News Corporation Archives

Rupert Murdoch’s U.K Paper Shuts Down Amid Phone Hacking Investigation

Rupert Murdoch, owner of Fox News and the United Kingdom’s “News Of The World” news paper, got some bad news today. The 168 year old paper is shutting down, publishing its last paper this Sunday amid an ongoing investigation into the company’s authorization of phone tapping.

BBC reports a statement from the current chairman of News Of The World, Murdoch, advising his staff of the decision to close the paper.

In a statement made to staff, Mr Murdoch said the good things the News of the World does “have been sullied by behaviour that was wrong – indeed, if recent allegations are true, it was inhuman and has no place in our company”.

“The News of the World is in the business of holding others to account. But it failed when it came to itself.”

He went on: “In 2006, the police focused their investigations on two men. Both went to jail. But the News of the World and News International failed to get to the bottom of repeated wrongdoing that occurred without conscience or legitimate purpose.

“Wrongdoers turned a good newsroom bad and this was not fully understood or adequately pursued.

“As a result, the News of the World and News International wrongly maintained that these issues were confined to one reporter.

“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.

“The company paid out-of-court settlements approved by me. I now know that I did not have a complete picture when I did so. This was wrong and is a matter of serious regret.”

He reiterated that the company was fully co-operating with the two ongoing police investigations.

Will We See Fox News’ Roger Aisles On M.S.N.B.C.’s Lockup?

Yes, encouraging someone to lie to the Federal authorities is a crime, punishable with fines and or imprisonment, and that seems to be exactly what Roger Aisles – the senior executive of News Corp and Chairman of Fox News – did, according to a Ms. Judith Regan.

According to a report from the New York Times, Aisles, the man responsible for the direction of the so-called “news network,” gave the unsolicited advise to Ms. Regan in an effort to protect Rudolph Giuliani, a then 2008 Republican presidential candidate. Regan – the Times reports – had an affair with Bernard Kerik, Giuliani’s New York police commissioner, and the man being considered by the Feds to head up the job of Homeland Security Secretary. Aisles advised Regan to lie or withhold information about the relationship from the feds, and according to Ms. Regan, the conversation was recorded.

The revelation was made in court in another case involving Ms. Regan. Brian C. Kerr, a former lawyer of Ms. Regan describes the evidence he found in an affidavit. The Times Reports;

But Brian C. Kerr, one of Ms. Regan’s former lawyers, describes in an affidavit the physical evidence he reviewed as “including a tape recording of a conversation between her and Roger Ailes, which is alluded to throughout the complaint” that Mr. Kerr and another lawyer, Seth Redniss, drafted for Ms. Regan. That complaint said News Corporation executives “were well aware that Regan had a personal relationship with Kerik.”

“In fact,” the complaint said, “a senior executive in the News Corporation organization told Regan that he believed she had information about Kerik that, if disclosed, would harm Giuliani’s presidential campaign. This executive advised Regan to lie to, and to withhold information from, investigators concerning Kerik.”

Mr. Redniss, in his affidavit, referred to “a recorded telephone call between Roger Ailes, the chairman of Fox News (a News Corp. company) and Regan, in which Mr. Ailes discussed with Regan her responses to questions regarding her personal relationship with Bernard Kerik.”

Would I be wrong to assume that Roger Aisles will deny these claims and the voice on the recording? No, of course not. As a matter of fact, it is expected that Mr. Aisles will deny it all, because after all, he’s the one responsible for the content of Fox News. There will obviously be more to this story in the near future.

Read the New York Times report here.