Thursday, July 07, 2011

Murdoch's UK tabloid may have hacked phones of terror victims, slain schoolgirls - updated 7/7/11


Updated 7/7/11
NPR reports on this situation today did include the fact that Murdoch owns Fox/Faux "News" and the Wall Street Journal. I also checked, and MSNBC is now doing so also. Since police and politicians are reported to have quashed previous evidence of phone hacking by The News of the World, apparently because of fear of Murdoch, this might be the reason media in the U.S. were slow to mention his ownership of Faux.

Original 7/6/11
Rupert Murdoch owns Fox "News", the Wall Street Journal, and a variety of other media companies in several different countries. I noticed in NPR's coverage of this story, they mentioned that Rupert Murdoch owns the News of the World tabloid, and that he owns several other media companies in Britain. On the NPR web site, they mention that he owns companies around the world, but no names. This article mentions several companies owned by Murdoch, but not Fox.

Neither NPR nor this MSNBC article mention that he owns Fox/Faux "News" and the Wall Street Journal. NPR has an excuse. Faux is one of their corporate contributors! If NPR gave us unbiased news, I might just think that was fair, NPR does reporting from on-site around the world, which is useful to other media. But if you have the time and strong interest to keep in touch with much of what is happening, you know that NPR is considerate of its corporate donors.

Murdoch bought MySpace several years ago, after which it went downhill. I wonder if I'm the only one who was not happy with Murdoch owning it. I didn't delete my stuff, but I considered it. I am interested in what will happen now that Murdoch has sold it.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43650862/

updated 7/6/2011 2:39:26 PM ET
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LONDON — Britain's phone hacking scandal reached a new intensity Wednesday as the scope of tabloid intrusion into private voicemails became more clear: Murder victims. Terror victims. Film stars. Sports figures. Politicians. The royal family's entourage.

[.....]

The focal point was the News of the World tabloid, which faced a growing advertising boycott from major firms over the alleged phone hacking, and the top executives of its parent companies: Rebekah Brooks, chief executive of News International, and her boss, media potentate Rupert Murdoch.

[...]

The breathtaking scandal, which has already touched the offices of Prime Minister David Cameron and the London Police, widened as News International provided police with evidence that the tabloid had made illegal payments to police officers in its quest for information. Possible victims cited those payments to police as the reasons why an earlier police inquiry did not begin to turn up the extent of the hacking.

The list of potential victims grew as well. New revelations emerged Wednesday that the phones of relatives of people killed in the July 7, 2005 terrorist attacks on London's transit system, as well those tied to slain schoolgirls, may also have been targeted.

[...]

In Parliament, lawmakers held an emergency debate to call for the prosecution of those responsible for hacking into the phone of Milly Dowler, a 13-year-old murder victim, and others.
The Dowler case touched a raw national nerve because the paper is accused of hampering the police investigation by deleting some of Milly's phone messages, and giving them and her parents false hope that she was still alive after she was abducted in 2002.

[...]

According to opposition Labour Party lawmaker Tom Watson, an April 2002 story in the News of the World made a specific reference to messages that had been left on Milly's voicemail.

[...]

News of the World executives have admitted wrongdoing and offered cash settlements to a number of its victims.

[...]

Tabloid executives claimed at the time the two were rogue employees but that assertion has been undermined by a series of arrests at the newspaper earlier this year and by the company's willingness to settle with other victims.

[...]

Several companies hastily pulled ads Wednesday from the News of the World amid the public uproar.

Virgin Holidays canceled several ads due to run in the Sunday newspaper this week. Car makers Ford UK, Vauxhall and Mitsubishi Motors, along with Lloyds and Halifax bank. also said they have suspended advertising.

The Cooperative Group — a retail giant that prides itself on its ethical business model — said it has suspended all advertising until a government investigation is concluded. The group said the allegations "have been met with revulsion by the vast majority of members who have contacted us."

Mumsnet — a popular online community for mothers — removed ads from Murdoch broadcaster Sky after its members complained about the tabloid hacking.

[...]

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