Is this Armageddon for Murdoch and NewsCorp?

Brisbane Times




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Can News stop the stench spreading?



Kirsty Simpson
March 31, 2012
Opinion
Read later
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Under siege: Rupert Murdoch.

ANALYSIS

THE timing of this week's media probes into the decade-old claims about News Corp and the promotion of pay TV piracy could not be worse.

US broadcaster PBS, British broadcaster BBC and the Fairfax-owned The Australian Financial Review have each aired damning investigations into the Murdoch media conglomerate, focusing, in Britain and Australia, on claims that while attempting to maintain security, then News Corp subsidiary NDS ended up encouraging the work of hackers, which led to a spike in piracy. The ''pirates'' allegedly cracked the codes of smartcards issued to customers of pay TV services. The hackers would then sell blackmarket codes, giving people free viewing and costing pay TV companies millions of dollars in potential revenue.

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Whatever the truth in the claims and counter-claims, the problem eating away at the Murdoch empire is its potential impact on a British regulator's investigation into whether News should continue to own its £4.5 billion ($A6.9 billion) stake in its pay TV arm BSkyB.

For all the hurt and outrage sparked by last year's revelations of widespread hacking and police bribery in Britain, and the serious risks of prosecution under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the problems have not - yet - posed a substantial broader financial risk to the company. (Its reputation as a good corporate citizen is already shot.)

But if the scandal infects BSkyB, the consequences are more serious than if they remain quarantined to the smaller and less profitable British print business.

So far, the only pain suffered by News Corp's broadcasting arm occurred last year, when it was forced to withdraw its bid to buy the remaining 61 per cent of BSkyB that it didn't own.

But just this month, London's Guardian revealed that broadcast regulator Ofcom had recently launched its Project Apple inquiry into whether News Corp meets the ''fit and proper person'' test to hold a television licence. Ofcom noted it had a duty to examine whether any broadcast owner continued to meet its fit and proper person tests and that it would assess new evidence around hacking and corruption.

While many of the recently aired hacking allegations were dismissed in a 2008 court battle between NDS and Echostar, News Corp would fear that no matter the merits of the fresh claims - which include a cache of 14,400 emails from a now defunct ''black-ops'' group within News, uncovered by The Australian Financial Review - the stench could affect Ofcom's deliberations. While renowned as a fierce enemy, the wider risks of renewed piracy claims have doubtless spurred News Corp attacks on its rival media outlets.

Just yesterday morning, after a flurry of tweets on Thursday, Rupert Murdoch vented his rage at the Financial Review's owner, telling Twitter: ''Proof you can't trust anything in Australian Fairfax papers, unless you are just another crazy.''

Many countries have a fit-and-proper-person test to vet television channel owners. In Australia, a narrow version of the test is overseen by the Australian Communications and Media Authority, which is not currently looking at News Corp as a quarter owner of Foxtel.

Under the Australian Broadcasting Act, ACMA may consider: the licence holder's business record; its ''record in situations requiring trust and candour''; and whether it has broken broadcasting laws.

In Britain, Ofcom makes its decision not simply on the basis of whether that proprietor has or may have committed a crime, but also whether a person is ''willing or capable of complying with UK broadcasting regulation'', lawyer Jason Chess, from leading British media law firm Wiggin, said last year.

''Ofcom take the view that a current broadcaster who shows no regard for the rules and regulations thereby ceases to be 'fit and proper' by virtue of that delinquency alone … However, a revocation of, or refusal to grant, a licence or change of control application on such ground to a reputable broadcaster with an otherwise unblemished compliance record would, to my knowledge, be an adventurous new exercise of Ofcom's discretion,'' Chess added.

The British regulator has a smorgasbord of inquiries, admitted wrongs, and rejected allegations of wrongdoing to consider. In Britain, these include three Metropolitan Police inquiries into phone hacking, computer hacking and payments to police; Lord Justice Leveson's two-pronged inquiry into the media in general, due to report within the year, and the conduct of News International, other newspaper groups and the police, which is dependent on the police probes. In the US, the FBI is investigating bribery claims at a former Russian business, and claims that September 11 victims' phones were hacked. It also faces multiple class actions in the US courts.

But first out of the blocks will be the British select committee inquiry into press standards, which will report within weeks . This is the inquiry in which Labour MP and fierce Murdoch critic Tom Watson ripped into Rupert and James Murdoch last July (and when Mr Murdoch's wife's fans on YouTube dubbed her ''Wendi Crouching Tiger Deng'' for her feisty defence of her husband during a cream pie attack).

How this week's reporting will affect Ofcom's deliberations is not known, but media law experts expect they could colour its considerations. Watson has called for the regulator to look at the BBC's claims.

If Ofcom does eventually find against New Corp and force the company to sell out of BSkyB, it does not automatically threaten its right to hold a broadcast licence in other countries. ACMA is not required to follow an Ofcom decision with an inquiry of its own into News Corp as a quarter owner of Foxtel, although it would clearly intensify pressure for one.

Nor would an Ofcom decision automatically raise questions about its ownership of US cable groups. Authorities there have rarely pulled broadcasting licences.

So, the scandal has not yet widened enough to spook investors - the financial market has in fact rejoiced that the hacking inquiries and expected charges might finally force Rupert Murdoch to relinquish his emotional ties to the print business and spin it off as a separate company. This hope has driven the share price close to two-year highs, and even after this week, the share price remains only just shy of those highs.

The financial markets have long valued the parts more highly than the whole, because News' pay TV arm is the biggest generator of profits for the company. Analysts have said that separation would lift the overall value of the group by about $6 billion.

Before this week, investment advisers believed the costs of the scandal would not reach $3 billion, including any fines for breaches of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and that any forced asset sales would not harm shareholders because News makes more money from spinning off assets than by keeping them. A curve ball from Ofcom would likely make them reconsider


Read more: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/can-news-stop-the-stench-spreading-20120330-1w3ly.html#ixzz1r0JXRdAu

Mark White, home affairs correspondent

The former crime editor at the News Of The World newspaper has denied she lived a "champagne lifestyle" trying to buy favours by wining and dining police officers.
Lucy Panton, who was arrested and is a suspect in the ongoing investigation into corrupt payments to officers, was giving evidence to the Leveson Inquiry into media ethics.

Ms Panton was asked by Robert Jay, counsel for the inquiry, whether she had ever drank champagne with a police officer.

The witness said she would drink a couple of glasses of champagne at Crime Reporters' Association dinners. "It didn't flow in huge quantities," she added.

The inquiry has heard ex-Met assistant commissioner Andy Hayman spent £47 on a bottle of Veuve Clicquot champagne while drinking with a female NOTW journalist at the Oriel restaurant in Chelsea on the evening of February 1, 2007.

Ms Panton said she was "confident" she was not the reporter in question.

The former crime editor told the inquiry she found it "rather bizarre" that there seemed to be so much interest in whether or not she drank champagne.

She said in a written statement: "I enjoy champagne but do not drink it often. I believe that a distorted picture has been presented of how journalists carry out their business.

"We do not live a champagne lifestyle and the reality of the day-to-day grind of journalism is far from glamorous."



Ms Panton said John Yates attended her wedding

Lord Justice Leveson is currently exploring the relationship between the police and the press and whether that relationship may have been too close in some instances.

Ms Panton was also asked about her friendship with the Metropolitan Police's former assistant commissioner John Yates.

He was forced to resign from the Yard over his links to ex-NOTW executive editor Neil Wallis, although he has always denied he behaved inappropriately.

The witness told the hearing that Mr Yates had attended her wedding.

She said Mr Yates, the former head of the Met's counter-terrorism unit, was just one of "many" police officers of all ranks who were guests when she married a Scotland Yard detective.

She told the inquiry: "There were a few people at my wedding who I would class as working friends, who I didn't socialise with outside of work.

"Mr Yates falls into that category. I certainly got on well with him. I had a good rapport with him. But we didn't socialise outside of work. The wedding was the only occasion."

Ms Panton was then asked about an internal email to her from the NOTW newsdesk in October 2010.

It stated: "Time to call in all those bottles of champagne" to get inside information from Mr Yates about a terrorist plot to blow up aircraft.

The journalist said this was just "banter" from one of her bosses, insisting: "There were no bottles of champagne."

She said: "I think he was putting pressure on me to get a story."

She added: "My recollection of this is that I did phone Mr Yates, and I don't believe I actually got to speak to him. That was the reality, week in, week out."

Ms Panton was arrested last December by detectives from Operation Eleveden, on suspicion of making corrupt payments to police officers. She was later bailed and has not been charged.

Mark Kleinman
April 03, 2012 4:22 PM



James Murdoch's decision to step down as chairman of BSkyB is logically read as an inevitability in the wake of increasingly vocal calls from shareholders for him to quit.

