According to David Folkenflik of NPR: In total, British prosecutors alleging a conspiracy going to paper’s top levels to hack into mobile voicemail of 600+ people over 6 years.
Brooks remains defiant. In a statement: “I am not guilty of these charges. I did not authorise, nor was I aware of, phone hacking under my editorship.”
Hey hey, what’s shakin’ Tony? We heard you had to speak in front of the Levenson Inquiry today regarding your cozy relationship with the media, particularly between yourself and Rupert Murdoch. Murdoch’s already spilled the beans about a few things in his conversation with Lord Justice Leveson, but hearing from a former prime minister certainly makes for a fun time, right guys? Here are a few of our favorite highlights from the four-hour questioning session:
» Blair also called Rebekah Brooks … with condolences: When Brooks, who is facing criminal charges in the phone-hacking scandal that led to the current inquiry, resigned from News Corp., Blair was one of the first to call. ”I’m somebody who doesn’t believe in being a fair-weather friend and certainly I said I was very sorry for what happened to her,” he explained. Because, hey, they were pals, too! (photo via the World Economic Forum)
I’m walking across the street from my apartment to a hotel. We were mobbed by journalists and paparazzi. I had a microphone stuck on my mouth and they said ‘what’s your main consideration?’ and I said ‘her, here.’News Corp. head Rupert Murdoch • Complaining about getting “mobbed” by the press over the phone-hacking inquiry. Note: He’s in the media industry. He indirectly hires people to do this for a living. One of his lower-levels at Fox News, Griff Jenkins, is so well-known for being the jerk who ambushes people that people ambush Griff sometimes. He doesn’t see the irony in complaining about it?
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.
» But what don’t we know? Rupe’s going to testify: Murdoch, who has seen his considerable British political influence fall since the hacking scandal broke, now plans to return to the UK to testify on his political influence over the years. Last time he did this, Wendy Deng kicked some guy’s pie-throwing butt.
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No one can imagine quite the pressure he was under in July. The pace of it was incredible, it was very emotional and traumatic. This is very different.A source speaking about Rupert Murdoch, who shuttered News of the World under difficult ethics-related circumstances last summer, and rumors surrounding NotW’s former sister paper, The Sun. After the arrest of nine current and former staffers in the past two weeks, word is that the paper’s climate has turned toxic, and some are concerned that Murdoch might close this iconic U.K. tabloid, too. Murdoch is heading to the paper later this week to quell those rumors. Would pay anything to be a fly on that wall.
(Source: reuters.com)
News Corporation made a commitment last summer that unacceptable news gathering practices by individuals in the past would not be repeated.News Corp’s Management and Standards Committee • Discussing the arrests made of four current and former employees of The Sun — along with a policeman. The arrests came as a result of the company choosing to police itself in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal that greatly hurt its reputation. News International’s London offices also got raided in the process. No word if any pie-throwing was involved.
So heartwarming that everyone in U.K.’s missing me so much they want me to come home.CNN host Piers Morgan • Joking earlier this year in regards to allegations he faces over possible involvement in the News of the World phone-hacking scandal. Morgan, a former tabloid newspaper editor who’s built a second life as a TV host, will take part, via video-link, in a judicial inquiry into the alleged practices of “News of the World” and other British tabloids. Morgan’s past could come to haunt him in the future. source (via • follow)
» That’s what Scotland Yard says: They’ve investigated over 2,000 cases at length, and think they’ve found hundreds of examples of the same hacking that befell the newspaper earlier this year. ”Operation Weeting has been in contact with or been contacted by 2,037 people,” Scotland Yard says, “of which in the region of 803 are ‘victims’, whose names have appeared in the material.” More people are likely to get investigated, but as their personal information is limited, it’s believed they were less likely to be hacked by the newspaper.
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I cannot for the life of me think of any source for these stories in the Mail on Sunday except my voicemail messages.Hugh Grant • Accusing the Daily Mail of hacking his cell phone. Remember News of the World? Well, the Daily Mail took a page out of their book, according to Grant (who’s built a rep for being a phone-hacking crusader). He is claiming that they hacked into his voicemail for a 2007 story; it may have been done by a private investigator once used by News of the World until his termination in 2006. Of course The Mail “utterly refutes Grant’s claim that they got any story as a result of phone hacking.” Perhaps they’ve cried wolf just too many times. source (via • follow)
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.
» The scandal that killed a newspaper: With the News of the World scandal a bit of a low point for the company this year, it’s understandable that they might want to get this dealt with. But the Dowler family has made sure it was to their liking: ”Nothing that has been agreed will ever bring back Milly or undo the traumas of her disappearance and the horrendous murder trial earlier this year,” they said. “The only way that a fitting tribute could be agreed was to ensure that a very substantial donation to charity was made in Milly’s memory. We hope that projects will be undertaken so that some good can come from this.” Meanwhile, News Corp. now has a second scandal under its large journalistic umbrella, though this one (the WSJ’s circulation scandal) is fortunately more business-oriented and less invasive on another person’s life.
From one rich mogul to another: Former Turner Broadcasting owner Ted Turner, who knows a thing or two about running his mouth, says that Murdoch has made tactical errors in his handling of the phone-hacking scandal, including his claim that he didn’t know anything about the hacking. “Well, he should have known,” Turner said. “He was chairman of the board. He’s responsible. I took responsibility when I ran my company. You never heard me say, ‘Well, I didn’t know.’” The two moguls once famously feuded, after Turner claimed Murdoch’s media outlets (including Fox News, a direct rival to the Turner-founded CNN) were largely behind the Iraq war, because it helped his company. Turner says they eventually buried the hatchet, however, after he bought Rupert a bison burger and praised the Wall Street Journal. Well, this may perhaps change that situation once again. Heh. source
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