Is this Armageddon for Murdoch and NewsCorp?

[quote="the slave"]If Murdoch owns the Dow Jones and the Financial Times I think there's a fair bet that there has been some 'insider trading'.
[/quote

I just finished watching a discussion about NewsCorp beteen Donald Yacktman of Yachtman Asset Management and a Studio Presenter about the allegation of hacking.Apparently there are 6 charges against Newscorp but Yacktman wasn"t fazed, said there might be a hiccup but he saw no reason to sell his shares.

So much for ethics then, money is God.

[quote="Annabel"]http://www.anorak.co.uk/287094/news/rupert-murdoch-legs-it-news-international-stunna-caught-with-pants-down.html/[/quote


Annabel .....nice one/

the slave wrote:If Murdoch owns the Dow Jones and the Financial Times I think there's a fair bet that there has been some 'insider trading'.

Murdoch's company owns the Times and Sunday Times. The Financial Times is part of the Pearson publishing group (Penguin books etc) and unrelated.

Latest News U.S. Lawmakers call for evidence of hacking in Newscorp and in particular 9/11

Chris wrote:

widowan wrote:The papers are spposedly to be profitable but News Corp is. I wouldn't have thought this would cast much of a shadow but when the stocks are in mutual funds and pension funds it does cause people to raise their heads.


What's the CEO of Dow Jones got to do with it at this point though? Did money change hands for an unfair valuation or the like, somewhere? Or -don't tell me the DJ is owned by NewsCorp too!

Dow Jones (and the Wall Street Journal) was bought by NewsCorp in 2007. Les Hinton was formerly head of NI in the UK before Murdoch moved him over to the US.

They had a line up of senators on CNN last night - Barbara Boxer, Rockefeller and Menendez are all Democrats, I thought it was interesting (given that the WSJ is such a right wing paper) that no Republicans saw fit to be outraged by this. This is going to open a can of worms here because the WSJ has gotten worse in the last five years but especially since Obama was elected. Front page WSJ today "NEWSCORP Caves as Support Fades" article about the bsky b deal but then on page A 10

News Corp girds for battle as probes, lawsuits mount
newscorp battles a scandal that has skewered a multi billion dollar acquisition and closed a 168 year old paper, it is gearing up for a multi front legal battle against criminal investigations, civil litigation and government enquireies. The company has responded by hiring big-gun lawyers...legal team now inludes a former head of UK governement prosecution and a prominent Washington DC law firm Williams and Connolly LLP.
In addition, two of News Corps board members advising on issues both of whom were assistant attorneys general in the US government (NAMES?? you call yourself a journalist?)
News Corp is currently without permanent general counsel, following the resignation last month of its most senior lawyer who said he wanted to pursue new opportunities.

News Corps stratgy seems to be reputational management and damage limitation" says Sara George, a partner at Stephenson harwood law firm and former UK prosecutor - the most serious allegations are corruption, if the alleged wrong doing was part of corporate policy rather than the actions of an errant individual.

A handful of US lawmakers have called for probes asking for the Justice Detp, SEC and FBI to examine whether the company violated anti bribery or wiretapping laws.

There hasn't been any indication that the company would be prosecuted in either UK or the US anti bribery laws - such a prosecution would be difficult essentially requiring companies to prove that the "controlling mind" of the comapany, effectively the board, was party to any wrongdoing. People familiar with the matter say US authorities at this point aren't interested in bringing a case preferring to let the UK take the lead.NewCorp declined to comment. news Corp owns the WSJ and the New York Post....

The payments to police previously surfaced with NI CEO R Brooks former editor of NOTW and then the Sun. While editor of Sun in 2003 she told a parliamentary committee "we have paid the police for info in the past" without elaborating. In A[pril 2011 M Brooks said in a letter to lawmakers her intention was to comment on "a widely held belief" rather than suggest that she knew of specific cases.
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They let her get away with that? She as CEO of the company has a BELIEF that this is what occurs? And that as long as she stays above it she isn't accountable?

What a bullshit, editorially spun, story this is in the Wall Street Journal. They have YET to bring up the possibility of US never miind 9/11 hacking, keep trying to pat people down that there is nothing much to see here, and don't give names and facts of who is going to be engaged in the cover up from the US side -- focusing on the "big guns" the News Corp people have on their side without naming any names, and nothing on the basis for the prosecution or investigation which will indeed occur- or the fact that no fewer than 5 US Senators were on CNN last night calling for criminal investigation here. They want to make this seem to be a UK issue only.