Yet those calls have been audible since the phone-hacking crisis at News International was first at fever pitch last summer.

So why is Murdoch, who has been the pay-TV and communications company's chairman since 2007, going now?

The obvious answer is that with multiple inquiries into the hacking scandal and News International approaching their denouement, he must have been given some clue that they will in various ways condemn his record as a competent overseer of the companies he ran.

In fact, that appears not to be the case - people close to BSkyB, Ofcom and the Commons Culture select committee insist that there has been no dissemination of their findings to Murdoch or other participants in the events under examination.

Nonetheless, Murdoch's letter to boardroom colleagues acknowledges the risk that BSkyB becomes a lightning rod for the hacking crisis.

“As attention continues to be paid to past events at News International, I am determined that the interests of BSkyB should not be undermined by matters outside the scope of this Company.

I am aware that my role as Chairman could become a lightning rod for BSkyB and I believe that my resignation will help to ensure that there is no false conflation with events at a separate organisation.”

So friends of the departing chairman are portraying this as the action of a dignified man concerned with protecting the reputation of a company he helped to grow in all the ways City shareholders care about: revenue, profit, returns to investors and so on.

Certainly the fact that Murdoch will remain on BSkyB's board as a non-executive director (he's being replaced as chairman by Nicholas Ferguson, a City grandee who already sat on BSkyB's board) suggests that he hasn't lost the confidence of fellow directors.

But it's certainly legitimate to question in the light of today's events whether a Murdoch will ever again exert the same kind of influence over BSkyB that has been the case throughout the company's history.

BSkyB owns Sky News and is nearly 40% owned by News Corporation, which is the sole owner of News International. News Corp has issued a statement this afternoon backing Murdoch, although independent shareholders in BSkyB to whom I've spoken have been broadly positive about his decision to quit as the company's chairman.

At last autumn's annual meeting, more than 40% of BSkyB's independent shareholders either abstained or opposed Murdoch's re-election as the company's chairman.

What will be fascinating to watch for those who follow the fortunes of the Murdoch family is whether today's move shores up James's role at News Corp or leaves those who want him to quit that post scenting blood even more keenly.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/greenslade/2012/apr/04/newsinternational-mediabusiness?CMP=twt_gu

Next Previous Blog home News International misses deadline to file its accounts

News International has failed to meet the Companies House deadline to file its accounts and has asked for a month's extension.

The company, which trades under the name of NI Group Ltd, made the request following its failure to post accounts for the year up to 3 July 2011 by the due date of 31 March.

An NI spokesperson said: "Companies House has been informed of a delay to these accounts being submitted. They will be filed with the registrar within the next month."

The spokesperson declined to say why the delay had occurred.

A Companies House spokesman said requests for extensions were not wholly unusual. However, large companies generally filed by the due date. Requests for month-long extension were rare.

Accounts were filed for two key divisions of News International: News Group Newspapers - which publishes The Sun and formerly published the News of the World - and Times Newspapers Ltd, which publishes The Times and Sunday Times.

Those documents are not yet available for inspection, according to the Companies House website. The News of the World was closed in July last year just after the relevant accounting period.

Coincidentally, News International's company secretary of many years standing, Mrs Carla Stone, has resigned.

A filing to Companies House, dated yesterday, stated that her appointment had been terminated. However, I understand that she left the company in February and her formal employment contract ends later this month.

Stone, a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Secretaries, held 212 company directorships in all, almost all of which are subsidiaries of News International and related companies.

She is still listed as a director of many of those businesses.

Thanks chrissie, I suspect all those payments made by reporters are being "washed" , or the Auditors won't sign off the Accounts.

5 April 2012 Last updated at 14:08

.Sky News admits John Darwin email hack After his 'canoe death' stunt, Darwin allowed his sons to think their father was dead
Sky News has said it hacked emails belonging to members of the public on two separate occasions.

The broadcaster said it hacked emails belonging to John Darwin - who faked his own death in a canoe - and his wife Anne.

It also revealed it accessed the email accounts of a suspected paedophile and his wife.

Sky News said the action was in the public interest and amounted to "responsible journalism".

It released a statement which said: "Sky News is committed to the highest editorial standards.

"Like other news organisations, we are acutely aware of the tensions that can arise between the law and responsible investigative journalism.

Continue reading the main story
“

"We stand by these actions as editorially justified and in the public interest."

The statement went on: "We do not take such decisions lightly or frequently.

"They require finely balanced judgement based on individual circumstances and must always be subjected to the proper editorial controls."

John Darwin was reported missing in a canoe in the North Sea in March 2002.

His wife Anne collected more than £500,000 in life insurance payouts while he hid in their marital home, allowing their two sons to think he was dead.

The pair were found guilty of the deception in 2008.

Sky News said that after accessing their emails, it supplied material to police which was "pivotal" to the court case.

Michael Wolff

guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 4 April 2012 20.47 BST
Article history




James Murdoch's resignation as chairman of BSkyB comes ahead of a cross-party committee report and his appearance later this month at the Leveson inquiry. Photograph: Warren Allott/AFP/Getty Images


On Tuesday, James Murdoch gave up his last claim to BSkyB, the company that most defined him. He had not wanted to leave his job as CEO of the company in 2008, when his father first got the idea that James should instead run the Asian and European operations of News Corp. At BSkyB, only 39% owned by News Corp, James was at a distance from News Corp politics, and, more importantly, from his father's incessant interference.

What's more, BSkyB had made James. At 36, he was running a vast, successful, and rapidly growing media company. The business world had noticed.

But his father had just bought the Wall Street Journal and was moving the long-time head of the company's British subsidiary, News International, and family retainer, Les Hinton, to New York to run it. Rebekah Brooks, the editor of the Sun and herself a family favorite, was scheduled to take over Hinton's job, but Murdoch was not sure she was seasoned enough. He need someone he could trust – not least of all because, at 78, he wanted to travel a lot less and concentrate his attention on his pride and joy, the WSJ.

So why not move James? He absolutely trusted his MBA-talking son (more so, in a sense, because he didn't actually have an MBA, a degree Murdoch scorned). A father could hardly be more proud, almost in awe, of a son. And in truth, it rather rankled him that his son was getting so successful outside the company proper. Murdochs worked for News Corp. Period. Or they should.

And then, the succession: he knew had to maneuver one of his children into the second spot. The last time he had renewed COO Peter Chernin's contract, he'd had to promise Chernin the top job if anything happened to him – a bothersome situation that needed to be corrected.

But James balked. Running the foreign divisions of News Corp, and becoming merely the chairman of BSkyB, was a significantly lesser job than masterminding the growth of the world's most successful satellite broadcaster. So, father and son negotiated: the deal they struck was that if James agreed to come inside News Corp, the company would begin the process of bidding for the rest of the shares of BSkyB that it didn't own – which would, ultimately, put James in charge of the whole megillah.

Initially, Rupert didn't want to tie up all the cash the BSkyB deal would require; nor did he want to have another fight with British regulators. But James was adamant. Most persuasively, he argued that with BskyB, combined with all the other satellite, pay TV assets in Europe and Asia, James would be among the most powerful people in the world television industry – and an obvious and worthy, even inevitable, successor at News Corp.

When he moved over to Wapping, the headquarters of News Corp's British subsidiary, News International, a major part of James' job became planning for and shepherding the BSkyB acquisition. The other big part of his job was to fend off the executives in America, and the ill-will they always bore toward Murdoch children, at least until he got the big deal done and solidified his position. (There had already been an internal kerfluffle when Murdoch mentioned, rather by-the-bye, that it was going to be James and not, as planned, Rebekah, who would run international operations. As it happened, I was the person Murdoch told, one weekend morning when I was interviewing him in his New York apartment; and I passed the news on to his closest executives.)

It is important to understand the cold war that existed between James and the rest of the company. He may have become one of his father's closest advisers, but he was a widely reviled by everyone else: he was the entitled, argumentative, haughty spoiler. What was clear, as soon as James came back into the company, to the top executives was that either they would survive or James would survive, but not both. (These same executives had successfully ousted James' brother, Lachlan, a few years before.)

The tawdry phone-hacking business, of which James had only intimations of at BskyB, but with which he was suddenly confronted when he got to Wapping, seemed most troublesome as the kind of issue that parent company executives could use to second-guess him in London. And US executives were, in fact, starting to ask the obvious questions about the affair.

