If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
The Blog
A scathing report in Britain that Rupert Murdoch and other News Corp. executives engaged in a cover-up of "rampant law breaking" may have ramifications for the media mogul in the United States -- but only if U.S. politicians are willing to face down a powerful media figure.
The parallels between Murdoch and Nixon are striking. Unfortunately for the media mogul, the similarities are only growing more undeniable as his signature scandal approaches its one-year anniversary of detonating in Great Britain last summer.
Entangled in his newspapers disgusting practice of hacking into the private e-mails and phones of innocent victims, Rupert Murdoch appeared before Parliament yesterday and boldly took responsibility and apologized. Or did he?
A scandal that began with The News of the World's hacking of Prince William's voicemail, to ascertain, of all things, that he had borrowed an editing deck from a friend at a rival news organization, has spread to potentially thousands of individuals.
The continuing and escalating scandals in the United Kingdom relating to Murdoch-owned and -operated news gathering organizations raise serious questions about whether they are fit to run a company that owns and operates cable stations under US law.
News Corp.'s fortunes are turning, and Rupert Murdoch must now answer for all that has happened under his watch. If he or his executives broke the law, they must be held accountable in the United States.
We give you the definitive retrospective of the most significant year in recent memory, 12 powerful months marked by fighting for freedom, protesting inequality, watching in awe the fury of nature and wincing at sex and abuse scandals.
These are dark days for the British tabloids. Having operated like a kind of Mafia for years, the tabloids are now in the dock and their unscrupulous conduct is being scrutinized.
There was apparently a lot going in the French-owned Sofitel Hotel just before and after Strauss-Kahn was arrested.
The answer is not press controls, but stricter laws, both national and international, to police illegal activities from intrusive and threatening paparazzi to phone hackers working for the media.
When people rush out to buy newspapers that plaster the secrets of people's sex lives, and medical records, and interior décor, and unannounced pregnancies, and private walks in their dead daughter's last steps, where do they think they come from?
Are we still talking about this whole phone-hacking scandal at News Corp.? Profits are up at News Corp. And, as Rupert Murdoch assured investors yesterday, "There can be no doubt about our commitment to ethics and integrity."
Do you really welcome and enjoy the emotional, metaphorical or actual wounding and bleeding of a fellow human as tabloids claim you do?
Media professionals should not squander the opportunity to take note of the more profoundly damaging scandal that Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation has wrought. That is the damage it has done to their profession and to the institution of journalism itself.
It's far too early to tell yet how the UK newspaper industry is going to emerge once all this over. One interesting question to contemplate is, will the current crisis lead to a fundamental shift in our support for newspapers?
