What the NewsCorp scandal really means

[nhboy]

LINK

"The steadily expanding "phone hacking" scandal in Great Britain is a good reminder that understanding politics requires a healthy appreciation of the role of arrogance and stupidity. What began is a seemingly straightforward example of sleazy journalistic practice has grown into a full-blown scandal, and the circle of guilt keeps widening.

Just look at the repercussions so far: 1) the NewsCorp's bid to take over all of British Sky Broadcasting has been scuppered, 2) NewsCorp CEO Rebekah Brooks has resigned and is now under arrest, 3) long-time Murdoch associate and Wall Street Journal publisher Les HInton has also resigned his post, 4) Prime Minister David Cameron has been badly tarnished, and oh yes, 5) the head of Scotland Yard has resigned in the wake of revelations that it had bungled the investigation (which is a charitable way of putting it). The WSJ and FoxNews have been exposed as shills for their boss (Murdoch), which is hardly surprising but is hardly going to help their reputations.

Oh, what a tangled web we weave....

Gallons of ink (or gigabytes of blog posts) have already been devoted to this story, but one broader element has received less attention amidst all the juicy personal stuff. What the scandal really teaches us is the dangers that inevitably arise when any single company or individual exercises excessive influence in media circles. Why? Because a healthy democracy depends on a well-informed citizenry, and media oligarchs can use excessive influence to skew what the public knows or believes in order to advance their own political objectives."

 

[EmptyTimCup]

doesn't mean a dayum thing



except UK tabloid Newspapers all practice illegally accessing Voice Mails



but I do not expect you to point OUT that everyone does it

Hacking claim at rival paper to News of the World


PHONE hacking went on "all the time" at a UK newspaper rival to Rupert Murdoch' empire, a former reporter claims.

James Hipwell said he regularly witnessed voicemail hacking by showbiz reporters on the Daily Mirror.

He said Mr Murdoch's News of the World was not the only British newspaper involved in the scandal and offered to testify to a judicial inquiry into the scandal.

The claim came as News International boss James Murdoch was accused of misleading a British parliamentary committee this week when he said he had not seen an internal email which suggested hacking at the paper was widespread before authorising a settlement.

Colin Myler, the newspaper's former editor, and Tom Crone, who resigned last week as legal manager for News International, issued a statement saying they had shown him the message before he authorised a key payout to a victim.

"We would like to point out that James Murdoch's recollection of what he was told when agreeing to settle the ... litigation was mistaken," they said.

James Murdoch said: "I stand by my testimony to the select committee."

In New York, sources said the US Justice Department was preparing subpoenas for an investigation into parent company News Corp. relating to alleged phone hacking of September 11 victims.

A source close to News Corp. said the preparation of subpoenas was "a fishing expedition".

James Hipwell, 45, is the first Fleet Street journalist offering to go on the record with accounts of voicemail hacking at newspapers other than the News of the World, which the Murdochs shut down two weeks ago.

"I used to see it going on around me all the time when I worked at the Daily Mirror," he said in an interview due to appear in The Australian today.

"There were some showbiz reporters who did it as a matter of course.

"One of their bosses would wander up and instruct a reporter to 'trawl the usual suspects', which meant going through the voice messages of celebrities and celebrity PR agents."

Trinity Mirror, publisher of the Daily Mirror, denied Mr Hipwell's claims.