out if any of the members had had illicit affairs or were gay.

Read more at the Guardian…

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While the Murdochs have been doing their best to keep out of the press over the past few weeks, the scandal that threatened to dismantle their empire is roaring back at them, this time with some allegations that look next to impossible to side step. From the Guardian:

Rupert Murdoch, James Murdoch and their former editor Andy Coulson all face embarrassing new allegations of dishonesty and cover-up after the publication of an explosive letter written by the News of the World's disgraced royal correspondent, Clive Goodman.

In the letter, which was written four years ago but published only on Tuesday, Goodman claims that phone hacking was "widely discussed" at editorial meetings at the paper until Coulson himself banned further references to it; that Coulson offered to let him keep his job if he agreed not to implicate the paper in hacking when he came to court; and that his own hacking was carried out with "the full knowledge and support" of other senior journalists, whom he named.

What does this mean? Most likely the Murdochs will be recalled to Parliament to explain why they gave misleading evidence before, and James Murdoch's career will most likely come to an end. I don't think it possible for him to claim ignorance with this type of damning evidence, and even if he didn't know, he should have, making him inept as an executive. Many more within News International will be facing jail time, and the scandal that refuses to die will simply escalate as more and more employees speak out.

Rupert Murdoch will be quaking in his boots, and rightly so.

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The scandal that knows no end just keeps getting worse and worse. This time, the ramifications will be devastating. From the Guardian:

Sara Payne, whose eight-year-old daughter Sarah was abducted and murdered in July 2000, has been told by Scotland Yard that they have found evidence to suggest she was targeted by the News of the World's investigator Glenn Mulcaire, who specialised in hacking voicemail.

Police had earlier told her correctly that her name was not among those recorded in Mulcaire's notes, but on Tuesday officers from Operation Weeting told her they had found her personal details among the investigator's notes. These had previously been thought to refer to a different target.

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Despite his best efforts to avoid incriminating himself in Parliament, James Murdoch's testimony has been seriously challenged by two former News of the World senior executives. If Murdoch's account is proven false, the ramifications will be nothing short of devastating. From the Guardian:

Tom Watson, a member of the culture, media and sport, committee and a leading critic of the Murdochs in relation to the phone-hacking scandal, wrote to the Met in light of the public challenge by two former News of the World senior executives to Murdoch's evidence to the committee on Tuesday.

News Corporation's deputy chief operating officer told MPs that he was unaware of an email suggesting hacking at the paper was more widespread when he agreed a reported £700,000 out-of-court settlement with Gordon Taylor, the chief executive of the Professional Footballers' Association, in 2008.

The existence of the email, known as the "for Neville" email because of its links to the paper's former chief reporter Neville Thurlbeck, is thought to have been critical in News International's decision to pay Taylor the money in an out-of-court settlement after he threatened to sue the paper.

Murdoch has stood by his testimony, but it could mean that he will be investigated for perverting the cause of justice. As Andrew Sullivan writes:

The sheer size of the payment, as the NYT notes, is far, far beyond the usual damages for phone-hacking. It was kept within a very tight circle. Now that circle has broken open, who knows what else will emerge? It seems to any casual observer like an obvious piece of hush-money, which puts James Murdoch in a criminal conspiracy.

As I have stated before, the phone hacking scandal has really only just begun. The more we learn, the further up the food chain the criminality seems to get. And at some point, both Murdochs will be implicated in serious wrong doings. James is up first, and who knows how long it will be before Rupert is engulfed in the fire that is rapidly incinerating his empire.

