What do Hugh Grant, Mrs. Weasley and custard pies have in common?
Haven’t you heard? It is, literally, the News of the World.
The phone hacking scandal has captivated the worldwide media, with headline after headline devoted to the twists and turns of this seemingly endless saga. Not only has this scandal rocked the journalistic sphere, but it has also sent shock waves through sectors of British law enforcement and government. Murdoch’s empire explosion has meant that the backroom deals and shady practices that have apparently been commonplace for so many years have been forced into the light, and that the ramifications of the empire’s actions have finally begun to surface.
Part of the complexity and, indeed, the appeal of this story is that it did not simply appear overnight. For sure, allegations of phone hacking and malpractice in News of the World (and other Murdoch affiliates) are nothing new. However, what many of the sensational stories featured across the press have been missing is a dig into the history of News Corp, essential for any critical perspective of the events currently unfolding.
Rupert Murdoch bought News of the World (NoTW) in 1969, and in 1989, five years after it was changed from a broadsheet into a tabloid, Rebekah Brooks was hired as a secretary for NoTW. She became editor of the paper in 2000, only 11 years later. The first appearance of the now internationally famous Milly Dowler’s case was in March 2002, and in the past few weeks it has been seen as a turning point in the fortunes of News Corp. Milly Dowler was a 13 year-old who went missing in England in March 2002, leading to a wide-spread police investigation which was fed in part by the belief that Milly was still alive due to the disappearance of voice messages saved on her phone. On July 4, 2011, it was revealed by The Guardian that it was actually NoTW journalists who were hacking into Milly’s phone and deleting phone messages to make room for new ones. This incident happened under the watch of Rebekah Brooks, who, one year later in January 2003, became editor of The Sun, and Andrew Coulson (a man now infamous in the halls of Parliament) became editor of NoTW.
In November 2005, it was alleged that NoTW hacked into the phones of the royal family, and in January 2007, Coulson resigned as NoTW editor, denying knowledge of the hacking but accepting ultimate responsibility for the actions of the ‘rogue’ reporters. After being cleared of involvement by News Corps lawyers, Coulson was hired as the communications director for the Conservative Party in May 2007.
On Tuesday, July 19, the build up from several weeks of speculation, arrests and full blown outrage at News Corp, Rupert Murdoch, James Murdoch and Rebecca Brooks appeared before a Parliamentary Committee to give evidence regarding the scandal. Perhaps what was most shocking was not what was said, but simply the complete lack of knowledge that the top News Corps executives seemed to have. Indeed, Richard Wollfe, author of Renegade and Revival, tweeted that he was “not entirely sure how News Corp prints newspapers every day given how clueless and uncurious its bosses are.” Was Rupert Murdoch really out of the loop or was he just playing dumb for the committee? Perhaps that question would have been answered had the proceedings not been interrupted with shaving cream and Wendi Murdoch’s, as Tom Watson put it, “left hook.”
Aside from the “pie-in-face” incident, there were also several moments of special note. Rupert Murdoch’s first interruption, in which he stated that it was the “most humble day of [his] life” was touching but, perhaps, unnecessary. The explanation by James Murdoch of the code of conduct and ethics signed by NoTW journalists begs the question as to what the point of it was, given its widespread and obvious violation.
In response to a question posed regarding legal advice received by the Murdoch’s prior to the hearing, James Murdoch stated that their lawyers advised them to “tell the truth.” It’s good to know that they had to pay for all their legal advice for that one to finally sink in. And it might be nice to buy one of these for Murdoch senior, who stated that he did not accept responsibility for what had happened and instead stated that the “people [he] trusted let him down and…[he] thinks they behaved disgracefully.” The key moment, however, was perhaps when Rupert Murdoch said that he “didn’t know of it” when asked about the statement that Rebekah Brooks gave to a Parliamentary Committee in March 2003 that NoTW had paid police officers for information. Given that this piece of information was on public record, it shows Murdoch’s shocking disconnect with his companies that he was not aware of such a controversial and public statement.
On July 21, the day after the first Parliamentary fiasco, the House of Commons debated the topic of the phone hacking scandal for hours. It served to highlight one of the most enthralling aspects of this saga – the Murdoch empire and its inherently political core. Much of the debate that has emerged has centered on the role that Andy Coulson played in government politics and his proximity to Cameron, and especially whether Cameron knew about the phone hacking when he hired Coulson. Although the Prime Minister obviously showed some poor judgement of character in hiring the media guru, it seems unlikely that Cameron, the savvy politician that he is, would knowingly employ someone who had a stated history of illegal activity.
Furthermore, the fact that Ed Miliband attacks David Cameron on his connections to News Corps at any and every chance he gets is ironic on several levels. First and foremost, Ed Miliband and his Labour party are not exactly clean from ties to Rupert Murdoch either. At the News International Summer Party on June 17, 2011, politicians from both sides of the aisle were in attendance. Not only was the invitation extended to Prime Minister David Cameron, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, and Leader of the Opposition Ed Miliband, but many senior politicians such as Ed Balls, Yvette Cooper and Douglas Alexander were also there. Indeed, the senior Labour figures, including aides such as Tony Baldwin and Stewart Wood, outnumbered the Tory ministers.
On the topic of Labour aides, Miliband seems to be engaging in quite a bit of ‘pot calling the kettle black.’ Granted, Miliband’s Media guy Tom Baldwin might not have been as high up in the News Corp empire as Andy Coulson, but he definitely cannot claim to be free of association. Baldwin was a senior journalist at The Times, News International’s flagship daily, a position he held until his appointment with Mr Miliband, and although The Times has yet to be directly affected by the scandal, Baldwin certainly is not free of connections to Murdoch.
The coverage will continue, and with the FBI investigating allegations into the hacking of the phones of 9/11 victims, the scandal could soon come much closer to home. As of now, the parliamentary committee on Home Affairs has criticized News International and their attempts to “deliberately thwart” the 2005-2006 phone hacking investigation, and has labeled the police actions a “catalog of failures.” While the calls for David Cameron to resign will probably fall on deaf ears, the fate of Rupert Murdoch and News International still hangs in the balance.