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shadowkatBefore I discuss episode 10 of the Wire...a few interesting bits that I saw on flist. In the free-speech community there was a link to the huge Robert Murdoch/British Government scandal, wondering what would happen in the US or how long it would take for it to affect our shores, right now it's been a bit quiet - with The New Times taking the lead in reporting what is going on.
This entertains me...because I knew Murdoch was an SOB as far back as 1990. Folks did a tour of duty in Australia where Robert Murdoch was stirring up trouble as a tabloid mogul and political lobbyist. They were always telling me tales about Rupert Murdoch. So I cringed when he came over to the US and bought the Wall Street Journal, 20th Century Fox, including the Village Voice (which was a liberal paper that disappeared completely), and The New York Post (a conservative paper that increased in circulation. The Post buried the story, The Metro didn't cover it at all - although I don't think it is owned by Murdoch, and The Journal did cover it but did not provide the extensive coverage that the New York Times did.)
According to the link I read earlier in the week? This scandal appears to be big enough to potentially topple the British Government.
Here's links to the NY Times articles:
1.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/07/business/media/hacking-scandal-poses-new-threat-to-news-corporations-image.html
Snippet: But with damaging revelations about the extent of the hacking emerging each day — the latest were reports that The News of the World had accessed voice mails belonging to family members of dead soldiers — Mr. Murdoch’s regretful expressions of disapproval could go only so far.
2.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/07/world/europe/07britain.html
n a separate development, news reports this week indicated that Andy Coulson, editor of The News of the World in the mid-2000s, appeared to have authorized illegal payments to police officers during his time at the paper. News International has confirmed that the information is contained in e-mails it has disclosed to the police.
A person with knowledge of the matter said that it appeared that other senior News of the World journalists were also involved, but that Ms. Brooks was not among them.
The disclosure is relevant because of Mr. Coulson’s close ties to the Conservative Party. After resigning from The News of the World in 2007 after an earlier phone hacking investigation, Mr. Coulson was quickly hired by Mr. Cameron as the Conservative Party’s chief spokesman. The move gave Mr. Cameron an in with Britain’s tabloids, and cemented his ties to Mr. Murdoch’s empire.
Mr. Coulson’s canny approach helped Mr. Cameron get elected last year, and he was installed as the government’s chief spokesman. But in January he resigned from that job, too, when it became clear that phone hacking had been routine when he was The News of the World’s editor.
3.
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/m/rupert_murdoch/index.html
Rupert Murdoch in America
In recent years, Mr. Murdoch has become more of a political force than ever in the United States. Fox News has added viewers and influence since the election of President Obama, becoming an enthusiastic promoter of the Tea Party Movement and other conservative candidates.
Mr. Murdoch’s News Corporation played a larger and more directly partisan role in the 2010 elections than it is known to have played in any previous American campaign. The company gave $1 million to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which largely worked to elect Republicans, and its News America division gave $1 million to the Republican Governors Association.
The disclosure of the donations drew swift condemnation from Democrats and liberal groups, which cited it as more evidence that Mr. Murdoch was pursuing a political agenda. Mr. Murdoch’s more prominent involvement in American politics comes at a time when campaign finance rules have effectively been loosened in ways that require less disclosure of donations.
News Corporation officials stated that its donations are entirely separate from its news operations and are instead related to its broader corporate interests.
But the News Corporation’s donations to the U.S. Chamber and the Republican Governors Association were different for their heft and the nature of the groups, which can accept unlimited, unregulated donations to pursue hardball political campaigns.
Interesting side note:
Joel Klein, former Chancellor of NY City Schools - has been tapped to handle the hacking scandal for Murdoch.
This entertains me...because I knew Murdoch was an SOB as far back as 1990. Folks did a tour of duty in Australia where Robert Murdoch was stirring up trouble as a tabloid mogul and political lobbyist. They were always telling me tales about Rupert Murdoch. So I cringed when he came over to the US and bought the Wall Street Journal, 20th Century Fox, including the Village Voice (which was a liberal paper that disappeared completely), and The New York Post (a conservative paper that increased in circulation. The Post buried the story, The Metro didn't cover it at all - although I don't think it is owned by Murdoch, and The Journal did cover it but did not provide the extensive coverage that the New York Times did.)
According to the link I read earlier in the week? This scandal appears to be big enough to potentially topple the British Government.
Here's links to the NY Times articles:
1.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/07/business/media/hacking-scandal-poses-new-threat-to-news-corporations-image.html
Snippet: But with damaging revelations about the extent of the hacking emerging each day — the latest were reports that The News of the World had accessed voice mails belonging to family members of dead soldiers — Mr. Murdoch’s regretful expressions of disapproval could go only so far.
2.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/07/world/europe/07britain.html
n a separate development, news reports this week indicated that Andy Coulson, editor of The News of the World in the mid-2000s, appeared to have authorized illegal payments to police officers during his time at the paper. News International has confirmed that the information is contained in e-mails it has disclosed to the police.
A person with knowledge of the matter said that it appeared that other senior News of the World journalists were also involved, but that Ms. Brooks was not among them.
The disclosure is relevant because of Mr. Coulson’s close ties to the Conservative Party. After resigning from The News of the World in 2007 after an earlier phone hacking investigation, Mr. Coulson was quickly hired by Mr. Cameron as the Conservative Party’s chief spokesman. The move gave Mr. Cameron an in with Britain’s tabloids, and cemented his ties to Mr. Murdoch’s empire.
Mr. Coulson’s canny approach helped Mr. Cameron get elected last year, and he was installed as the government’s chief spokesman. But in January he resigned from that job, too, when it became clear that phone hacking had been routine when he was The News of the World’s editor.
3.
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/m/rupert_murdoch/index.html
Rupert Murdoch in America
In recent years, Mr. Murdoch has become more of a political force than ever in the United States. Fox News has added viewers and influence since the election of President Obama, becoming an enthusiastic promoter of the Tea Party Movement and other conservative candidates.
Mr. Murdoch’s News Corporation played a larger and more directly partisan role in the 2010 elections than it is known to have played in any previous American campaign. The company gave $1 million to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which largely worked to elect Republicans, and its News America division gave $1 million to the Republican Governors Association.
The disclosure of the donations drew swift condemnation from Democrats and liberal groups, which cited it as more evidence that Mr. Murdoch was pursuing a political agenda. Mr. Murdoch’s more prominent involvement in American politics comes at a time when campaign finance rules have effectively been loosened in ways that require less disclosure of donations.
News Corporation officials stated that its donations are entirely separate from its news operations and are instead related to its broader corporate interests.
But the News Corporation’s donations to the U.S. Chamber and the Republican Governors Association were different for their heft and the nature of the groups, which can accept unlimited, unregulated donations to pursue hardball political campaigns.
Interesting side note:
Joel Klein, former Chancellor of NY City Schools - has been tapped to handle the hacking scandal for Murdoch.
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no subject
Date: 2011-07-09 09:18 pm (UTC)His dominance over the British media has gone on long enough. And he has had a bit too much sway through the media over the British Government. He needs to be smacked down.
(Hee. I'm clearly not a Rupert Murdoch fan - haven't liked him since the 1990s. )