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Singer Charlotte Church, center, arrives with her legal team at the High Court in London in a phone hacking claim against Rupert Murdoch's News International on Monday. Church received a 600,000 pounds ($951,000) settlement from News International after testifying that she was hounded by the company's journalists when she was a teen singing sensation.
LONDON -- Journalists at Britain's Sun newspaper paid large sums of cash to corrupt public officials, aware the practice was criminal, an inquiry into press ethics heard on Monday, revelations that could prove damaging to Rupert Murdoch's media empire.
The Metropolitan Police's Deputy Assistant Commissioner Sue Akers told Britain's media ethics inquiry that the newspaper openly referred to paying its sources and that such payments were authorized at a senior level.
"The current assessment is that it reveals a network of corrupted officials," Akers said.
The disclosures could damage Murdoch's News Corp if it gives ammunition to the FBI and other American government agencies that have stepped up their hunt for signs of illegality at the U.S.-based company.
"There appears to have been a culture at the Sun of illegal payments, and systems have been created to facilitate those payments whilst hiding the identity of officials receiving the money," said Akers, who is in charge of the investigation into phone hacking and police bribery.
A senior British police officer told Britain's media ethics inquiry Rupert Murdoch's News International had a culture of making illegal payments to corrupt public officials and used bullying, blackmail and hacking to get stories. ITN's Keir Simmons reports.
She said one of the journalists who had been arrested has "over several years received over 150,000 pounds ($238,000) in cash to pay his sources, a number of whom were public officials." She said payments to public officials went far beyond acceptable practices like buying contacts a meal or a drink.
Akers, who made her accusations a day after Murdoch launched The Sun's Sunday edition, said journalists paid not only police officers but also police, military, health and government officials. One official received a total of 80,000 pounds ($126,912) over several years, she said, adding that police also are investigating if public officials were placed on retainers by newspapers.
Undeterred by arrests and criminal investigations of his staff, media tycoon Rupert Murdoch launched the publication of a new tabloid, the Sunday Sun, He hopes to fill the gap left by the paper he had to close because of a phone hacking scandal. Annabel Roberts reports.
Police and News Corp. lawyers are combing through millions of emails for evidence of wrongdoing at The Sun as well as the News of the World. Dozens have been arrested or pushed to resign because of the scandal, including two of Britain's top police officers who were accused of not doing enough to get to grips with the tabloid's wrongdoing.
More arrests are possible.
'Sickened and disgusted'
On Monday, Charlotte Church, a former teen singing sensation, received 600,000 pounds ($951,000) from News International, a News Corp. division, in a settlement resolving her claim that 33 News of the World articles were the product of journalists illegally hacking into her family's voice mails.
Despite her legal victory, Church sharply criticized Murdoch's empire, saying years of tabloid intrusions followed by legal battles had horrified her.
"What I have discovered as the litigation has gone on has sickened and disgusted me. Nothing was deemed off limits by those who pursued me and my family, just to make money for a multinational news corporation," she said outside London's High Court, where the settlement was agreed.
Murdoch, meanwhile, has said practices at The Sun have changed.
In an emailed statement he said: "As I've made very clear, we have vowed to do everything we can to get to the bottom of prior wrongdoings in order to set us on the right path for the future. That process is well under way. The practices Sue Akers described at the Leveson inquiry are ones of the past, and no longer exist at The Sun. We have already emerged a stronger company."
Akers was giving evidence at the Leveson inquiry set up by Prime Minister David Cameron in the wake of the phone hacking scandal.
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Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Leave a Comment:
Rupert ,would sell his mother for some dirt.
And he's telling half of America how to think.
I am just so surprised! To think that someone who is so honest in his other endeavors could be so dishonest in this one! Must be some kind of mistake or setup... ya think? LOL
Anyone that truly thinks they were getting the "real scoop" from the murdoch "news" has to be blind as a rock and dumb as a bag of bats.
This is how all Fascists think.
They are above the law. The end justifies the means.
They are heinous people. As we well saw during WWII.
We lost half a generation defeating this horrible ideology and here it is back again in the 21st century.
.
I agree, but thankfully the segment of the population that self describes as "conservative" is closer to 30%.
