Tag Archives: rupert murdoch

Rupert Murdoch: This is the most humble day of my life.

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Phone hacking Updates: Sean Hoare Dead, Murdochs, Yates and Stephenson Face committee.

 

In a sad development in the phone hacking juggernaut, Sean Hoare, 47, was found dead amidst ‘unexplained’ circumstances. Hoares, who accused his former editor, Andy Coulson, of illegal activity, was found dead at his home days after he made fresh allegations against executives who he worked for.

Police said they did not at this stage suspect foul play. Before his death he told the Guardian : “There’s more to come. This is not going to go away.” and the New York Times that Coulson’s claim that he knew nothing about the hacking was “simply a lie”.

 

Prime Minister David Cameron has cut short a trip to Africa as the crisis worsens, unlike Elisabeth Murdoch, who had went on holiday with husband Matthew Freud as her father Rupert, and brother James, face the select committee. Mr Cameron will face questions from MPs after Parliament summer recess was delayed so he could make an emergency Commons statement. Mr Cameron will be facing some tough questions over his decision to hire Andy Coulson as his media strategist.

Watch the live hacking commitee and the Murdoch’s being interviewed courtesy of the Telegraph

 

Other developments:

 

John Yates has resigned over his links to Neil Wallis, former deputy editor of the News of the World. Yates twice resisted requests to reopen the investigation into phone hacking.

 

Sir Paul Stephenson, head of the Metropolitan Police, also known as Scotland Yard, Resigned. Stephenson referred to his resignation saying; “It was my decision and my decision only.”

 

Boris Johnson has denied that he personally intervened in the resignation of Sir Paul Stephenson, the Met Commissioner and Mr Yates.

 

Rebekah Brooks was arrested on Sunday. She will still answer questions from the committee.

 

James Murdoch’s future looks uncertain and he will face the same panels of MPs as Brooks and his father.

 

Rupert Murdoch was mobbed by the press as he arrives at the Houses of Parliament. His wife, Wendi Deng, sat behind him as he was being interviewed and touched his arm in comfort a few times.

 

The scandal has rocked Britain and made the Murdochs, who were untouchable just last month, fair game. It is alleged the over 4000 people’s phones were hacked. Rupert Murdoch made an apologyy in newspapers over the weekend and also personallyapologiseded to Milly Dowler’s family after her phone was hacked.

James Murdoch perviously said: “We now have voluntarily given evidence to the police that I believe will prove that this was untrue and those who acted wrongly will have to face the consequences,This was not the only fault. The paper made statements to Parliament without being in the full possession of the facts. This was wrong.”

“I don’t see how he can survive,” Howell Raines, former executive editor of The New York Times told ABCNews.com. “Seems to me that the movement both politically and legally is ominous.”

 

Rupert Murdoch has defended his son by saying; “I think he acted as fast as he could, the moment he could,” he told the Wall Street Journal.

Les Hinton and Rebekah Brooks Resign. Murdoch Latest

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Following on from the last article Frost did on the phone hacking scandal, Rebekah Brooks has finally resigned after Elisabeth Murdoch, daughter of the press baron, launched a rant that Brooks had ‘fucked the company’. Les Hinton, who has been at News Corporation for over 50 years has also resigned saying that he ‘had no other choice’. Apparently, Brooks had offered her resignation a week ago.

 

Rupert Murdoch has taken out a full page advert in the national press to say apologise despite saying previously that ‘we only made minor mistakes.’ The FBI have launched an investigation into the claims that the phones of 9/11 victims were hacked.

 

Carl Bernstein, the former Washington Post reporter who exposed Watergate and helped depose a US president, says it is evident that the events of the past week “are the beginning, not the end, of the seismic event”.

 

News Corporation has hired Edelman, a global communications company to manage the crisis on both sides of the Atlantic and it looks like James Murdoch being the heir apparent it now a pipe dream.

