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Subscribe to RSSNews Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch and his son James are in the hot seat this week at a high-profile public inquiry in the U.K. about phone hacking by News Corp's British newspapers. NBC's Stephanie Gosk reports.
Updated 12:31 p.m. ET: LONDON - Rupert Murdoch was grilled at a high-profile public inquiry into media ethics on Wednesday, rejecting charges that he used his powerful British newspapers to influence politicians for the benefit of his business interests.
He rejected accusations that he used his media empire to play puppet master to a succession of British prime ministers, electrifying a media inquiry that has shaken the government and unnerved much of the establishment.
What began with cases of voicemail interception at one of his U.K. tabloid newspapers has turned into a critique of how the British media operates -- and a deep look at the influence Murdochs's corporation, News Corp., has had on the highest echelons of government.
Prime Minister David Cameron appointed judge Brian Leveson to examine Britain's press standards after journalists at Murdoch's weekly News of the World tabloid admitted hacking into phones on a massive scale to generate exclusives.
After taking an oath, Murdoch said he was keen to put straight some myths about him.
"I have never asked a prime minister for anything," Murdoch said calmly when asked about his links to former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, one of his favorite British leaders. Murdoch also claimed he “never asked Tony Blair for anything” despite meeting that former Prime Minister 40 times in person.
Some politicians had expected the 81-year-old - courted by prime ministers and presidents for decades - to come out fighting, having been on the back foot for almost a year over a newspaper phone hacking scandal that has convulsed his empire.
Leon Neal / AFP - Getty Images
News Corp chief executive Rupert Murdoch and his wife Wendi Deng leave their London home on Wednesday.
But Murdoch appeared calm and laconic, at times provoking chuckles from some of the 70 lawyers, family members and journalists packed into the Victorian gothic courtroom when he cracked jokes about the destruction of unions and a disgraced former British minister who lied in court.
The man who has for years portrayed himself as an underdog, said he had simply tried to shine a light on the country on the behalf of the working classes.
"I think that it is fair when people hold themselves up as iconic figures, or great actors, that they be looked at," he said. "I don't think they are entitled to the same privacy as the ordinary man on the street."
But he admitted that his opinion had been carried by newspaper The Sun, one of his favorites for years. "I'm not good at holding my tongue," he said. "If you want to judge my thinking, look at the Sun."
'Declare war' on News Corp.?
He also shed some light on recent British political history, saying that then Prime Minister Gordon Brown had reacted to the news that the Sun newspaper would be withdrawing its support for the Labour party by threatening to "declare war" on News Corp. "I did not think he was in a very balanced state of mind," Murdoch said.
Mr Brown later said Murdoch's claim was "wholly wrong".
Asked if as reported he had initially found Cameron to be lightweight, Murdoch replied: "No. Not then." He had also not found it strange when Cameron took time out of his own private holiday to meet him on a yacht off a Greek island in 2008.
"I've explained that politicians go out of their way to impress people in the press," he said.
James Murdoch was at the Leveson inquiry on Tuesday, claiming he didn't know about phone-hacking at News Corp's UK newspapers. ITV's Juliet Bremner reports.
He played down the influence of his newspapers on the outcome of elections, saying: "It is only natural for politicians to reach out to editors and sometimes proprietors, if they are available, to explain what they are doing and hoping that it makes an impression. But I was only one of several."
Prosecutor Robert Jay asked: "Are you saying that you are completely oblivious to the impact of election outcomes on your commercial interests? Murdoch replied: "Absolutely. I never let my commercial interests, whatever they are, enter into any consideration of elections."
Murdoch candidly described one of his own newspapers' most infamous front page headlines as "tasteless". After the Conservatives scraped a narrow win in the 1992 general election, The Sun, which had backed the party, declared: 'IT WAS THE SUN WOT WON IT'. "We don't have that kind of influence," Murdoch insisted, adding that he had been angry with then editor Kelvin McKenzie about the headline.
He said the notion of his influence over politicians was "a myth", adding: "How I treat Mayor Bloomberg in New York - sends him crazy. But, we support him every time he runs for re-election."
Rupert Murdoch will give further testimony on Thursday, when he is expected to face questions about phone hacking.
'Appalled'
However, in a written submission yesterday he said he was "appalled" to discover that lawyers for his newspaper The Times had misled the inquiry by earlier claiming claiming the title had never been involved in hacking, the Daily Telegraph reported.
It later emerged a Times reporter had hacked into a policeman’s email account. Murdoch said in his witness statement to the inquiry on Wednesday: “I am appalled that the lawyer misled the court and disappointed that the editor published the story.”