It was in the spring of 2008 that Peter Chernin, the company COO and still the official heir to the throne, arrived in London. James and his now ever-loyal lieutenant, Rebekah Brooks, were intent on not letting Chernin get involved with their business; they joked together about how Chernin was going to fill his time in London. Almost contemporaneously with Chernin's visit, James made the decision to write an outsize check to settle a suit brought by Gordon Taylor, a prominent UK sports official, whose phone had been hacking by reporters at the Murdoch Sunday newspaper, the News of the World.

From this point, in addition to his focus on the BSkyB deal, James had another goal: not just blocking the interference of his adversaries within the company, but ousting them. Both overriding business goals proceeded on plan. The acquisition of BSkyB, which would give the Murdoch family a vastly greater position in British media than the already overwhelming one it held, was being skilfully navigated in spite of significant UK opposition. (Not incidentally, this included supporting David Cameron in his campaign for prime minister and encouraging Cameron to hire former News of the World editor, Andy Coulson, who had been implicated in the hacking affair, as a top aide – another fateful contribution to the growing outcry.)

As for the praetorian guard (and, often, wise counsel) around his father: Chernin was gone within the year, followed by Gary Ginsberg, News Corp's savvy communications executive, and Lon Jacobs, the long-time general counsel and an important moderating influence within the company. James was left as the second most important executive in the company, and inevitable heir. But that also left him the person most closely overseeing the company's response to the hacking scandal – the importance of which James continued to see largely in relation to its possible effect on the BSkyB deal.

When the scandal hit hard last summer, with the revelations of the hacking of the voicemail of Milly Dowler, the kidnapped and murdered 13 year-old, the primary issue on James' mind was the deal. That, more than anything, was the worry: while nobody yet thought the acquisition could seriously be threatened, hacking could give regulators cause to delay it – and delay meant that all of News Corp's cash continued to be tied up. (That was another matter held against James by the powers in New York: the company was paralyzed until BSkyB was done.)

The decision to close the News of the World, over his father's great and woeful objections, was a James-sponsored plan to meet the crisis head-on and defuse it. When that did not succeed, it was his father's decision – over James' great and woeful objections – to scuttle the BSkyB acquisition. (It had become an obvious lost cause to everyone but James.)

There are various accounts of when James understood that when the BSkyB deal died, his own career died with it. But surely, it was not right away. In fact, James almost immediately began to focus his attention on when they could renew the bid. Meanwhile, there was worry in the Murdoch family that News Corp's 39% of BSkyB could become a flashpoint provoking a discussion about whether James should step down as chairman. His angry defense was that he had the support of the BSkyB directors, whom he had largely chosen. Indeed, James floated the idea that he should leave News International and return to BSkyB as its chief.

It became one of the many ongoing Murdoch family dramas: James' wilful and stubborn refusal– even as his own executives were publicly challenging what he knew and when he knew it – to recognize the vast damage to his credibility and prospects. The balance tipped ever so slowly, between him thinking that the critical issue was how to get the BSkyB deal back on the table, to realizing that the more pressing issue was his own legal jeopardy.

The slow-motion stripping of each of his positions of responsibility has reflected James' disbelief in his predicament, as well as his father's abiding, if helpless, desire to protect his son. It also reflects the certainty of what everybody understands will happen: James' undoing.

His exit from BSkyB brings the News Corp meltdown almost back to where it started, with everybody forced to ponder the sliding-door questions: what if Rupert hadn't bought the Wall Street Journal; then he wouldn't have brought James back into the company; then James would not have been so preoccupied with buying all of BskyB; then he would not have been so intent on cementing his own power inside the company to protect his deal that he lost sight of the family's and the company's real peril.

• This article will be closed to comments for legal reasons

Mailonline Thursday 5th April
Now James Murdoch steps down as chairman of BSkyB as he admits being a 'lightning rod' for scandal

He will remain on the board at broadcaster as non-executive director

Mr Murdoch, 39, stood down as chief-executive of News International just weeks ago in the wake of the phone hacking scandal
Labour MP Chris Bryant: 'James Murdoch is running away with his tail between his legs'

Deputy chairman Nick Ferguson will take over at BSkyB
Ed Miliband said Mr Murdoch did the 'right thing' by resigning

Rupert Murdoch faces calls to stand down as chairman of News Corp
By Rob Cooper
PUBLISHED: 09:10, 3 April 2012 | UPDATED: 01:42, 4 April 2012
Comments (47) Share

Standing down: James Murdoch will resign as BSkyB chairman at a board meeting this afternoon
James Murdoch was forced to step down as chairman of BSkyB yesterday in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal.
The latest blow to his once glittering career comes only weeks after he quit as boss of his father Rupert’s British newspaper business and moved to the United States.
Following relentless pressure, the man once regarded as the corporate heir apparent to the Murdoch global media empire announced he was departing as chairman of the satellite broadcaster with immediate effect because he didn’t want his job to become a ‘lightning rod’ for BSkyB.
But many in the City regarded the move – meaning no Murdoch occupies a top position at the broadcaster for the first time in years – as a jump, before he was pushed out to distance the company from the scandal.
Mr Murdoch’s departure comes as he braces himself for potentially damning criticism from a Parliamentary committee investigation into alleged illegal activities at the News of the World.
The Commons culture, media and sport committee report is due to be published at the end of the month – around the time that both Murdoch senior and junior are expected to give evidence to the Leveson Inquiry into Press standards.
James Murdoch has faced fierce criticism over his handling of the phone-hacking scandal and repeated questioning of precisely how much he knew.
Committee chairman John Whittingdale, whose members heard from both Murdochs and recalled James after his evidence was disputed, said: ‘I had expected that he would have stepped down at the time it was announced he was returning to New York and it is perhaps surprising that it has taken this long.’
Resignation: James Murdoch, left, resigns as BSkyB chairman as his father Rupert, right, faces growing pressure to stand down as chairman of News Corp
Mr Murdoch’s departure from the BSkyB post he held since 2007 follows his recent decisions to step down from the boards of auctioneer Sotheby’s and pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline.
Broadcasting watchdog Ofcom is also investigating whether Mr Murdoch and News Corp – which owns 39 per cent of BSkyB – are deemed ‘fit and proper’ to be allowed a broadcasting licence via the satellite TV firm in the light of evidence emerging at Leveson and police investigations into phone hacking.
Ofcom said last night that Mr Murdoch’s departure would not affect its investigation.
Mr Murdoch, who will stay on the BSkyB board as a non-executive director, said: ‘As attention continues to be paid to past events at News International, I am determined that the interests of BSkyB should not be undermined by matters outside the scope of this company.
‘I am aware that my role as chairman could become a lightning rod for BSkyB and I believe that my resignation will help to ensure that there is no false conflation with events at a separate organisation.’
He remains deputy chief operating officer of News Corp, based in New York, with responsibility for the company’s non-U.S. television interests such as Sky Italia.
Morale-boosting: Rupert Murdoch talks to members of The Sun's editorial team earlier this year after a number of reporters were arrested
MURDOCH: I DON'T WANT TO BECOME A 'LIGHTNING ROD' FOR BSKYB
James Murdoch today said he does not want to become a 'lightning rod' for BSkyB in his resignation letter.
The 39-year-old is likely to be heavily criticised by a parliamentary committee for failing to discover that phone hacking at the News of the World went beyond a single rogue reporter.

In a letter to the board setting out the reasons for his resignation, Mr Murdoch said: 'I have been privileged to serve first as chief executive and then as chairman of this outstanding company and I am proud of what we have achieved over this period.

'As attention continues to be paid to past events at News International, I am determined that the interests of BSkyB should not be undermined by matters outside the scope of this company.

'I am aware that my role as chairman could become a lightning rod for BSkyB and I believe that my resignation will help to ensure that there is no false conflation with events at a separate organisation.'

His successor Nick Ferguson said: 'On behalf of the entire board, I would like to thank James Murdoch for the outstanding contribution he has made both as CEO and chairman of BSkyB.

'With his vision, drive and strategic insight, the company has performed exceptionally and continues to transform itself to take advantage of a broader growth opportunity in home entertainment and communications.

'The board's support for James and belief in his integrity remain strong.

'We understand his decision to step aside at this time and we both welcome and look forward to his continued contribution as a non-executive director.

'The entire board and management remain fully focused on maintaining BSkyB's strong progress, delivering an outstanding service for customers and creating value for all shareholders.'
His departure as BSkyB chairman follows pressure from shareholders concerned that phone-hacking allegations at News International are damaging the rest of the Murdoch empire.