 

UK parliamentary hearing start next week and the future is looking grim for Murdoch, he personally met the family of Milly Dowler to apologise to them, but the damage has all been done. It will interesting to see what happens next. It is ironic to see the hounder hounded, a lot of the photographers taking pictures of Murdoch, actually work for him. Tom Mockridge has been appointed to run News International. Will Chase Carey be heading up global corporation soon.

 

News Corp Withdraw BSkyB Bid

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News Corporation have withdrawn their BSkyB bid amid the ‘Hackgate’ scandal.

The move follows further claims as the fallout into phone hacking continues. With news stories about the now defunct News of the World getting worse by the day and spreading to the other Murdoch papers, the media mogul now faces fresh accusations. It would seem News Corp has forgotten the first rule of journalism: Never become the story.

People on the News of the World payroll are said to have illegally accessed Gordon Brown’s son’s medical records and, after hacking Milly Dowler’s voicemail, deleted the messages when her mailbox was full – a move that made her family, and police, believe she was still alive.

News Corporation own 39% of BSkyB and announced last year that it intended to buy the remaining 61%.

Chase Carey, Deputy Chairman, President and Chief Operating Officer of News Corporation, commented: “We believed that the proposed acquisition of BSkyB by News Corporation would benefit both companies but it has become clear that it is too difficult to progress in this climate. News Corporation remains a committed long-term shareholder in BSkyB. We are proud of the success it has achieved and our contribution to it.”

BSKYB chief executive Jeremy Daroch added: “We are delivering on our clear, consistent strategy and are building a larger, more profitable business for the long term. We remain very confident in the broadly based growth opportunity for BSkyB as we continue to add new customers, sell more products, develop our leading position in content and innovation, and expand the contribution from our other businesses.”

The announcement comes as online petitions against News Corporation increase. Actor Hugh Grant got the ball rolling when he wore a wire and in a case of ‘the biter, bit’, taped a former News of the World journalist confessing that their paper “bugged everyone.” The piece was for an edition of the New Statesman which was being guest edited by his ex-girlfriend Jemima Khan.

Hugh Grant for Prime Minister….

Hacking Latest: Sunday Times targeted Brown

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According to the BBC, the Sunday Times illegally targeted private personal information of former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The Sunday Times is also a member of Rupert Murdoch’s News International.

BBC documents suggest ‘blagging’ was used to obtain private medical and financial information. ‘Blagging’ was made illegal in 1994 and involves, ‘knowingly or recklessly obtaining or disclosing personal data without consent’. News international private investigators are thought to have targeted Brown’s police and tax records.

In one incident, someone said to be acting for the Sunday Times is accused of impersonating Mr Brown and obtaining details from his building society.

The BBC says, the Browns also fear another News International paper, the Sun, may have obtained medical records about their son Fraser. The Sun revealed Fraser had cystic fibrosis in 2006.

According to the Financial Times Gordon Brown is said to be very angry at News International, particularly for the incident relating to his son. He is expected to make a statement accusing other News International corporations of hacking.

Many are now asking how far the scandal goes? Have we only seen the tip of the iceberg so far.

In related news News Corporations bid for BskyB looked all but dead in the water as culture secretary Jeremy Hunt referred the bid to the regulator. Deputy PM Nick Clegg also urged Murdoch to abandon the takeover.

 

Blair Accused of Hushing up News of the World Hacking Scandal by Brown's Friends; Meanwhile Blair Slams Brown's Record in Office

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According to friends of Gordon Brown, Tony Blair urged Brown to put pressure on his fellow Labour MP and friend Tom Watson to back off the News of the World. A spokesman for Mr Blair has said, ‘The allegation is categorically untrue’.

Watson has played a major role in uncovering the hacking scandal. His two year campaign was a major reason for the closure of the News of the World. Watson used commons legal protection to make damning allegations against the News of the World and News International executive chief Rebekah Brooks. According to the dailymail.co.uk Watson was threatened by NI in the early stages of the investigation. He was said to have been told by someone in the company, ‘Rebekah Brooks will pursue you for the rest of her life’.

