Rupert Murdoch denies influencing UK politicians: The News Corp. leader, who has had a close personal relationship with a number of British prime ministers, denied undue influence on them. Murdoch spoke in front of an inquiry Wednesday tied to the company’s phone-hacking scandal. “It is only natural for politicians to reach out to editors and sometimes proprietors if they’re available to explain what they’redoing and hoping it makes an impression,” Murdoch said. Since 1988, Murdoch has met with the various prime ministers 75 times — 31 for Tony Blair alone.
I was not told sufficient information to go and turn over a whole bunch of stones that I was told had already been turned over. I don’t think that, short of knowing they weren’t giving me the full picture, I would’ve been able to know that at the time.News Corp. exec James Murdoch • Speaking in front of an independent panel investigating the phone-hacking scandal facing his company — a scandal which has hurt his own reputation significantly and cost him a number of roles in News Corp. He’s already testified twice in front of similar panels. Murdoch’s dad, Rupert, will testify in front of the same panel Wednesday.
Down goes Murdoch (sort of): News broke this morning that James Murdoch, the son of media magnate Rupert and the most prominent News Corp figure embroiled in the phone hacking scandal, would resign as director of the board of News International’s UK newspapers. He is not, however, entirely out in the cold. He’s still the deputy COO of the entire News Corp empire, which begs the question — when you have to start resigning jobs due to legal trouble and popular outrage, don’t most normal people lose the highest profile one first? Murdoch ascended to the deputy COO position earlier this year, and was thought to be the looming successor to his father atop the News Corp empire. That certainly can’t happen now, can it? (Photo by Eirik Solheim) source
The arrest came after James Murdoch was questioned over phone hacking allegations stemming from the now-closed newspaper “News of the World.”
Edit: It appears Sky News has removed their tweet. Here is a screen grab of what it looked like originally.
Edit 2: The business news account for Sky News on Twitter was likely compromised, according to a producer.
In light of the current controversy surrounding News of the World, I have declined the bonus that the company chose to award to me. While the financial and operating performance metrics on which the bonus decision was based are not associated with this matter, I feel that declining the bonus is the right thing to do.James Murdoch • Explaining his reasons for not accepting a $6 million bonus from News Corp. in the wake of the News of the World scandal. Accepting the bonus would have increased his 2010 take-home pay by 74 percent. His dad Rupert, meanwhile, accepted a $12.5 million bonus of his own. Do you think James made the right move? And if so, should Rupert Murdoch have followed the same track? source (via • follow)
» If the hearing wasn’t enough to make Murdoch sweat, LulzSec might be able to do the trick. They’re reportedly going to release a whole bunch of emails from News International staffers. Those emails will show what various people in the organization know, if they know anything about the phone hacking. They’ve already released Rebekah Brooks’s email password.
News Corp. hacking scandal committee hearing: In case you’re just checking in now, here’s how the hearing began.
I’d say ‘What’s doing?’ (And) he’d say ‘We might have a story exposing X or Y.’ Or he might say ‘Nothing special.’RUPERT MURDOCH, on how a normal conversation between him and his editor at The Sun might go; Murdoch was responding to a British parliamentarian asking him, during the phone hacking hearings, whether said editor might have informed Murdoch of things like payoffs to sources. (via inothernews)
More on the “willful blindness” thing: From The New Statesman’s David Allen Green. It’s fascinating that James Murdoch was so lost on this question. It’s a moment that will stand out in the coverage.
Murdoch refuses to take any responsibility for the affair. Again: staggering. The notion of the buck stopping at the top seems completely alien to him. The total lack of interest in correcting wrongs, the blithe assurance that he has no ultimate responsibility - the NOTW representing a mere 1 percent of his company. He sounds like Cheney responding to war crimes.Andrew Sullivan • During his liveblog on the Murdoch hearing.
“Are you aware of ‘willful blindness?’” How to catch James Murdoch off-guard. Surprisingly, Rupert was able to handle it deftly in comparison.
Their appearances required a little bit of arm-twisting. Rebekah Brooks, the editor of News of the World during the phone hacking scandal will be with them, too. They’ll be questioned on the situation and will have to offer up evidence. Originally Murdoch and his son weren’t going to attend, but only decided to after facing enormous pressure from government officials. The hearing is set for next Tuesday, and it really doesn’t seem like any of this will turn out well for News Corp. In other news — the FBI will investigate News Corp. to see whether the phones of 9/11 victims were possibly hacked by British tabloids. Which would bring this to a whole new level of messed-up. source
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