Police are continuing their investigations into phone hacking at the now defunct News of the World and payments to police officers and government officials at The Sun..'
Last month Rebekah Brooks, Rupert Murdoch’s long-time confidante and a personal friend of David Cameron, was arrested with her husband, racehorse trainer Charlie Brooks, on suspicion of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.
Asked about his reaction to Mr Murdoch stepping down, David Cameron said: ‘It’s obviously a matter for him, and a matter for the company, and its shareholders.’
Shareholder lobby group Pensions & Investment Research Consultants called for James Murdoch to leave the BSkyB board entirely, while his father Rupert, News Corp chief executive, released a statement thanking him for his ‘successful leadership’.
James had been viewed as his father’s heir apparent, in preference to elder brother Lachlan and sister Elisabeth.

But recently there have been signs that Lachlan, who was previously being groomed as successor may have regained pole position.
Rupert’s third wife, the tigress-like Wendi Deng, is also a force to be reckoned with, as her spirited defence of her husband against a pie-thrower last year testifies.
Others point out that talk of succession ignores one major factor: Rupert Murdoch himself.

Although he is 81, he shows no signs of retiring.
n  Former Scotland Yard counter- terrorism chief John Yates was a guest at the wedding of the News of the World’s crime reporter, the Leveson Inquiry heard yesterday.
Lucy Panton said Mr Yates, who quit last year over the phone-hacking scandal, was just one of ‘many’ officers of all ranks present when she married a Scotland Yard detective.
Miss Panton was arrested in December on suspicion of making corrupt payments to police officers.

She was later bailed and has not been charged.
'Time to go': Rupert Murdoch, 81, is facing calls to stand down as chairman of News Corp from a group of shareholders
From heir apparent to an uncertain future: The downfall of Rupert's favoured sonOnce the undisputed heir-apparent to his father's media empire, James Murdoch's future in the British media is in doubt today as he stands down as chairman of BSkyB.
The 39-year-old resigned just a month after he relinquished his role as chief-executive News International who are the publishers of his father's British newspapers.

The News Corp deputy chief operating officer initially appeared to be more than capable of surviving the unfolding crisis engulfing News International - initially impressing some with his steely response, including the dramatic closure of the News of the World.
Family business: James Murdoch (left) and Rupert Murdoch giving evidence to the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee in the House of Commons in July last year
But his defiant performance at his father Rupert Murdoch's side when he faced the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee last July came, reports suggested, amid efforts within the family to oust him.
Those were resisted but he then had to rely mostly on the large family stake in News Corp to remain on its board at all.
In November Mr Murdoch Jr survived as a director of BSkyB despite nearly 45 per cent of non-News Corporation shareholders failing to back him at the company's annual general meeting.
BSkyB said that excluding votes cast by News Corporation, Mr Murdoch received the support of 55.7 per cent of independent shareholders, with 31.4 per cent opposed and 12.9 per cent withheld.
There had been calls for him to resign his role as chairman amid fears that his links to the inquiry into phone hacking at News Corporation would damage BSkyB's reputation.
Born in London in 1972 as one of three children from Rupert's second marriage to Anna, James had an unusual start to his career.
Evidence: James Murdoch appears before the Commons Culture Committee inquiry into phone hacking for a second time last November
At Harvard University he drew cartoons for the satirical magazine Lampoon and also set up a hip-hop record label, Rawkus, in the mid-1990s.
The company was making a small profit when it was bought by News Corporation and James returned to the family business as head of the firm's music division.
He ventured into the burgeoning dotcom market, investing in a series of internet ventures, and is credited by some for piquing Murdoch senior's interest in cyberspace.
But like many other dotcom investors, James met with indifferent results and News Corporation's foray into the market was short-lived.
James's mixed early performance did not dent his father's confidence in his abilities and in 2000 he was appointed chairman and chief executive officer of News Corporation subsidiary Star TV.
He proved himself in the tough Asian pay TV market by rapidly improving the Hong Kong-based company's fortunes. Star moved into profit after building a strong presence in India and won 'landing rights' in mainland China.
Cries of nepotism greeted his appointment in November 2003 as chief executive of BSkyB - the youngest head of a FTSE 100 company.
In December 2007 he was handed the task of leading his father's media empire in Europe and Asia with direct responsibility for the strategic and operational development of News Corporation's television, newspaper and related digital assets there and in the Middle East.
Four years later he took on the newly-created post of deputy chief operating officer of News Corporation - the third most senior figure in the organisation.
But today he resigned from his role as chairman at BSkyB, casting doubt over his future in Britain.

.sky news 5th April


In the 2008 case of Anne Darwin, whose "canoe man" husband John Darwin faked his own death as part of an insurance fraud, we provided the police with emails that helped to secure a conviction on 15 charges of fraud and money laundering. The police described material supplied by Sky News as pivotal to the case. Mrs Darwin received a jail sentence of six and a half years. More than £500,000 of assets have since been recovered and funds returned to the insurance companies and pension funds which were victims of the fraud.


That story was the result of a detailed investigation by a Sky News journalist, who sought authorisation to access email accounts that he suspected were being used by the Darwins to communicate after Mr Darwin's "death". After careful consideration, Sky News granted permission because we believed the story was justified in the public interest. None of the material obtained was broadcast prior to the conviction and our coverage made clear that we had discovered and supplied emails to the police. There has been no attempt by Sky News to conceal these facts, which have been available on our website ever since.

To be absolutely clear, we stand by these actions as editorially justified. As the Crown Prosecution Service itself acknowledges, there are rare occasions where it is justified for a journalist to commit an offence in the public interest. The Director of Public Prosecutions Kier Starmer told the Leveson inquiry that "considerable public interest weight" is given to journalistic conduct which discloses that a criminal offence has been committed and/or concealed.


Some of the most important stories have involved breaking the rules in some way. For example, the Daily Telegraph's exposé of the MPs' expenses scandal was very clearly in the public interest, but only happened because the newspaper took the decision to pay for stolen data. They have been widely applauded - deservedly - for doing so.

Indeed, if it was looking for further examples, the Guardian could have found them much closer to home. Its respected investigative reporter David Leigh has admitted hacking a phone in pursuit of a story. The Guardian's sister paper, the Observer, was found on more than 100 occasions to have commissioned information from a notorious private investigator, who was convicted in 2006 of illegally obtaining private data. In each case, a public interest justification has been claimed.

These cases are a demonstration of the tensions that can arise between the law and responsible investigative journalism. At Sky News, we do not take such decisions lightly or frequently. Each and every time, they require finely balanced judgement based on individual circumstances. They must always be subjected to the proper editorial oversight.

Sky News and the BBC are in agreement on this subject. Its director general, Mark Thompson, has argued publicly that there are occasions when it is acceptable to break the law in pursuit of a story in the public interest. In an article for the Times, he wrote, "Whatever the ultimate conclusions of the Leveson inquiry, it is important that the ability of serious investigative journalists to do their work is not blunted or unnecessarily constrained." That is why the BBC has felt entitled to use deception, private investigators and stolen emails as part of its investigative reporting.

At the same time, we are equally clear that we do not tolerate wrong-doing. That's why we commissioned, at our own initiative, reviews of payments and email records at Sky News. I'm pleased to say those reviews did not reveal any illegal or unethical behaviour. If they had, we would have investigated thoroughly and taken whatever action was necessary.

At Sky News, we hold ourselves accountable for our decisions. I'm proud of our journalism and journalists.

It's less clear why the Guardian should apply such scrutiny to a Sky News story that has been in the public domain since 2008, particularly while failing to acknowledge its own past actions. Needless to say we reminded the Guardian of its own past conduct before they published today's story.



Posted by: RIP Liebour on April 5, 2012 9:14 PMThis comment has been removed by the moderatorsRecommend (14)Report this commentPermalinkPosted by: RIP Liebour on April 5, 2012 9:13 PMThis comment has been removed by the moderatorsRecommend (9)Report this commentPermalinkPosted by: Ian Kenefick on April 5, 2012 8:50 PMThis "NEWS" comes as no surprise and this article is just SPIN - nothing more than a damage limitation exercise. It's not unbelievable that you try to justify your actions either. You're not whitehat as your actions are for profit. Such arrogance. Ironically, this is real news and deserves a a more prominent position on your website. Journalistic Integrity my ar$e.Recommend (27)Report this commentPermalinkPosted by: jcfedup on April 5, 2012 8:19 PM
Co-incidence with James Murdoch resigning just a couple of days ago....Poor man can't take any more hacking allegations!
I wonder how many more hacked emails etc. by BSkyb are about to be brought to light?Recommend (28)Report this commentPermalinkPosted by: ColinSimpson on April 5, 2012 7:58 PMWhat you did is ILLEGAL, regardless of the 'spin' you put on it. The UK was the world leader with news, respected and trusted worldwide. Now the UK news is laughable worldwide. Try justify your illegal actions all you wish, it wont work. There is NO JUSTIFICATION for your actions.