This is his second public grilling on the issue. The first was before parliament last July, supported by his son James and protected by his wife. This time he was alone -- although his other son, Lachlan, and wife Wendi Deng were watching from a distance in the public gallery.
Shareholders in News Corp. will be looking very closely at his performance. His task at the inquiry is to defend the world’s second largest media company – and, with it, his own reputation.
Evidence emerged last July that suggested multiple reporters at News of the World hacked into the voicemails of celebrities, the royal family and even a murdered young girl. Those revelations convulsed Murdoch's media empire and provoked a wave of public anger.
More than 100 lawsuits have been filed in the U.K., and a lawyer for hacking victims intends says he intends to file three more in the U.S. Three ongoing criminal cases in Britain have resulted in a series of arrests.
Leveson Inquiry / AFP - Getty Images
News Corp executive chairman James Murdoch swearing an oath holding a bible before giving evidence at the Leveson Inquiry into press standards at the High Court in London on Tuesday.
Critics allege The Sun, endorsed Cameron during the 2010 election in return for support of News Corp’s deal to buy full control of broadcaster BskyB.
Murdoch was the first newspaper boss to visit Cameron after he won the election -- entering via the back door -- and politicians from all parties have lived in fear for decades of his newspapers and what they might reveal about their personal lives.
U.S.-based News Corp, owner of Fox Television and the Wall Street Journal, eventually pulled its bid to buy the 61 percent of satellite broadcaster BSkyB that it did not already own amid the intense political and public pressure over phone hacking.
Opposition politician Chris Bryant, who accepted damages from Murdoch's British newspaper group after the paper admitted hacking his phone, said the media mogul had dominated the political landscape for decades.
“You have only got to watch Rupert Murdoch's staff with him to see how his air of casual violence intimidates people," he told Reuters. "His presence in the British political scene has similarly intimidated people by offering favor to some and fear to all."
Murdoch's relations with prime ministers goes back decades: papers released this year showed that he held a secret meeting with then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in 1981 to secure his acquisition of the Times of London.
Tony Blair was godfather to one of Murdoch's daughters, Gordon Brown was a personal friend of the Australian-born businessman and Cameron employed as his personal spokesman a former Murdoch editor who was himself implicated in the hacking scandal.
During a parliamentary hearing last year, memorable for the actions of a protester who hit Murdoch in the face with a foam pie, he sat alongside James and spoke often in monosyllables but on occasion hit the table with his fist in frustration at the line of questioning.
Chiara Francavilla, NBC News in London, and Reuters contributed to this report.
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Follow us on Twitter: @msnbc_world
Leave a Comment:
Couldn't come up with any better term than "public grilling" to use repeatedly eh? Choice words, MSN, choice words.
It should have been a public hanging.
What a waste of time. Like your going to get the truth out of this guy.
I would consider Governmental wire tapping, bribes, or threats of negative reporting of politicians to influence them in any way good or bad is manipulation = "Treason" ..........in both countries......and definitely tons of Felonies were committed..time to retire in Federal Prison........penniless....
Hey, a nice public grilling of everyone in the Murdoch family and business empire would suit me just fine. However, I will settle for him, his son, and all top executives in both UK and US be arrested, tried and convicted, with News Corp going away.
@Skull - Alas, here in the US, Treason is defined as picking up arms to overthrow the government, so they can't be tried for Treason (don't know the UK laws), but they can be tried on many, many other charges, each with multiple charges of their own.
I used the word figuratively.....like......Outside legal spheres, the word "traitor" may also be used to describe a person who betrays (or is accused of betraying) their own political party, nation, family, friends, ethnic group, team, religion, social class, or other group to which they may or may not belong..... :)
msfru; couldn't find a real weakness in the story so you went for the old semantics route - so GOP/Tea of you... lol.
In GW Bush's first term, small local papers were virtually all bought up by News Corp types, and they all promptly shut down their Forums sections. Speak no evil (who is the real axis of evil?).
How much do you hate life that at Rupert's age, you are still manipulating governments and not retired on some beach (where asylum is guaranteed)?
I trust the Weekly Horse Racing Journal more than the Wall Street Journal. Now we see why the sheep get the idea that resorting to; your side is as bad as my side, mentality, is a sound defense.
PS; I love that John Edwards is going down too. My side (the majority who dislike all extreme radical political supporters) says your two sides deserve what you have coming to you.
"Public grilling" is a perfect word. For somebody like Murdoch, being called on the carpet like an errant schoolboy is a fate worse than death.
What Murdoch needs is far more than a mere grilling. His "media" holdings spread many lies, and some people buy into it. There is a reason why the Fox watchers are so hilariously misinformed. It doesn't surprise me. You can recognize the victims of Murdoch's hateful rightwing twisted campaign of lies everywhere, even on this blog. They all say the same crap at the same time - total lies. And they all hear these lies from the same source.