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If it wasn't clear before that Fox News is not a news organization and acts only as a mouthpiece for the GOP and Rupert Murdoch's financial interest, after the phone hacking scandal, it really should be. Fox News's coverage of the scandal has been, to put it mildly, hilarious. Just wait till the end of this brilliant Daily Show clip when a Fox News journalist tries to ask Murdoch about the News of the World closure – it's almost poetic:

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Two key quotes from Rupert Murdoch and his son James Murdoch during the parliamentary hearing in the UK today (transcript via the Guardian):

Rupert Murdoch:

I didn't know of it [paying police bribes]. I'm sorry… if I can just say something. And this is not as an excuse – maybe it's an explanation of my laxity. The News of the World is less than one per cent of our company. I employ 53,000 people around the world who are proud, and great and ethical and distinguished people. Professionals in their lives. And perhaps I'm spread watching and appointing people whom I trust to run those divisions.

James Murdoch:

I do not have direct knowledge of what they knew and at what time but I can tell you that the critical new facts as I saw them and as the company saw them really emerged in the production of documentary information or evidence in the civil trials at the end of 2010. The duration from 2008, or 2007 I should say till the end of 2010, the length of time it took for that come clear and that real evidence to be there is a matter of deep frustration. Mine, I have to tell you I know and I sympathise with the frustration of this committee and it's a matter of real regret that the facts could not emerge and could not be gotten to, to my understanding, faster.

The Murdochs were obviously prepped well for the hearing, giving only prepared soundbyte answers designed to obsfucate rather than inform. James Murdoch, the more polished performer, spoke for most of the time doing his best to appear humble and helpful, while Murdoch senior was more curt and reluctant to offer up information while being grilled. If anyone expected a dramatic turn of events, they will be sorely disappointed. The hearings confirmed that:

1. The Murdochs still believe they did nothing wrong personally.

2.They are not culpable for the phone hacking and bribes paid by journalists and senior executives.

3.The links between their empire, the police and the government has not been improper or corrosive.

The problem for the Murdochs is that while the scandal may appear to be peaking, it has only really just begun. James and Rupert are attempting to stem the tide, and today's performance may or may not have done that. In reality, it doesn't really matter – the investigation will continue and as more and more people will be implied, it will be harder to contain the wider implications of a highly corrupt corporate culture. Corporate culture comes from the top, and Rupert Murdoch is ultimately responsible for what goes on inside his company.

He may stay on as head of News Corporation, but his authority, power and prestige have been irreversibly tarnished. No longer will he be invited to Downing St for cups of tea with the Prime Minister, and no longer will he influence which political party gets into power. It will be shocking if the UK does not implement stringent laws to prevent the consolidation of media conglomerates, and if that happens, Murdoch will be about as relevant to UK politics as Gordon Brown now is.

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Image by HowardLake

She had offered her resignation last week but it had been declined by Rupert and James Murdoch.

Today, following days of pressure from David Cameron, Ed Miliband and major News Corp shareholders, she told staff: "I have given Rupert and James Murdoch my resignation.

"While it has been a subject of discussion, this time my resignation has been accepted."

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The phone hacking scandal that brought about the end of the 'News of the World' and the arrest of 12 people (three of them policemen), is threatening to cause a Soviet style melt down of the Murdoch Empire.

I'm over in the UK at the moment, and the public mood is absolutely extraordinary. The anti Murdoch sentiment is palpable, and it is hard to see how he can rebuild his credibility in a country whose media he has dominated for the past 30 years. If people disliked Murdoch and his ruthless monopolization of the media before, it has now turned to outright hatred and a desire to topple the Australian born mogul from his virtually unrivalled position of power. 

Murdoch's News Corporation must now put on hold his attempt to fully takeover BSkyB, and given the onslaught of new revelations that point to far more widespread illegal activity within his empire, it is looking less and less likely. The consequences of a blocked deal and legislation to break up Murdoch's grip on the British media could send News Corporation (Murdoch's integrated global media company) into disarray. It is hard to calculate the international consequences of the debacle, but at least in the UK, Murdoch's time as the main man is well and truly over.

It took a celebrity resorting to the same dirty tactics that saw his own phone hacked to begin the extraordinary investigation – an irony that works as a timeless reminder: You live by the sword, you die by the sword.

Here is Hugh Grant explaining how he entrapped the same journalist who hacked his own phone over a pub lunch in Dover:

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