Pointing out 'others' actions to distract from your own is a fail on your part. Claiming your illegal actions were already transparent is an EPIC FAIL. Sky New is now not trustworthy or respected, that is the consequence of YOUR actions. The press in general should be ashamed of what you have all done for your own gains - profit

The press was never like this before I left the UK. It really is UGLY.

You John Riley, come across as a smug fool of the worst kind. Getting results from illegal actions is against the LAW period. Saying the Police knew about your actions, does not excuse them either. Resign immediately.

Recommend (54)Report this commentPermalinkPosted by: J. Al-Chami on April 5, 2012 7:52 PMThe problem is that you (western public opinion and governments) are actively encouraging your journalists under the freedom of information mantra to break the law abroad (e.g. entering illegally in a sovereign state – as it happened in Iraq, Libya, Syria, etc.). If they can break the law abroad with your support, why not at home? Surely hacking a phone is nothing compared with becoming the mouthpiece of terrorists?Recommend (6)Report this commentPermalinkPosted by: checker on April 5, 2012 7:42 PMIf it is OK for journalists to invade someones privacy based on a hunch rather than enough evidence for a court order, why not just give the government and the police those powers instead? Can any journalist answer that question? I DARE YOU TO TRY.

What has the hot air been about in the news the last few days about the governments snooping bill then? Even that bill doesnt give government permission to read the CONTENTS of communications without a court order! Yet there is uproar about it.

If it is OK for journalists to hack emails with just their judgement and no oversight, why the hell not just give police those powers?Recommend (18)Report this commentPermalinkPosted by: Crimson Gold from East London on April 5, 2012 7:25 PMI think the Police should look to make arrest's concerning this hacking. I am sure the Police need authorisation from the home secreatary if they wanted to do something like this.Recommend (25)Report this commentPermalinkPosted by: checker on April 5, 2012 7:08 PMThe trouble with journalists and media outfits of all political persuasions is that they are like actors. They are all pretentious egomaniacs. They honestly think they are something special, and that extra allowances should be made for their wishes. The reality is that both journalists and actors are some of the least important, least productive people in existence.

YOU DO NOT GET TO DECIDE IF THERE IS ENOUGH EVIDENCE TO OBTAIN ILLEGAL ENTRY TO SOMEONES EMAIL. Even the police are not allowed to do that! The police have to go to court for permission. You know why they sometimes dont get permission? NOT ENOUGH EVIDENCE! Innocent until proven guilty! YOU DO NOT GET TO READ SOMEONES PRIVATE EMAILS BASED ON A HUNCH! That goes for the BBC and those hypocrites at the Guardian too!

Why didnt you take your SUSPICIONS to the police? Let me guess: Not enough evidence for them. The police wouldnt be allowed. Who the hell are you?Recommend (46)Report this commentPermalinkPosted by: Old Harry from Everywhere. on April 5, 2012 7:07 PMTypical pompous windbaggery and double standards.

The police have to apply for a warrant to tap peoples phones.

Sky reporters merely need to ask their boss for permission.

Somebody needs to remind Sky and it's editors etc. That they - like journalists with the News of the World, The Sun and other rags - are NOT above the law. If they want to tap peoples phones, let them apply for a warrant just like the police... And see how far they get.Recommend (43)Report this commentPermalinkShowing 1 to 10 of 341234>>Last
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BSkyB Hacking Throws Spotlight Back on Murdoch Ownership Fight

By Amy Thomson - Apr 6, 2012 12:01 AM GMT+0100
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Play

Sky News Says It Approved Hacking of E-Mails Twice

James Murdoch this week resigned as British Sky Broadcasting Group Plc (BSY) chairman to move the company out of the limelight of a phone-hacking scandal that has engulfed News Corp. (NWSA)’s other U.K. businesses. Two days later, the pay-TV operator said it hacked into e-mails for stories.

BSkyB shares fell to the lowest level in seven months yesterday as analysts say the revelations make it less likely that News Corp. will revive its bid for full control of the broadcaster. News Corp.’s admission that journalists at its U.K. newspapers illegally accessed voice mails and paid police for stories has prompted regulators to probe whether the New York-based company and its deputy Chief Operating Officer James Murdoch are fit to hold a broadcasting license for BSkyB.

“Before now, Sky was always felt to be distanced from phone or e-mail hacking,” said Alex de Groote, an analyst at Panmure Gordon & Co. in London. The timing with the Murdoch resignation is “eerily coincidental,” he said.

BSkyB said yesterday executives at its Sky News channel cleared a reporter to access e-mails as part of his investigations into criminal activity, including the 2008 case of a British couple who faked the husband’s death in a canoe accident to collect life and mortgage insurance. Sky News said the hacking of e-mails was in the public interest.

‘Lightning Rod’

“The announcement adds to concerns over whether News Corp. will be found to be fit and proper, making a renewed bid for BSkyB, in our view, unlikely,” said Claudio Aspesi, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein. “Greater scrutiny is also likely to distract management at an important time.”

U.K. lawmakers are preparing a report on the phone-hacking scandal following testimony James Murdoch gave that has been contradicted by former subordinates. The committee began its inquiry in July after the son of News Corp. Chief Executive Officer Rupert Murdoch said lawmakers had been misled about the extent of phone hacking during a previous probe in 2009. It has questioned him twice for the new report.

Media regulator Ofcom said it will take parliament’s report into consideration when evaluating whether News Corp. should have a broadcast license on behalf of BSkyB.

“I am aware that my role as chairman could become a lightning rod for BSkyB and I believe that my resignation will help to ensure that there is no false conflation with events at a separate organization,” James Murdoch said this week.

A News Corp. spokeswoman and a spokesman for Ofcom declined to comment.

BSkyB Bid

The younger Murdoch’s departure as chairman of BSkyB, the company he once ran and built into one of News Corp.’s most profitable businesses, is the biggest sacrifice he has made since the phone-hacking revelations last year.

The scandal also prompted News Corp. to drop its 7.8 billion-pound ($12.3 billion) bid for the 61 percent of BSkyB it doesn’t already own and to close its most popular title, the News of the World.

James Murdoch in 2007 was put in charge of the company’s operations throughout Europe and Asia, a portfolio that includes digital television distribution and newspapers. In that role, he also oversaw the company’s U.K. publishing business which later became the focus of the hacking allegations.

The scandal has led to the arrest of more than 30 people in three related probes. Police identified more than 800 likely victims of the practice.

Public Interest

BSkyB fell 22.50 pence to 635.50 pence in London trading yesterday, the lowest level August, 2011. The stock has declined 13 percent this year.

Bloomberg LP, the parent of Bloomberg News, competes with News Corp. units in providing financial news and information.

Sky News head John Ryley said the hacking of e-mails was “editorially justified and in the public interest” and that the channel provided the e-mails to police to assist in the couple’s prosecution.

News Corp. shareholders in October lodged a protest vote against Rupert Murdoch and his sons, following an annual meeting at which investors called for governance changes and an end to voting practices that cement the family’s control. James received the highest percentage of votes against his election to the board, at 35 percent.

In November, one third of BSkyB’s independent shareholders voted against Murdoch’s re-election as chairman.

Reviews

Chris Watson, a media lawyer at CMS Cameron McKenna, said that Sky News’s defense of public interest probably wouldn’t work in a court of law.

“There is no public interest defense to interception of communications that I’m aware of,” he said. “It may answer the accusation that they were wrong to publish, but it doesn’t deal with the more serious charge that it may have been unlawful for them to have obtained the e-mails that way.”

Sky News said yesterday it commissioned an external review of e-mail records at Sky News and an internal audit of payment records. No grounds for concern have been found so far, it said.

Simon Cole, who was the managing editor who approved the hacking at Sky News, is retiring after 17 years. Cole, whose current title is news editor, will leave in the next few weeks and his retirement is unrelated to the hacking announcement, a spokeswoman said. Cole said on his Twitter account that he had been planning to retire for “some time” and that there is “no linkage” to the hacking story.

“This is clearly unhelpful for investors that yet again the focus is on alleged wrongdoings rather than on the fundamentals of the business,” Panmure Gordon’s de Groote said. “It must be bitterly frustrating.”
===========
NewsCorp shares fell on the latest news , there was a suggestion that with James Murdoch no longer at the helm of BskyB a new bid would be made
for the shares not owned by Newscorp, after this I wouldn't be surprised if Newscorp has to sell theirs!!!

Leveson inquiry: Rebekah Brooks granted 'core participant' status

Former News International chief joins figures including Tom Watson in gaining confidential early sight of witness statements


Lisa O'Carroll

guardian.co.uk, Thursday 5 April 2012 17.20 BST
Article history



Leveson inquiry: Rebekah Brooks has been granted 'core participant' status. Photograph: Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images


Rebekah Brooks, the former chief executive of News International, has been named as a "core participant" in the next phase of the Leveson inquiry into press ethics and standards.


