Tabloid phone hacking scandal involving kidnapped girl roils Britain

[mongers]

Finally, and I never thought I'd say this,but Millipede has actually looked competent, even actually quite impressive.

This has been the biggest shock of the week. 

They'd better get Piers Morgan too   

Cannot wait

I can't believe how this story's developed in such a short space of time.  Does anyone have a good idea why's Les Hinton gone and does that affect the US operations?

Edit:  Also I love this 2011 trend of octogenarian nepotists watching their empire's collapse.  I've seen several Arab writers note that Murdoch's sacked his PM, re-shuffled his cabinet, bungled his first address ('we've made minor mistakes').  Next he'll blame foreign interference and al-Qaeda I think...

I like the comparison.

[grumbler]

Well journalists will frequently refuse to answer questions under oath in order to "protect their sources", when such priviledge is given little to no legal protection.

And they frequently go to jail for it, as lawbreakers.  I can see journalists deciding to pay the penalty for breaking the law as a matter of rational self-interest.  But that has nothing to do with freedom of the press.

[jimmy olsen]

Wow! Heads are starting to roll.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jul/15/les-hinton-rupert-murdoch

Les Hinton resigns from News Corp

Hinton, who has worked for Murdoch for over 50 years, told staff at the Wall Street Journal he had no option but to resign


    Lisa O'Carroll
    guardian.co.uk, Friday 15 July 2011 21.34 BST
   
Rupert Murdoch's righthand man Les Hinton has resigned in the latest shock development of a saga still threatening to engulf the newspaper and TV mogul's empire.

Hinton, who has worked for the media baron for more than 50 years, told staff at the Wall Street Journal he had no option but to resign.

"It is a deeply, deeply sad day for me.

"When I left News International in December 2007, I believed that the rotten element at the News of the World had been eliminated.

"That I was ignorant of what apparently happened is irrelevant," he wrote in a letter to staff adding: "I feel it is proper for me to resign from News Corp."

Hinton headed Murdoch's British newspaper arm, News International, when the phone-hacking allegations first arose.

His resignation comes just hours after his successor in the UK, Rebekah Brooks, fell on her sword as Murdoch made attempts to draw a line under the scandal.

Hinton had come under increasing scrutiny recently as a cascade of allegations indicated the problems at the centre of the scandal were more widespread than he had twice led a parliamentary committee to believe.

In 2007 and 2009, he told a select committee that the company had carried out a full investigation into the matter and was convinced just one of its journalists was involved.

Murdoch said: "Les and I have been on a remarkable journey together for more than 52 years. That this passage has come to an unexpected end, professionally, not personally, is a matter of much sadness to me."

Hinton was parachuted into New York in 2007 after Murdoch bought the Wall Street Journal and tasked with transforming the paper into the "Financial Times of America".

A trusted and discreet lieutenant of Murdoch's, he said in a statement that he had "watched with sorrow from New York as the News of the World story unfolded".

"The pain caused to innocent people is unimaginable. That I was ignorant of what apparently happened is irrelevant and in the circumstances I feel it is proper for me to resign from News Corp and apologise to those hurt by the actions of News of the World."

He added that "his testimonies" before the culture, media and sport select committee "were given honestly".

At the heart of the scandal were News International's claims that the phone-tapping was the work of a "rogue reporter" - royal reporter Clive Goodman.

In his statement, Hinton says at the time he believed that to be the case.

"When I appeared before the committee in March 2007, I expressed the belief that Clive Goodman had acted alone, but made clear our investigation was continuing. In September 2009, I told the committee there had never been any evidence delivered to me that suggested the conduct had spread beyond one journalist.

"If others had evidence that wrongdoing went further, I was not told about it."

Hinton has spent his entire career working for Murdoch, beginning as a reporter at the Adelaide News and rising through the ranks until he was tapped to run News International in 1995 – and later Dow Jones – which made him responsible for the News of the World during the years when the phone hacking took place.

Tall, trim and debonair, with rimless glasses and waves of silver hair, Hinton has a reputation for being level-headed and insightful, and has won praise for balancing out some of the stormier personalities within including Murdoch himself.

"He runs interference for Rupert," said one source who knows both men. "He's a very nice guy – congenial, easy going and smart."

Hinton lives in an elegant townhouse – fitted out with a jacuzzi and a deck – on Manhattan's upper east side with his wife, Kath, a former aide to Gordon Brown.