I'm sure it has nothing to do with their parent company's share price falling as this starts to come unglued. I hope the NY Times is doing better reporting what is going on. They have no one to protect but you can FEEL the hand of big brother in this story as to how it should be written.

News Corp also owns Fox so that completely right wing station will be reporting on this in quite a different way, what is good for big business and billionaires is good as far as Fox is concerned. There is NOTHING that happens that Fox doesn't spin in a pro-Republican way or try to lay at the door of Obama or the House Democrats. There's a half page story in WSJ that spendsfour columns talking about how all this is going to fade away and news corp will renew its bid after a 6 month cooling off period ( Ie DONT SELL your shares!!) and no fewer than three places where they say the NewsCorp spokesperson declined to comment or declined to make people available to comment but that NC invstors "reacted positively to the news" that NC might undergo dramatic restructuring and has "high hopes the company will take other shareholder friendly steps in lieu of the bskyb deal"

One analyst wrote they were "never a proponent" of the bskyb deal and "preferred that NC used its available capital to return money to the shareholders, particularly given the company's troubled history with M&A value creation"

There are then a few para's about Murdoch and how he was never considered (by some, because an outsider) the right person to own The Times of London or Sunday Times and how with 40% of the country's readership, politicians fought for his backing during elections. Bragging about how his papers could make or break elections, he has deeply divided British politics. They mention Gordon Brown and David Cameron both attending Brooks' wedding and how Cameron socializes with her and the NC people have "become the British establishment"

Some analysts feel his power has been declining, readership is down, his influence on the wane - the phone hacking scandal kicked this into higher gear-
--------------------------------------------------
well, doubtless with his waning influence this was a good time to get a dog pile going on him from both parties, and break this stranglehold on the electorate. Still nothing about what his people might have been doing in the US.

I have to laugh at the idea Murdoch was trying to create value thru M&A with these papers, he was trying to control an empire and basically decide how the world super powers would behave. So the papers aren't profitable? you can write that off as marketing.

I think we're seeing the decline of print media right in front of us and possibly the beginning of the end of someone telling US what the news is.

Just announced, the FBI is to investigate Newscorp , Fox News in particular .

Panda wrote:Just announced, the FBI is to investigate Newscorp , Fox News in particular .

FBI 'to open' 9/11 victim phone hack investigation

The FBI is investigating reports that Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation sought to hack the phones of victims of the 9/11 terror attacks, reports say.

Reports of a criminal probe come as a growing group of senators and a senior Republican congressman have called for an investigation.

An FBI official told the BBC that reports of probe were "credible".

An FBI inquiry would be the first sign the phone hacking scandal has crossed the Atlantic, analysts say.

News Corporation, based in New York, is the parent company of News International, the UK firm at the centre of a growing scandal over phone hacking and payments to police officers.

News International has already closed tabloid newspaper the News of the World and pulled out of a huge takeover bid for the UK's largest pay-TV operator, BSkyB.

In addition, UK Prime Minister David Cameron has set up a judge-led inquiry into the allegations.

In Washington, senators this week asked authorities in the US to investigate amid allegations that the phones of victims of the September 11 attacks may have been hacked into by News of the World journalists. News International has not commented on the claims.

Democratic senators Jay Rockefeller and Barbara Boxer urged the attorney general and the Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate whether US laws had been broken.

Democratic Senator Robert Menendez, who wrote to the attorney general separately, said the claims newspapers sought to "exploit information about... personal tragedies for profit" needed to be probed.

Thanks syfy,

It is by no means certain that phones belonging to 9/11 victims Families can be substantiated . I read it was the Daily Mirror who took a call from an
anonymous person. I want the FBI to investigate the CEO of Dow Jones and the cheque for £1 million which Rupert Murdoch wrote himself, follow the money is a good maxim.