A core participant who has signed a confidentiality undertaking is allowed early sight of witness statements before they are made public, which gives them extra time to prepare arguments against criticism and allegations.


Brooks failed to gain such status with a previous application.


However, Lord Justice Leveson ruled on Thursday that Brooks will qualify for the third module, which starts on 23 April and is concerned with politics and the press and their impact on media policy and cross-media ownership.


"It can justifiably be said that she played, or may have played, a direct and significant role in matters to which this part of the inquiry relates," Leveson said.


Brooks, who is still close to Murdoch and a personal friend of David Cameron, was forced to resign her post at the top of the media baron's publishing empire last July in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal.


She was arrested last month along with her husband Charlie Brooks on suspicion of conspiring to pervert the course of justice.


It was the second time she has been arrested – last July she was arrested by appointment at a London police station on suspicion of conspiring to hack into mobile phone voicemails and also on suspicion of corruption of public officials.


At the Leveson inquiry, she will be quizzed about her personal and professional relationships with politicians. Her networking skills meant that she was close to Tony and Cherie Blair, before deftly switching tack to become close to Gordon and Sarah Brown, and then David Cameron, as the Sun switched its support to the Conservatives.


A 'sleepover' hosted by Gordon Brown's wife, Sarah, in 2008, when guests included Brooks, Rupert Murdoch's wife Wendi and his daughter Elisabeth, may well be discussed.


Witnesses for the module three section are expected to be asked for details of "who said what to whom and when", according to one source.


Also granted core participant status are Labour MP Tom Watson and former Liberal Democrat MP Evan Harris, who advises the Hacked Off campaign.


Hugh Grant, who fronted the campaign, has been denied core participant status, as has former Crimewatch presenter and police office Jacqui Hames.


• To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".

• To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian on Twitter and Facebook

By Amy Thomson and Andrea Catherwood


(Updates with Thurlbeck’s denial of hacking involvement in 10th paragraph.)

Feb. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Neville Thurlbeck, the former chief reporter at News Corp.’s News of the World, said he was minutes away from being fired in July 2009 when his name was linked to the phone-hacking scandal that would lead to the closure of the U.K. tabloid two years later.

He’d been summoned to editor Colin Myler’s office where he was told he would be offered a severance package in return for his resignation. Instead, Thurlbeck turned in the names of the guilty parties in the news room.

“I was three minutes away from the sack,” Thurlbeck said in an interview with Bloomberg TV at his home yesterday. “When I provided the evidence, I wasn’t sacked, I was kept on.” He was dismissed and arrested in 2011.

Revelations that the News of the World hacked into phones of celebrities, politicians and murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler led to the closing of the 168-year-old tabloid. The scandal also resulted in separate legislative, judicial and police probes. Five journalists at News Corp.’s Sun tabloid in London were arrested on Feb. 11 as part of a related investigation into bribes to officers and government officials.

Thurlbeck, who hasn’t been charged with a crime, was one of the first people arrested in the phone-hacking probe last April. Now, he said he won’t give the names of the guilty parties to anyone, including the police.

‘For Neville’

He said he regrets not going to Rebekah Brooks, the former editor of News of the World, with his information at the time. Thurlbeck said the newspaper could have been saved if News Corp. had handled the allegations properly.

“If the matter had been dealt with then and the person or people responsible had been rooted out, then the rogue reporter theory would have been exploded,” Thurlbeck said, referring to the company’s early stance that hacking had been done by a single reporter in the newsroom. “With that explosion, there would have been no media campaign to have another police investigation.”

Thurlbeck’s name came up in an e-mail titled “for Neville” containing the transcripts of voicemails hacked from Gordon Taylor, chief executive of the Professional Footballers’ Association. News Corp. ultimately paid 700,000 pounds ($1.1 million) to settle the case.

James Murdoch

London police, who are still contacting hundreds of possible phone-hacking victims, have arrested more than 30 people in the three related probes, including the News of the World’s former editors, Brooks and Andy Coulson.

Thurlbeck has said he never participated in hacking or authorized it, including the interception of Taylor’s voicemails. Daisy Dunlop, a spokeswoman for News Corp.’s News International U.K. publishing unit, declined to comment.

James Murdoch, the former chairman of the News International publishing unit and now deputy chief operating officer of News Corp., has told lawmakers that he didn’t realize until late 2010 that more than one reporter had engaged in phone-hacking.

Documents released in December by the U.K. Parliament’s Culture, Media and Sport Committee show that Myler wrote an e- mail to James Murdoch in 2008 saying that voice-mail interception went beyond a single reporter at the tabloid. Murdoch said he didn’t read the full e-mail because it was a Saturday and that he doesn’t recall any conversation with the editor that weekend.

U.S. Lawmakers

In January, Myler started as editor-in-chief of the New York Daily News. Three calls to Myler’s office and the Daily News public relations department seeking comment weren’t returned yesterday.

U.K. lawmakers are preparing a report about Murdoch’s role in the scandal and may publish their findings in the coming weeks.

Murdoch was given the deputy COO job in March 2011, with News Corp. announcing plans to move the 39-year-old, who is News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch’s youngest son, to its headquarters in New York. By July, the company’s News International U.K. publishing unit faced phone-hacking allegations. Both Murdochs appeared before U.K. lawmakers to explain their role.

Bloomberg LP, the parent of Bloomberg News, competes with News Corp. units in providing financial news and information.

--Editors: Simon Thiel, Anthony Aarons, Robert Valpuesta.

http://themurdochempireanditsnestofvipers.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/hackgate-cameron-and-murdoch.html?spref=tw

Greenslade Blog...the Guardian 4th April 2012



The Murdochs now live on a daily diet of humble pie





The resignation of James Murdoch from the BSkyB chairmanship is a further indication that the Murdoch name - the Murdoch brand if you like - is tainted.

James is certainly a busted flush, as I wrote last October, but the muddy waters are lapping at Rupert's feet too.

He is being asked to give up his News Corp chairmanship by a group of investors. He faces a grilling at the Leveson inquiry later this month. And an inevitably critical report by the media select committee about News International's activities is due out soon too.

Rupert's increasingly testy tweets about investigations into his empire betray his state of mind.

He just cannot control events and finds himself on the back foot in responding to them. He may well have thought that his last appearance before the MPs was the most humbling day of his life. But he has undergone a lengthy period of humility since then.

Similar, as I argue in my London Evening Standard column today, James has more humble pie to eat yet.

It will another piece of fascinating theatre when both Murdochs answer questions under oath at Leveson.

Meanwhile, I understand that Murdoch Senior has declared open season on the prime minister. Certainly, his newspapers appear to be giving David Cameron both barrels on a daily basis.

Of course, I know that Murdoch doesn't influence what his editors do. I am aware that he is a hands-off proprietor.

It is simply a matter of coincidence that Murdoch's disavowal of Cameron is echoed in editorials in The Sun and The Times. Great minds and all that.

A short leader in today's Sun, for instance, referred almost casually to "government incompetence". And it concluded: "Goodness knows how this government would react in a real crisis".

So, Rupert, is that what you think too?


Posted by
Roy Greenslade
Wednesday 4 April 2012 13.41 BST guardian.co.uk
Article history

News of the World phone-hacking cases launched in USContinue reading the main story
Phone-hacking scandalHacking scandal: Who's linked to who?
Q&A: Phone-hacking scandal
Key people and profiles
Timeline

A British lawyer says he is taking legal action in the United States on behalf of three alleged victims of phone hacking by the News of the World.

Mark Lewis said the three were a "well-known sports person", a sports person not in the public eye and a US citizen.

"The News of the World had thousands of people they hacked. Some of them were in America at the time, either travelling or resident there," he said.

The now defunct paper's owner, News International, has declined to comment.

'Inappropriate' payments

The hacking of phones by the News of the World (NoW) came to light in 2006 when the tabloid's then royal editor Clive Goodman, and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire were accused of illegally accessing the voicemails of royal aides.

They were jailed in 2007 - for four months and seven months respectively - after admitting the practice.

The NoW was closed in July 2011 after mounting evidence that phone hacking to find stories was more widespread.

At least 50 claims against the newspaper have now been settled.

Comedian Steve Coogan, former England footballer Paul Gascoigne, actress Sienna Miller and singer Charlotte Church are among those who have accepted damages.

Scotland Yard is conducting three investigations relating to the NoW phone-hacking scandal.

Operation Weeting is looking into allegations of hacking by the News of the World (NoW) into private voicemails, Operation Elveden is examining allegations that journalists from News International made "inappropriate" payments to police, and Operation Tuleta is investigating computer hacking.