But Watson carried on regardless. He successfully called for, former news of the world editor Andy Coulson, to resign as prime minster David Cameron’s communications director. He has subsequently said in the commons that, ‘Rebekah Brooks was not only responsible for wrong doing, but knew about it’.

Tony Blair became a long-time friend of Mr Murdoch after they made a famous alliance in 1994. Ever since that point News Internationals papers supported Blair until he left office. The support was pulled from Labour when Gordon Brown took over the party, with Murdoch’s papers switching support to the rival conservative party. Whilst Mr Blair has denied the allegations a friend of Mr Brown said, ‘There is no doubt about it, Tony wanted Gordon to intervene’.

Mr Brown himself has refused to comment.

In a remarkable coincidence two days ago Tony Blair came out and attacked Gordon Brown’s record in office. Blair warned Labour against returning to its traditional left wing support. According to the independent.co.uk Blair tore into Brown’s time in office during an address to a progress campaign group. Blair said, ‘We lost the driving rhythm which made us so successful’. He accused the party of no longer being New Labour.

 

News Of The World Closes, Andy Coulson Arrested

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The News of The World is to close amid more scandal.

The newspaper, which has allegedly hacked phones belonging to Milly Dowler, servicemen killed in action and victims of the 7/7 atrocities, is 168 years old.

Some MPs believe the closure is to protect News International’s Chief Exceutive, Rebekah Wade, who appears to be something of a teflon don. But Andy Coulson, former Communications Chief for David Cameron, was not so lucky. Coulson was arrested at at a south London police station at 10.30 am today for alleged phone hacking and making illegal payments to police during his tenure as New of the World editor. He remains in custody.

His arrest was conducted by officers from Operation Weeting, the inquiry into phone hacking at the tabloid, and Operation Elveden, the investigation into allegations that police officers were illegally paid £100,000 by the newspaper during Coulson’s editorship.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: “The Metropolitan Police Service has this morning arrested a member of the public in connection with allegations of corruption and phone hacking.

“At 10:30, officers arrested a man on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications, contrary to Section1(1) Criminal Law Act 1977 and on suspicion of corruption allegations contrary to Section 1 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906.

The decision to axe the News of the World was made by James Murdoch. He said: “Actions that were taken by certain individuals in what had been a good newsroom breached the trust of the News of the World’s readers.

“We will cooperate fully with investigations into alleged activities, and will put processes in place to make sure that they won’t happen again.”

He went on to say that certain people “did not live up to the standards that the company believes in.”

This Month's Magazines; Kate Middleton and Getting in Shape Lead.

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This is the first of Frost magazine’s new monthly magazine round-up. Here at Frost we are addicted to magazines and our guess is that you like them too, so, here goes….

Vanity Fair has the new Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on the cover. The world has gone crazy for Kate Middleton and there is 16 pages on the new couple, including the interesting fact that Kate has never been to America before and is ‘beyond excited’.

Horrible fact of the month comes from Christopher Hitchen’s column, which is on Pakistan: in Pakistan not only is rape not illegal, it’s a punishment. Mark Shand tells Nick Haslam about the Elephant Family, Stieg Larsson’s girlfriend tells of their life together and there is good articles on Justin Timberlake, Silvio Berlusconi and the Falcons.

Marie Claire (who are in my bad books, as they do not send the subscribers the free gifts that come with the magazine. This month it’s a choice of eyeliner or eye-shadow, last month a Body Shop moisturiser, not nice way to treat those who are most loyal) Jennifer Lawrence is on the cover, and has a very good interview inside where she says that she tells director she won’t lose more weight and was initially scared of fame.