He started his career as a teenager checking copy at Murdoch's first paper, the Adelaide News in Australia. Among his duties were fetching the boss's lunch.

Rising through the ranks until he was tapped to run News International, he was equally at home with the celebrity culture of the tabloids as he was with spreadsheets and boardroom power-plays.

He was liked by staff, particularly by journalists who felt he understood their trade, but he rarely courted publicity. His motto was: "The lower your profile, the longer your longevity in Rupert's court."

It was with reluctance the 67-year-old executive went to the US in 2007. He was given little choice by Murdoch, who rewards loyalty handsomely.

As Murdoch crossed the globe over the next 50 years acquiring newspapers and TV stations, Hinton was never far away.

"Rupert would not be where he is today if he had not recognised talent," Boston Herald publisher Patrick Purcell said in introducing Hinton, an old friend, before a speech to an executive club in March.

Hinton replied: "If Rupert Murdoch asked me to get his lunch," he quipped in his speech, "I still will."

[Martinus]

I can't believe how this story's developed in such a short space of time.

I thought so too but then noticed that Guardian originally accused NotW of the very thing in 2009. We are just seeing a climax of a long process.

[jimmy olsen]

I can't believe how this story's developed in such a short space of time.

I thought so too but then noticed that Guardian originally accused NotW of the very thing in 2009. We are just seeing a climax of a long process.

Apparently Scotland Yard had all the evidence but was sitting on it. Only after the Guardian dug up more and put it on the front page did they do anything with it.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43781013/ns/world_news-the_new_york_times/

[LaCroix]

"When I appeared before the committee in March 2007, I expressed the belief that Clive Goodman had acted alone, but made clear our investigation was continuing. In September 2009, I told the committee there had never been any evidence delivered to me that suggested the conduct had spread beyond one journalist.

"If others had evidence that wrongdoing went further, I was not told about it."

Hinton replied: "If Rupert Murdoch asked me to get his lunch," he quipped in his speech, "I still will."

[Martinus]

Rebekah Brooks arrested.

Millipede calls for dismantling of the UK Murdoch's empire due to competition and media plurality reasons.

The swings just keep coming. Will they arrest James Murdoch next?

[Neil]

Millipede calls for dismantling of the UK Murdoch's empire due to competition and media plurality reasons.

And that's where he goes off the rails.

[Iormlund]

Not really. Concentration of power is bad, as this case aptly demonstrates. Requiring that nobody owns more than x% of a country's media is no different than similar regulations in banking or other strategic sectors.

[grumbler]

Not really. Concentration of power is bad, as this case aptly demonstrates. Requiring that nobody owns more than x% of a country's media is no different than similar regulations in banking or other strategic sectors.

There is a difference between saying "nobody should own more than x% of a Britain's media" and saying "Rupert Murdoch's media empire should be dismantled."  IIRC, the owners of the Daily Mail (?) own a bigger share of the British media than does New International.

Not that I would mind seeing Murdoch getting the chop, but I think that it cannot justified solely on the grounds that he is personally dislikable.

[Neil]

Not really. Concentration of power is bad, as this case aptly demonstrates. Requiring that nobody owns more than x% of a country's media is no different than similar regulations in banking or other strategic sectors.

What does hacking phones have to do with concentration of media?

At any rate, Murdoch is powerful, but there's plenty of other voices in the UK media.

[Martinus]

Not really. Concentration of power is bad, as this case aptly demonstrates. Requiring that nobody owns more than x% of a country's media is no different than similar regulations in banking or other strategic sectors.

What does hacking phones have to do with concentration of media?

Nothing per se. He is down and it is a perfect moment to strike.

[Iormlund]

There is a difference between saying "nobody should own more than x% of a Britain's media" and saying "Rupert Murdoch's media empire should be dismantled." 
[/quote]
I have seen him quoted saying the former, not the latter.

[Sheilbh]

The Metropolitan Police Commissioner's resigned over perceived corruption/collusion between NewsCorps and the Police

Edit:  He apparently said his integrity was intact and implied that he'd done less wrong hiring former NC executive Neil Wallis than David Cameron had hiring Andy Coulson.  From the (ex) top policeman in the country that's a big charge.

[Admiral Yi]

Rebekah Brooks arrested.

Arrest as in we have enough evidence to charge you with a crime, or something else?