It is in America that Rupert Murdoch faces ruin

Rupert Murdoch, the media mogul at the helm of News Corporation, does not want for enemies in the US – and they are poised to strike.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/phone-hacking/8637942/It-is-in-America-that-Rupert-Murdoch-faces-ruin.html

SyFy

Thank you for the link to the article in The Telegraph - I particularly liked this bit:


"Others in Congress point out that News Corp’s headquarters is in the US: if the company’s British employees paid policemen for information, that may violate American anti-bribery laws, even if the payments were made in London."

My favorite was this

We’ve been waiting a long time, but now the moment of reckoning is here: American journalists, long maligned by their British colleagues as boring and earnest, can finally take their revenge.


So sorry to have Pulitzer prize winning actual journalists at the NY Times who are so dull and truthful. Unlike their greedbag lying unprincipled counterparts at News of the World. NYT will make a meal of this, what a great way to bash WSJ. Fox will be spluttering at how all this is a FRAME JOB and WSJ will be trying to spin it that it's all stuff that is happening in the UK, nothing to see here! We're just part of NewsCorp with its shareholder friendly policies that we greet with positivity!

scandal, corruption, shareholder lawsuits - this is going to be so BIG for the Democrats in the 2012 elections if they can find a way to hang this around Fox's neck - that station has been totally out of line and driven by right wing politics for years now. I will so LOVE if they were found to have been hacking into 9/11 victim's phones.

Boxer and Rockefeller will press that just from party lines and probably Menendez because so many of the victims' families were in New Jersey.

This should get ugly.

Pass the popcorn.

FBI Bombshell Adds Pressure On News Corp

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3:06am UK, Friday July 15, 2011

Greg Milam, US correspondent in Washington
If News Corp's American shareholders thought the firestorm was over - the
Manhattan field office of the FBI had a bombshell for them.










Confirmation that the Feds are indeed "looking into" the allegations that
9/11 victims were on the target list of phone hackers sent News Corp shares
plunging again.
Although they recovered slightly by the end of trading it appears there is a
prolonged period of uncertainty ahead for the company.
The extent of the FBI probe is unknown at this stage but it is hard to see
how it could be concluded swiftly, with inquires necessary on both sides of the
pond.
And until it is, the shadow of phone hacking hangs over the company's Avenue
of the America's home in New York just as heavily as it does over Wapping.
Shareholders had been encouraged by the company's multi-billion dollar
buyback earlier this week and the decision to edge away from its bid for
BSkyB.


Hacking:
Key Moments

See what the accusers and the accused have
been saying about the scandal.








It appeared to have brought some stability and put much-needed distance
between the UK scandal and a massively influential US media giant.
But an investigation, called for by senior members of congress, suddenly
makes this a very real US news story.
Rival organisations, which had only taken a passing interest in the News
International scandal until this week, are now putting together elaborate
reports on it.
The indications from within the FBI are that so far they know of very little
information about the alleged 9/11 hacking other than that contained in the
Daily Mirror's original report.



Protesters hold a demonstration outside the home of News
Corp


But such is the seriousness of the allegation, and the power of those
terrorist attacks on the American psyche, there was no way they could not
investigate.
That investigation will be damaging enough whatever the outcome - it is a
massive blow for News Corp that it is taking place at all.
And there still remains the possibility of congressional hearings -
traditionally rough and tumble haranguing which make Commons select committees
look like chats in the pavilion at Lord's.
As Senator Robert Menendez, who called for investigations, told me: "If there
was no such activity, this will end here. If there was, it needs to be
prosecuted."
Just as in the UK, there are plenty in the US who are not willing to let this
go.



B

Rupert Murdoch has refused to attend any hearing on Newscorp but the Resignation of Rebekah Brooks analysts are suggesting Murdoch will take the
pressure off Newscorp.

maebee wrote:

Keir Simmons
BREAKING Rebekah Brooks resigns.

Yes maebee, Carmen reported it on News International, bskyb shares have gone up one half of one percent since the News .More reaction will be
reported when NewsCorp opens later today.

Debating now the proposed investigation of NewsCorp by FBI........the American Journalist says it will take months but the U.S. will not be afraid o f Murdoch like the Police and Politicians are in the U.K. James Murdoch and Rebekah Brooks are prepared to apologise, but Murdoch, noted for his arrogance might not help matters. There is a rumour that if the U.S. revokes Newscorp"s Licence, India would be happy to oblige.

