The Guardian's archive of stories on the unfolding News of the World scandal is here (http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/newsoftheworld).
The U.K. House of Commons Select Committee on Culture, Media, and Sport website is here (http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/culture-media-and-sport-committee/). The website is not as well organized as it could be, so one will have to sort through the publications available here (http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/culture-media-and-sport-committee/publications/) to find relevant documents.
Former News International CEO Rebekah Brooks seems intent to not cooperate with the House of Commons probe into the News of the World scandal. (Someone should remind this lying harpy that she's there to answer questions, not ask them.) Instead, she would have everyone believe that while the scandal began on her "watch," she knew nothing about it until she knew something about it, at which point she did something about it.
I believe you, Ms. Brooks. (From its coverage, it is clear that Fox News Channel believes Ms. Brooks as well.:rolleyes:)
I'm surprised how big a stink's been raised, but the ol' man's prolly got a nice, 6-inch thick patina of Teflon.
Paragrouper
07-19-2011, 12:43
There's a segment of our population that are experiencing withdraws from the Casey Anthony media circus--they just want something new to latch onto.
There's a segment of our population that are experiencing withdraws from the Casey Anthony media circus--they just want something new to latch onto.It is good to know that FNC is bringing the same high standards to the latter that it brought to the former.
.............Instead, she would have everyone believe that while the scandal began on her "watch," she knew nothing about it until she knew something about it, at which point she did something about it. ......
So shes plans to pull a Holder on the issue?
So shes plans to pull a Holder on the issue?
:D
Paragrouper
07-19-2011, 13:20
It is good to know that FNC is bringing the same high standards to the latter that it brought to the former.
I wouldn't limit my criticism to FNC, but yes.
Let's wait and see what the fallout from the alleged 9/11 hacking is as well.
I wouldn't limit my criticism to FNC, but yes.
FNC is the absolute worse as far as forcing their agenda. Even worse then MSNBC and their left agenda. Fox news was great the first few years, very down the middle. Now they are a joke. CNN has tilted back to the center in the last few years. I'm pretty right wing. But when I want to hear the news and not just political bs agenda. I turn to CNN.
I'm surprised how big a stink's been raised...
Media illegally 'hacking' into telecom nets - including those used by cabinet level government officials - and 'bribing' national level LEOs for information. I'm not surprised at all.
Richard :munchin
ddoering
07-20-2011, 09:54
I wonder how much deleting and shredding is going on at American News outlets right now....
The BBC's on-line archive of stories related to the scandal is here (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14045952).
The House of Commons Home Affairs Committee web page is here (http://www.parliament.uk/homeaffairscom).
The House of Commons Select Culture Media and Sport Committee archive is here (http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/culture-media-and-sport-committee/inquiries/parliament-2010/phone-hacking/).
MOO, this scandal will give journalists an opportunity for self-examination that they declined to take after the New York Times / Jayson Blair scandal. It may (read: should) lead to a significant reorganization of News Corp.
Ojalá, Americans will reconsider their relationships with their preferred news outlets. (If we're especially thoughtful, we'll see more blogging and Tweeting.)
If we're lucky, we'll hear less about the story.
If we're lucky, we'll hear less about the story.
Sounds like the minutes from an FNC staff meeting.
Richard :munchin
Sounds like the minutes from an FNC staff meeting.
Richard :munchin
:D:D:D
Source is here (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/20/world/europe/murdoch-company-settles-with-36-hacking-victims.html?_r=1&hp=&pagewanted=print).January 19, 2012
Murdoch Company Settles With Dozens of Hacking Victims
By SARAH LYALL and RAVI SOMAIYA
LONDON — Rupert Murdoch’s media empire has agreed to pay substantial damages to several dozen high-profile victims of phone and e-mail hacking, and lawyers for those victims said Thursday that they had seen documents showing that senior managers not only knew about the hacking but also lied about it and destroyed evidence as part of a cover-up.
The High Court hearing on Thursday at which the settlements were detailed was a humiliating occasion for Mr. Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers, which published the now-defunct tabloid at the heart of the hacking scandal, The News of the World. In a courtroom so jammed with lawyers, victims and members of the news media that some people had to sit on the floor, News Group’s lawyer, Michael Silverleaf, repeatedly expressed the company’s “sincere apologies” for “the damage, as well as the distress” caused to victim after victim.
The list of 37 victims settling with the company included politicians, celebrities, actors and sports figures, as well as people in their inner circles — employees, spouses, lovers. It is unclear how much News Group will end up having to pay after all the cases are finally settled, but the total bill for the 18 victims whose settlement details were disclosed Thursday reaches well above $1 million.
According to the police, there may be as many as 800 victims.
Perhaps two dozen suits are pending. News Group says it is eager to settle all the cases, but it was not clear, during extensive discussions in court, that it was able to placate all those who have brought claims.