And this 30% believes the propaganda spewing from this opportunistic Australian under the guise of "patriotism" would be laughable if it wasn't so sad and dangerous.
Unless you're talking about baseball bats, that's not fair to the bats.
Murdoch isn't just bad for America. He's bad for the world.
what about Brock over at Media matters?
@lmarct yum! twisty idioms!
This story goes hand in hand with the article also on here about rich people more likely to cheat study.
Piers Morgan should testify to Congress about his dealings with Murdoch and Gang. Faux News and Murdoch are Anti United States, he creates hate and fear amongst us. He was not born here and he could be an enemy of our country close that network down
Anyone who thinks Rupert Muirdoch doesn't do exactly the same thing in America is FOXwashed.
And since Soros gives money to CBS, NBC, NPR, and numerous, liberals are pathetic hypocrites. Murdock's is at least paying to get a scoop, Soros is paying to distort the truth.
Which is worse, a news person paying for some dirt, or a radical political 1%er paying to influence the news? I rest my case.
Maybe if you paid attention to something other than Fox you'd recognize the irony here.
I dont know he seems to be commenting on a communist news channel... oh i mean MSNBC story so i bet he does pay attention to other things besides Fox! In fact this is partly the REASON i watch MSNBC and CNN and so on news, so that when you pull that arguement i can say BUT I DO WATCH RACHAEL MADDOW! The truth is Ruper Murdoch didn't order his people to do anything illegal and i agree with p111 paying for a scoop is a heck of a lot different from distorting the story to benefit your political party. Of course Fox news is bias, EVERY NETWORK IS, Fox is just the LEAST biased out of all the networks. Case in point this entire story.
Murdoch, WSJ and FOXNews should be investigated in the United States. There's no way Rupert's media empire is not doing the same here.
"Fox is just the LEAST biased out of all the networks."
Wow if you really buy that,you got to lay of the crack.They are the most biased of all the networks.And that is saying something with the crowd we got around here.
Nah Uncle Bob you only say that because basically EVERY other network is biased Liberally.
Heck Fox news had 100% of Mcain's AND Obama's speeches given in the last election.
MSNBC ran more like 30% Mcain 100% Obama.
It's not only about how you say things that makes you biased, it's about what you choose to talk about and show.
So... let's hear the names of the corrupt officials. :D
Good old RUPERT !!!
He just helped me make my case. Large multi-national corporations are corrupt .
Corruption doesn't matter... they're just "misunderstood" people fighting for their lifelong right to exist in peace and harmony!
They have 100,000,000,000 times more money than we do, but they're just people with ALL the very same rights you and I have... times - what was that number again?
"Corporations are people, too, my friend." (Mitt Romney)
So....where are the corporation jails?
Ask Madoff, he's occupying one.
Bernie Madoff was not a corporation.
Murdoch never ceases to amaze. The one thing in common for all these invasions of personal privacy and unethical business practices is the Murdoch family. To say that these were past practices is to try to put the public off to thinking Murdoch has arrived to set things straight. He and his cut-throat policies are responsible. Too much power in the hands of small-minded individuals usually comes to naught.
When it comes to purveyors of "news" there is no such thing as fair and balanced. And that goes for both ends of the political spectrum. Always remain a skeptic. Remember, he has his hand in The WSJ and Fox "News".
The Wall Street Journal used to be a great publication.
Fox "News" ever was, nor was it ever "news".
Far better than ABC/CBS/NBC/PBS/etc.
Case in point, last presidential election, those networks carried 100% of Obama's speeches but averaged only 30% of McCain's. How's that for fair and balanced? Fox carried 100% of both.
Again p111 makes a good point.
You complain Sir Nikon, but wasn't it the other networks and Democrats who had memos released saying to stick together, go with each others stories, track fox news personal, and follow them around to find any dirt possible?
When the cops are crooked, who investigates them? Other cops. When a newspaper is crooked, who should investigate them? Other newspapers. I hope someday Rupet's sleaze bucket empire comes to an end.
Rupert Murdoch is a scumbag. Anyone who listens to Faux Noise is an idiot.
Case closed.
That's a stupid comment. Fox has more viewers than all the other cable news channels combined. How many reporters at the liberal NY Times have had to resign for printing false stories? More than a few. If you want a good insight into liberal news, see the movie, Shattered Glass.