Panda wrote:Debating now the proposed investigation of NewsCorp by FBI........the American Journalist says it will take months but the U.S. will not be afraid o f Murdoch like the Police and Politicians are in the U.K. James Murdoch and Rebekah Brooks are prepared to apologise, but Murdoch, noted for his arrogance might not help matters. There is a rumour that if the U.S. revokes Newscorp"s Licence, India would be happy to oblige.

They aren't afraid of him but the folks at Fox are probably sending out for a large box of Depenz. A n arrogant one sided news-as entertainment show under NewsCorps's umbrella and which contributes to the dumbing down of the Republicans - and as of yesterday (haven't read the morning papers yet) Wall Street Journal still had not MENTIONED this little tidbit about the 9/11 hackings!

They can't divorce what New Int did apart from News Corp, it is all under one editorial content, it's all family nepotism and prsonal and family agendas, much as they'd like us to think it was a few reporters on NOTW only.

So happy RB was forced to resign!!

IT APPEARS THAT EVEN MORE NEWSPAPERS WERE INVOLVED.
MANY NEWSPAPER ARE HARDLY PROFIT MAKING ANYWAY,SO A BOYCOTT COULD PUSH THEM INTO BANKRUPUTCY

Panda wrote:Rupert Murdoch has refused to attend any hearing on Newscorp but the Resignation of Rebekah Brooks analysts are suggesting Murdoch will take the
pressure off Newscorp.

Don't bet on it.

Which analysts? I am sure the WSJ will find someone to say that...

Front page of Marketplace section in WSJ:

Chairman and Cheif exec Murdoch and one of his sons agree to tstify at a parliamentary hearing next week to answer questions about the company's phone hacking scandals

and here it is - at last - US to probe 9/11 claims as the sub title

Sounds like the heat under the pressure cooker is getting turned up - they finally have to ADMIT this is big, it's bad, and it's really happening unlike yesterday's news that the US would take a back seat and "people familiar with the situation" said that we wouldn't get involved! Shareholders greeted news positively that NC would take shareholder friendly steps ! - bah.

9th arrest at NOTW

So finally they've decided to print the news at WSJ - otherwise New York Times is making a mockery of them as a newspaper.

I"m a bit worries about this 9/ll hacking. The story surfaced in the Mirror, not News Intl. and the source was a phone call from an American who would not give his name

Murdoch's Right-Hand Man Quits Over Scandal

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7:55am UK, Saturday July 16, 2011
The phone-hacking scandal has claimed its biggest victim so far - one of
Rupert Murdoch's most trusted executives, Les Hinton.










Mr Hinton was head of News International (NI) - owned by Mr Murdoch's News
Corporation - from 1995 to 2007. Hinton has now stood down as Dow Jones
boss.
The move came after former News Of The World editor Rebekah Brooks bowed to pressure by quitting her role
as NI chief executive.
Ms Brooks was at the helm of NOTW - owned by NI - when missing schoolgirl
Milly Dowler's phone was hacked and messages were deleted. She was later found
murdered.
Mr Hinton and Ms Brooks' resignations intensified the 'media storm'
surrounding NI - with Mr Murdoch putting his name to an apology printed in
newspapers for "serious wrong-doing".


Hinton's Career With Murdoch










He also met the murder victim's family to apologise.
The 80-year-old paid tribute to Mr Hinton, who worked for him for 52 years,
saying they had enjoyed a "remarkable journey together".
Mr Murdoch said: "News Corporation is not Rupert Murdoch.
"It is the collective creativity and effort of many thousands of people
around the world, and few individuals have given more to this company than Les
Hinton."
The Sun, another of the tycoon's titles, was also dragged into the scandal
when the actor Jude Law accused it of phone hacking.



Hollywood star Jude Law


He is suing the tabloid, claiming it published four stories about him in 2005
and 2006 that came from hacked intercepted voicemails.
Mr Murdoch had tried to put a lid on the scandal rocking his media empire by
meeting Milly's family.
The "humbled" media mogul gave a "full and sincere apology" to the girl's
parents Sally and Bob and her sister Gemma at a meeting in a central London
hotel on Friday.
The adverts published in Saturday's newspapers said: "We are sorry. The News
Of The World was in the business of holding others to account. It failed when it
came to itself."