Judge-led inquiry

More than 4,000 people have been identified by police as possible victims of phone hacking.

Allegations have also been made that journalists from other papers may also have intercepted voicemails and used "blagging" techniques.

Meanwhile, a judge-led inquiry at the Royal Courts of Justice in London has been examining relations between the press, politicians and police, and the conduct of each.

Lord Justice Leveson is considering the extent to which the current regulatory regime has failed, and whether there has been a failure to act upon any previous warnings about media misconduct.

A second phase of the inquiry, after the police investigation into phone hacking at NoW is complete, will focus on unlawful conduct by the press and the police's initial hacking investigation.

News Corp.’s Times Sued Over Hacking of U.K. Cop’s E-Mail

By Erik Larson - Apr 13, 2012 3:44 PM GMT+0100
.





..
News Corp.’s Times newspaper in London, which escaped the phone-hacking and bribery scandals at Rupert Murdoch’s other U.K. titles, was sued by a former police blogger for hacking into his e-mail account in 2009.

The lawsuit by detective Richard Horton, who wrote an unauthorized, anonymous blog about police work that gained national media attention, was filed April 11 in London. The Times in January admitted the hacking, which allowed it to reveal Horton’s identity three years ago.

Horton, of the Lancashire Constabulary in Northwest England, seeks “substantial” damages, his lawyer Patrick Daulby of Taylor Hampton Solicitors Ltd., said in a phone interview yesterday. The suit was filed after the Times failed to respond to a letter describing the claims, he said.

The Times, Britain’s oldest daily paper, is the third U.K. title of New York-based News Corp. (NWSA) to come under suspicion of wrongdoing during police probes of phone hacking and bribery at the Sun daily tabloid and the News of the World. Mark Lewis, another Taylor Hampton lawyer who represents hacking victims, said this week he is preparing to file suits in the U.S. on behalf of three people, spreading the scandal across the Atlantic.

London’s Metropolitan Police have said more than 800 people, including celebrities, lawmakers and crime victims, had their voice mail intercepted by News Corp. journalists and more than 30 arrests have been made. Murdoch, News Corp.’s chairman, shuttered the 168-year-old News of the World in July to help contain public anger over the scandal.

Mary Kearney, a spokeswoman for London-based News International, which publishes the Times, confirmed the lawsuit had been filed and declined to comment further.

NightJack Author

The Times’ editor, James Harding, told a judicial inquiry into media ethics in February that the paper misled a judge who oversaw Horton’s failed 2009 lawsuit to block publication of his name. The publisher won by claiming it deduced the author of the “NightJack” blog through legitimate means, even though it was aware of the hacking, Harding said.

Alastair Brett, the newspaper’s lawyer from 1977 to 2010, told the inquiry the publisher’s claims in the 2009 case were “not entirely accurate.” Harding has apologized to Horton and the judge in the 2009 case, the editor said.

Reporter Patrick Foster hacked Horton’s e-mail in May 2009 to expose him as the writer of the blog, and the newspaper argued that his identity was in the public interest. Horton, in his earlier lawsuit, had raised the possibility that his e-mail had been illegally accessed.

‘Not Aware’

Foster told his editor and the newsroom’s lawyer at the time about the e-mail hacking, and he was advised to continue to pursue the story through legitimate means, Harding said at the inquiry.

Murdoch told the company’s annual general meeting in Los Angeles on Oct. 21 that he was “not aware” of computer hacking by its British papers. A week earlier, Harding submitted a prepared witness statement to the ethics inquiry, admitting the hacking of Horton’s e-mail.

Labour party lawmaker Tom Watson, who is part of a Parliamentary committee investigating News Corp. wrongdoing, has said police are now investigating computer-hacking claims against the company.

The News Corp. scandal started in 2005 with the discovery mobile phones linked to Britain’s royal family were hacked, and it was revived last year after revelations the practice was far more widespread.

I can see Rupert Murdoch being asked to stand down after this latest scandal and his Empire broken up.

I remember recently when James Murdoch had to resign from various Directorships a Manager on an Asset Management Company said he , like the rest of us was appalled at the dirty deeds perpetrated by the Murdochs. However, he was full of praise for Sky and said it was the best concept in
entertainment anywhere in the World and hoped it would not be split up.

4:22pm UK, Thursday April 19, 2012

News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch and his son James will give evidence separately at the Leveson Inquiry into media ethics next week.
Rupert Murdoch will face questioning on Wednesday and Thursday about practices at his British newspapers following the phone-hacking scandal.

The scandal led to publishers News International (NI) closing the News Of The World tabloid.

James Murdoch, who stood down as NI executive chairman in February, will appear before the inquiry on Tuesday.

Lord Justice Leveson will resume his hearings at the Royal Courts of Justice in central London with evidence from a number of national newspaper proprietors next week.

On Monday he will hear from Aidan Barclay, chairman of Telegraph Media Group, which publishes the Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph, and Evgeny Lebedev, chairman of the companies which own the Independent and London's Evening Standard.

The inquiry has already heard from Richard Desmond, owner of the Express and Daily Star titles, and is expected to take evidence from Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday owner Lord Rothermere in the coming weeks.

More follows...

Another Sun Employee arrested, he is the Royal Editor and accused of bribing SY Officers.

The Murdochs are to face the Leveson Enquiry on seperate days and will be questioned about the NOTW, The Sun and The Times. No mention of
Rebecca having to attend....isn't Leveson a friend of the Murdochs?

John Ryley, Sky News' head of news, will give evidence at the Leveson Inquiry on Monday
5:02pm UK, Friday April 20, 2012

Sky News' head of news John Ryley has been called to give evidence before the Leveson Inquiry into media practices.
He will give evidence on Monday morning, when Lord Justice Leveson resumes his hearings at the Royal Courts of Justice in central London.

It follows recent media stories about Sky News' investigation into convicted fraudsters John and Ann Darwin.

Justice Leveson will also hear from Aidan Barclay, chairman of Telegraph Media Group, and Evgeny Lebedev, chairman of the companies that own the Independent and London's Evening Standard, next week.

:: Rupert Murdoch and his son James are also due to give evidence at the inquiry next Wednesday and Thursday.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Rooney Launches Phone-Hacking Suit Breaking NewsRooney To Sue Over Alleged Phone Hacking

News International has already settled dozens of cases
9:27pm UK, Friday April 20, 2012

Footballer Wayne Rooney is among the latest group of celebrities to sue after their phones were allegedly hacked by the now defunct News of the World.
The footballer's action against News Group Newspapers is one of 46 cases, many launched in the last few days, due to be heard at the High Court in London next February.

Other famous names include his Manchester United teammate Ryan Giggs, singer James Blunt, former PM Tony Blair's wife Cherie Blair, actor James Nesbitt and David Beckham's father Ted Beckham.



Singer James Blunt is among those who have filed a suit

Counsel Hugh Tomlinson QC told Mr Justice Vos there were a total of 4,791 potential victims, of whom the police had contacted 1,892. Officers believed 1,174 were likely to be victims.

The judge emphasised the importance of budgeting after hearing £10m in costs had so far been incurred in individual cases.

He said it was "unbelievable" that 55 different firms of solicitors were representing 100 claimants, and urged those considering action to instruct lawyers who already had specialist knowledge of the litigation.

Rupert Murdoch, head of parent company News International, shut down the News of the World last July after it emerged the paper had hacked the phone of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler.

Since then dozens of celebrities and other individuals have filed lawsuits against News Group and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire.

News International has settled dozens of claims including those of singer Charlotte Church, publicist Max Clifford and actress Sienna Miller.



Charlotte Church settled days before her case reached court

Mulcaire was jailed for six months in January 2007 after pleading guilty to hacking voicemails on phones owned by aides to the Royal Family, including messages left by Prince William.

After Friday's hearing, lawyers Atkins Thomson issued a register of the names of the individuals who have issued claims in this second round of the litigation. Not all are well-known.