Fox news has the most viewers because they "tabloid" their stories,and spout out one-liners for stories.Its a sad commentary that if you dumb-down your stories and appeal to only one segment of the population you can get viewers.Now if you judged viewers on they understanding of news stories,they'd be in trouble.
I'm sure this never happens at Fox news....
/sarcasm
Murdock equates to sleaze, corruption, liar, bombastic egotist, greedy tyrant, manipulator of media and propaganda czar. What he has allowed or encouraged to be done in Great Britain is just a tip of his international media empire. And, we should be reminded that this man controls key "news" media in the U.S. including FOX, Wall Street Journal and (I believe) a paper in D.C. How many politicians or others are on his payroll in the U.S.?
Oh, I forgot to say (in my opinion) that all of his minions working under his empire are nothing but "news" harlots. They don't care a whiff about objectivity, truth or integrity. Father Murdock is their God and they genuflect to his will.
The Washingtom News is just like FoxNews.
Why is nothing being mentioned about the payments being made at Media Matters? All the monoploy of journalist writing for money from them?
It will be interesting to see how they prosecute this and still protect the cops who took the payoffs.
The real question is how much is it costing Murdock to keep this in the middle management tier and out of his office. The Bobbies will never investigate Murdock himself but how much does that cost?
What is there to say about a media outlet that repeatedly calls for politicians to wreck the auto and banking industries and destroy the U.S. economy? What about the independent fact checkers finding that media outlet, at best, manages a 30% factual basis in its political opinions and news coverage? What about a corporate agenda of personal attacks, innuendos, fabrications and character assassinations? Any opinion on news gathered through bribes and illegal payoffs? Misinformation, disinformation or propaganda?
New topic. What do U.S. voters get from politicians and candidates who fact-check at a similar 30% truth basis, leaving 70% of their rhetoric make-believe, manufactured or outright lies? What happens if that 70% baseless disinformation becomes public policy and the framework for new, ideologically-driven laws? Again. Like those decades of hate-and-fear campaigns devoid of issues, solutions and social growth? How about public agenda and policies pandering to the rich and powerful to the detriment of our society?
Ask yourself these questions. Why is News Corp still in business? When will morals, ethics and integrity return to U.S. right-wing political machinery?
American citizens deserve better than the drivel right-wing politicians have fed us the last 40 years and longer.
If it is on fox and its true, they stole it from from somebody else.
rush limpditybaugh have anything to say, or has he left the country yet?
This type of corruption has spread world-wide and yes even here in the US. The arrest will continue and you'll be surprised to find out we don't have a Free Press which is protected by the Constitution. GET IT.
Murdock should be forced to divest himself and his companies of the Wall Street Journal and all other properties in the US. In addition Piers Morgan should be revetted based on the new information to see if he participated in acts he has previously denied. We can't have the Constitutional required free press endangered by his lot
Snakes can shed their skin - but they are still snakes underneath.
It's a tabloid and anyone who reads it and believes the news to be true, needs help. Murdoch is a snake who just wants profit any way he can get it. No surprise that his employees follow his lead. In fact, all too many of today's journalists look for and want the hype at the expense of reality. But, then, reality is in the mind of the beholder so beware of the authors' lines you read. Then, use your brains to sift and move on to another writing about the same news and make up your own mind.
Murdoch and company turning over a new leaf? Riiiiiiight.
Newsmedia is the new Evil Empire...and Murdoch is Palpatine incarnate. Murdoch's company is only in the business of poisoning minds to make a profit, pandering to the lowest denominator to get ratings. Media whore is a quite apt discription to this enterprise, and if these crooks are brought to justice, so much the better!
Rupert Murdoch is the perfect example of how prison is incapable of arresting truly evil people, because truly evil people tend to be truly rich. We hound on about people like manson and bundy, when certain rich people are the cause of thousands, if not millions of indirect deaths each year.
Why is the whole 'Murdoch' staff not in jail at this point? Next should be those 'known corrupt politicians'.
I thought bribing an public official was illegal offence. Should not someone be charged? Or is it ok as long as you confess?
I love how Murdock said those things were over,a thing of the past.That's like the stick-up man saying I've given up robbing people.So now,no foul,everythings ok.