Emily Eavis, daughter of Michael, talks about growing up as part of the world’s greatest music festival, there is lots of fashion and a summer’s sandals piece that I enjoyed, there is a low down on the Russian invasion of Chelsea; lead by Roman Abramovich and Dasha Zhukova, Writer Natasha Green writes about choosing between her husband and her lover and 5 friends, who all went to university and did a performing arts degree, meet up to discuss where they are 10 years later. Marie Claire also have an exclusive interview with Aung San Suu Kyi. Other good article are dating advice you don’t need from your friends, a good piece on Jean Paul Gaultier and a brilliant article on the life of Princess Diana, very apt.

It’s Elle’s body issue, Elle always give there subscribers the free gift, as do RED and Glamour, Rosie Huntington-Whitley is on the cover and interviewed inside, and there is a free vest top my Kate Middleton fav Reiss.

Celia Walden ponders over why we fawn over the famous, the impossibly stylish Ines De La Fressange is in Elle edits, my personal style crush tells us about her philosophy on life, House of Holland are this month’s Style Spy, make up artist Lisa Eldridge gives a peak inside her closet and Debbie Harry tells is what books changed her life. Rob Lowe is interviewed and there are a lot of great articles on how to get in shape and be happy with how you look. Of course, there is also lots of great fashion. Lorraine Candy is temporarily stepping down from the Elle editorship to have her fourth baby.

Tatler has Romola Garai on the cover, she is interviewed inside and talks about her “ordinary body” and her desire for people to find her sexy. Kate Reardon has been the new editor for a few months now and is doing a good job, though I couldn’t find an editor’s letter.

Royal Wedding photographer Hugo Burnand talks about photographing the biggest wedding in decades, there are other articles on the top 10 poshest ghosts, Clive Anderson writes about losing his cool, there is lots of gossip, A very good guide to the Murdoch dynasty, an article on how the rich buy life (a very good read), some property porn as Belvoir Castle is featured by it’s owners the Duke and Duchess of Rutland.

There is also an article on (the last taboo!) woman’s facial hair and how to get rid of it, Alice Temperley also spills on all of her beauty secrets. If you buy it form the news-stand you get a free pair of sunglasses, but Tatler doesn’t give free gifts to it’s subscribers.

Vogue has Vanessa Paradis on the cover, she talks about staying on the move and being comfortable with your body, Stella Tennant models (can you believe she is in her 40’s!)

I really like the article by Carol Woolton on the lost world of legendary balls, including the jewellery that Elizabeth Taylor wore to the 1971 Rothschild Proust Ball, lots on the Royal wedding and who wore what, editor Alexandra Shulman was one of the guests and gives a good account. The rise of folk (as in music) gets a good spread and supermodel Arizona Muse keeps a diary for Vogue.

I also love the inspirational women who feature in Vogue’s Wonder Women piece, scientists and theatre directors alike. There is also an editorial on fashion dynasties, if you love glamour the way I do you will love reading about the Guinnesses, Dellals, Agnellis/Brandolinis and the Jaggers.

Donna Karen also does a wonderful interview and writer Vicky Ward talks about her divorce; “the equivalent of undergoing heart surgery without anesthetic.” There is also a brilliant free beauty supplement with lots of celebrities and models giving their beauty and health routines, tips and hints.

Glamour has a free Benefit beauty product (I got the Benetint) Karl Lagerfield on fashion do’s, celebrity couples you forgot about, how to find a man anywhere, the rise of gold and fame digging men, why is friendship so hard?, how the Glamour staff got their job, a very good, and slightly depressing article on female war reporters; read about the same time I saw Channel 4’s Killing Fields of Sri Lanka, you think women are equal and safe….

There is interviews with the Glamour women of the year awards, including the brilliant Adele, who is on the cover. There is lots of brilliant fashion and beauty, a very good article on why we should all see Bridesmaids by Zoe Williams, there is a number of articles on how to fake tan well and I really enjoyed the piece on Get a Blockbuster body, what Blake Lively, Jennifer Lawrence and Rosie Huntington-Whitley did to get in shape for their films. There is also a good article on the secret to good health in 100 words or less.

So, until next month!