The settlements disclosed include those of the actor Jude Law, who received £130,000, about $200,000; Sadie Frost, his ex-wife, who received $77,000; Ben Jackson, his assistant, who received $61,000; Gavin Henson, a Welsh rugby star, who also received $61,000; and Denis MacShane, a member of Parliament, who received $50,000.
In each case, News Group also agreed to pay the complainant’s legal costs, any of which could easily have run into six figures. One complainant, speaking on the condition on anonymity, said that his came to more than $300,000 — an amount that does not include News International’s fees.
But perhaps more damaging to the company than the financial penalties was a statement from lawyers for the hacking victims.
“News Group has agreed to compensation being assessed on the basis that senior employees and directors of N.G.N. knew about the wrongdoing and sought to conceal it by deliberately deceiving investigators and destroying evidence,” the statement said, referring to News Group Newspapers.
The lawyers also said they had obtained, through nine disclosure orders from the court, “documents relating to the nature and scale of the conspiracy, a cover-up and the destruction of evidence/e-mail archives by News Group.”
In a statement, News International, the British newspaper arm of Mr. Murdoch’s global empire and the parent company of News Group, said it had “made no admission as part of these settlements that directors or senior employees knew about the wrongdoing by N.G.N. or sought to conceal it.” It added, “However, for the purpose of reaching these settlements only, N.G.N. agreed that the damages to be paid to claimants should be assessed as if this was the case.”
Lawyers said, however, that it was unlikely that the company would have agreed to calculate settlements on the basis that there was a cover-up if there were in fact no cover-up.
Until the end of 2010, News International denied that The News of the World engaged in any phone hacking and vehemently vowed to fight any legal claims. After that, it admitted that some of its reporters and editors knew about the hacking. Now it has acknowledged that hacking was pervasive, and with hundreds of potential victims still left to deal with, it recently set up a Web page where people who believe their phones were hacked can file claims electronically.
More than 20 people have been arrested on suspicion of phone hacking or illegally paying the police for information. No criminal charges have been filed yet.
Steven Barnett, a professor of communications at the University of Westminster, said in a statement that the latest disclosures represented “a devastating indictment not only of the corrupt journalistic practices at The News of the World but of the calculated cover-up which apparently followed.”
The cases also extended beyond the one newspaper. Mr. Law said he had been hacked not only by The News of the World but also by The Sun, another Murdoch tabloid.
The hearing took on an almost ritualistic tone as each victim’s statement, its wording carefully vetted and approved by News Group, was read out to the court. Each reading was immediately followed by Mr. Silverleaf’s confirmation of the victim’s account and a statement that the company acknowledged “that the information should never have been obtained or used in this manner.”
News Group also admitted outright for the first time that it had hacked into an e-mail account in pursuit of a story. Mr. Silverleaf confirmed the account of Christopher Shipman, the son of a notorious British serial killer, that The News of the World had “unlawfully obtained the confidential access to details to the claimant’s e-mail account, including his password, and had accessed his in-box.”
The victims’ statements had similar narrative arcs. At some point in the early or mid-2000’s, most said, they had become suspicious about personal information that was appearing in The News of the World. Some said they experienced odd problems with their voice mail, like being unable to gain access to it because it was busy.
Then, the victims said, they were shown evidence by the police of what The News of the World had done. Mr. Law’s statement said the police had played him messages he had left for his children’s nanny five years earlier.
The statements detail the victims’ distress and confusion. “Although the articles would often only contain a small piece of accurate information,” said Mark Thomson, the lawyer for Ms. Frost, Mr. Law’s ex-wife, it was enough for Ms. Frost “to suspect everyone close to her and for the claimant and Mr. Law to suspect each other.”
Glenn Mulcaire, the private investigator who worked for The News of the World, was News Group’s co-defendant in the lawsuits. But his lawyer said Mr. Mulcaire, who was jailed for phone hacking in 2007 and faces new criminal charges, had not admitted to wrongdoing.
Even for some of those who had settled, the matter was not over. “This is still only Act Four, Scene Four, of a five-act play,” said Chris Bryant, a member of Parliament, who was awarded about $46,000 after his phone was hacked.
Tamsin Allen, a lawyer representing a number of the victims, said that it was their perseverance, even when News Group was aggressively denying that it had ever hacked anyone, that had led to the settlement.
“It is a credit to them, the claimants, that they kept on,” she said, “because we have now discovered a massive conspiracy involving criminal activity and a cover-up.” What did Bruce Lee say about the art of admitting wrong doing without admitting wrong doing?
FNC is the absolute worse as far as forcing their agenda. Even worse then MSNBC and their left agenda. Fox news was great the first few years, very down the middle. Now they are a joke. CNN has tilted back to the center in the last few years. I'm pretty right wing. But when I want to hear the news and not just political bs agenda. I turn to CNN.
I'm in 100% agreement and I'm pretty far right wing myself.