Here is the list in full:

Public relations consultant Nicola Phillips; Elle Macpherson's former adviser Mary-Ellen Field; footballer Ryan Giggs; police officer and Crimewatch presenter Jacqui Hames and husband David Cook; singer James Blunt; former royal butler Paul Burrell; footballer Peter Crouch; his wife Abigail Clancy; ex-boxer Chris Eubank; politician Nigel Farage; footballer Kieron Dyer; golfer Colin Montgomerie's ex-wife Eimear Cook; Andrew Gilchrist; presenter Jamie Theakston; Jade Goody's former partner Jeff Brazier; cleared murder suspect Colin Stagg; former prime minister Tony Blair's wife Cherie Blair; Duncan Foster; Karron Stephen-Martin; Alexandra Jane Macadam Best; Joyce Matheson; footballer David Beckham's father Ted Beckham; Matthew Doyle; Patricia Bernal; comedian Robert Nankeville (Bobby Davro) and Trudi Nankeville; campaigner Jane Winter and British Irish Rights Watch; Gemma Louise Abbey; Lord David John Blencathra; rugby player and TV presenter Matt Dawson; Ian Richard Johnson; Jeffrey Alan Jones; actor James Nesbitt; Benedict Grant Noakes; Sir John Major's former daughter-in-law Emma Noble; Lucy Jane Taggart; Patrick Anthony Culhane; Lily Anne Colvin; footballer Kevin Moran; Robert Ashworth; Georgina James; Barry James; Michelle Bayford, Steve Bayford (senior), Steve Bayford (junior) and Jill Burchnall; Edward Blum; footballer Wayne Rooney; agent Paul Stretford.

Mr Tomlinson said that the 46th issued claim was on behalf of footballer Jermaine Jenas.

Radio Times staff12:14 PM, 27 March 2012

A News Corporation company funded the expansion of a website that distributed pirated codes for ONdigital set-top boxes, it was alleged last night on BBC1's Panorama.

The claims, which have reignited the News Corp hacking scandal, centred around NDS, a manufacturer of smartcards used in digiboxes, and Thoic, a hacker's website.

The owner of Thoic, Lee Gibling, told Panorama that NDS – which makes smartcards for News Corporation's pay-TV companies globally, and is part-owned by News Corporation – had bankrolled the expansion of the site and encouraged him to distribute hacked codes for ONdigital boxes.

"They delivered the actual software to be able to do this, with prior instructions that it should go to the widest possible community," he said.

ONDigital, later rebranded as ITV Digital, was set up in 1998 as a rival to News Corporation's Sky. But it went bust in 2002, with the widespread distribution of pirated codes - used to make counterfeit viewing cards - a significant contributor to its failure. ITV Digital's former chief technical officer, Simon Dore, told Panorama that piracy was "the real killer, the hole beneath the water line… we couldn't recover".

NDS denied the allegations, saying Thoic was used merely in a consultative capacity, to acquire intelligence on hackers.

"It is simply not true that NDS used the Thoic website to sabotage the commercial interests of ONdigital/ITV digital or indeed any rival," the company said in a statement. "NDS paid Lee Gibling for his expertise so information from Thoic could be used to trap and catch hackers and pirates."

James Murdoch was a non-executive director of NDS when the hacking is alleged to have taken place, although the BBC said there was no evidence he knew about the events reported by Panorama.

But Tom Watson MP, a member of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, which has been investigating phone hacking by newspaper journalists, called for Ofcom to examine the new allegations as part of their assessment of whether Rupert and James Murdoch are "fit and proper" people to take full control of Sky.

"Allegations of TV hacking are far more serious than phone hacking," he said. "It seems inconceivable that [Ofcom] would not want to look at these new allegations… it also seems inconceivable to me if these allegations are true that Rupert Murdoch and James Murdoch will pass that test."

News Corp News

Comcast CEO Receives $26.9 Million in 2011 Compensation

Comcast Corp. Chief Executive Officer Brian Roberts earned $26.9 million in salary, stock options and other compensation last year, a decline of 14 percent from 2010. News Corp.’s ‘Likely’ Phone-Hacking Victim List Passes 1,000 News Corp.’s News of the World tabloid probably hacked into the mobile-phone voice mails of over a thousand people, a lawyer for victims told a London judge today, citing new police figures. News Corp.’s ‘Likely’ Phone-Hacking Victim List Passes 1,000 News Corp.’s News of the World tabloid probably hacked into the mobile-phone voice mails of over a thousand people, a lawyer for victims told a London judge today, citing new police figures. Murdoch’s Daughter Elisabeth Gives Tate at Least $1.6 Mln Elisabeth Murdoch, daughter of News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch, has given Tate at least 1 million pounds ($1.6 million), the U.K. museum group said. Hulu LLC, the online video service owned by Fox, ABC and NBC, announced four new original series in meetings with advertisers as the website seeks to offer shows that can’t be found on television. News Corp. Was ‘Shadow State,’ Scaring Lawmakers, Watson Says Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. acted as a “shadow state,” assigning reporters to investigate a parliamentary panel looking into one of its newspapers, in what lawmaker Tom Watson called a successful attempt to intimidate the committee’s members. Murdoch Ties to U.K. Politics Face Ethics Pane Scrutiny News Corp.’s influence over British politics since Rupert Murdoch entered the U.K. media market in the 1960s will be dissected at an ethics inquiry reviewing the ties between journalists and politicians.
Top Headlines: BofA Surprises, News Corp. Arrests Bloomberg's Erik Schatzker reports on the morning's top headlines including Bank of America surprises with a big earnings beat, Human Genome rejecting a takeover offer and more arrests in the News Corp. bribery scandal. He speaks on Bloomberg Television's "Inside Track."

Schengen

France and Germany push to suspend free movement


20 April 2012



Süddeutsche Zeitung, 20 April 2012

France and Germany want to limit the free movement of people in Europe. The German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung has published a joint letter from the French and German interior ministers calling for "the possibility of re-establishing internal border controls." The matter could be raised at the next meeting of European politicians on April 26. In the letter Claude Gueant and Hans-Peter Friedrich suggest that suspension of the Schengen treaty is justified where security is insufficient at some of the EU external borders, and to address internal security matters and safeguard national sovereignty, the Munich daily writes. The Süddeutsche Zeitung adds that the resumption of border monitoring would aim to combat economic migration, and suggests this could foster anti-European political sentiment – What is the value of it, open borders without restrictions? [...] What is the point of freedom of movement if European governments are able to limit it? If member states withdraw into their national territory when there are problems, they are demonstrating that they believe their small nation state is far better than Europe. In this case we should not be surprised if nationalist parties, populist and the extreme right are on the rise throughout Europe. The temporary closure of internal borders is a continuous advertisement for the enemies of Europe. Source profiles Süddeutsche Zeitung

News Corp. (NWSA)’s News of the World tabloid probably hacked into the mobile-phone voice mails of over a thousand people, a lawyer for victims told a London judge today, citing new police figures.

The Metropolitan Police Service increased the number of likely victims to 1,174 from 829, said the lawyer, Hugh Tomlinson, in a London court. The data, including about 4,800 “potential” victims, was disclosed days before News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch and his son, James, will testify at a U.K. media-ethics inquiry stemming from the scandal.

News Corp., based in New York, has spent at least $195 million dealing with the scandal and settling with dozens of celebrities, lawmakers and crime victims to avoid a public trial that had been scheduled for February. Since then, at least 46 more victims have sued, including Emma Noble, the ex-wife of former U.K. Prime Minister John Major’s son, and singer Gemma Abbey, who both filed claims this week.

Judge Geoffrey Vos scheduled today’s hearing to consider proposals from victims and News Corp.’s U.K. unit, News International, about how to handle current and future cases with a common procedure as they’re filed and settled. The publisher’s lawyer, Michael Silverleaf, said the company is still committed to settling all claims to avoid a second potential trial tentatively scheduled for early next year.

No ‘Third Tranche’

“I want this second tranche of cases to be as complete as possible,” Vos said. “I don’t want to be here next year managing a third tranche of this litigation.”

The Met is still contacting likely phone-hacking victims, Tomlinson said today. Police, who are also probing computer hacking and bribery of public officials by News Corp.’s U.K. titles, have arrested 45 people since last year, including a royal editor at News Corp.’s Sun tabloid detained yesterday.

The last trial was called off in February after London- based News International agreed to pay 600,000 pounds ($967,100) to the Welsh singer Charlotte Church and her parents to settle their lawsuit. She was the last victim whose case was prepared to go to trial at the time.

Tomlinson said victims of other types of illegal behavior by News Corp., such as computer hacking or the use of deception to gain personal details, should be included in the group litigation dominated by phone-hacking claims.

‘Hacking Just One’

“There’s a whole series of alleged information-gathering activities, of which phone hacking is just one,” Tomlinson said. “All the claims should be treated as coming under this litigation.”

The company also asked Vos to consider whether it’s necessary to identify new “test cases” for the group -- a procedure used last year that became cumbersome as the lawsuits were repeatedly settled and replaced. They must also decide if there should be a limited pool of approved lawyers for victims to help limit legal costs, Vos said.

Rupert Murdoch shuttered the News of the World in July to help contain public outrage after it was revealed the tabloid hacked the voice mail of a murdered schoolgirl. News International’s ex-chief executive officer, Rebekah Brooks, was among those arrested at the time.