Time for Murdoch's empire to be destroyed and banned from the media business. Outlaw the tactics of the Fox network, the Wall Street Journal, and all the other Murdoch media holdings.
Jail everyone involved in lying through the media and outlaw the Fox network.
Murdick says:
"I think that it is fair when people hold themselves up as iconic figures, or great actors, that they be looked at," he said. "I don't think they are entitled to the same privacy as the ordinary man on the street."
Does that mean we get to pry into his closet and under his bed? Can we tap his phone and hack his email and find his dirty laundry? He certainly counts as an iconic figure, being a billionaire scumbag who peddles influence and profits on the misery of others through his company's illegal actions.
Wow...they weren't satisfied with Rupy throwing his son under the bus? What next? They start going after all the low lifes out there?
Steve; which "they" guys and which "low lifes" are you referring too?
It isn't like Rupert committed just one offense - should he get a pass on all but the original accusations?
It sounds to me like the bus stopped short of running over Rupert's gang far too many times in the past - and now the breaks are failing due to poor in house maintenance. Rupert never was one to stop and count the bodies after they got run over.
I'm shocked! I'd hate to hear Rupert's newspapers weren't fair and balanced!
His British newspapers are entirely fair and balanced.... they always and only support the best interests of Rupert Murdoch! ;)
(Whichever party might be in power.)
Might I suggest a stockade for Rupert? How much can you actually fine a Billionaire before you hurt them financially?
and the best part is...
breaks the law to get exclusive information, just to spew out biased yellow journalism anyway
guy is a corporate greedy nasty sob - shut him down and throw him in jail
Good for them. They shouldn't just grill the bastard, they should roast him too. The hell with Rupert and his empire of lies manipulation cheating and misinformation. There cannot be enough grilling for the sleaze weasel that Rupert Murdoch is.
Wow bud you are in some serious need of a therapist...
I wouldn't trust anything Murdoch says. His responses reek of sleeziness. Guys like this need to spend time behind bars.
They don't care about anybody but themselves. Total sociopath when it comes to society. All for him, none for us.
Hang'em high!!
Other than your unfounded personal beliefs what do you have to back up your assertions....
Unfounded?! Phone hacking and the existence of Fox Noise are prime examples. The vast majority of Fox Noise programs are anything but fair and balanced. Those that make sense tend to get shut down after a while.
Matt,
I recommend you watch this PBS Frontline special:
http://video.pbs.org/video/2215966370
News corp. has had a history of printing right wing propoganda for right wing politicians in exchange for favors since Rupert Murdock's father started publishing in Australia. It is a symbiotic relationship. News Corp will say anything to push their right wing view. They'll say it over and over and over, hammering their agenda into the heads of enough maliable people to influence society as a whole.
This current scandal illustrates the contempt that News Corp has for the law, or anything else that gets in the way of profit.
Murdoch's British papers supported the left-wing party in Britain throughout the 90s (and for a period during the 70s).
Murdoch doesn't support a Government because it's right-wing - he supports it because it aids his, and his business's, best interests - more often than not this will be a right-wing party (as they tend to be more supportive to a less regulated free market model) but he'll go to whoever best suits his own needs at any given time.
Just finished watching the remainder of his testimony. WHAT A BIG FAT LIAR!!!
THROW HIM IN JAIL!!
Kind of reminds me of the liberal bastion of truth and honor in reporting, NBC. Let's see, weren't they the ones who deliberately altered the 911 call in the Treyvon Martin case and then had the gall to air it as the truth??
for which they immediately apologized, published the entire transcript wherein we found out the editing did not change the content. keep trying.
...and they fired the producer who did it
LOLOLOL NBC's editing didn't change the concept???? Yeah okay.......
They fired the producer????? and Rupert shut down the entire newspaper Keep trying snark and pat LOL
News flash! Fat bully tries to get the last word in with an overblown article nobody cares about!
And what else guys? Is the re-edited tapes all you've got? Come on...give us more examples fellas. Call MSNBC the liberal Fox News and give examples...please. You fellas are on a roll. Then remind us how MSNBC was taken to court and then plead innocent because they're not news, they're "entertainment"...or do I have them mistaken for someone else?
Fox went all the way to the supreme court to defend their right to lie in a newscast. Surely they must be fair and balanced if they need to defend their right to lie right?
I can't wait until he is prosecuted in the U.S. Then the GOTP will evaporate as they kill each other off in a sleezy attempt to keep their old white backsides out of prison. The upside will be that it will end Fox News and the Wall Street Journal and we can go back to some sort of reasonably educated reporting and not just fear mongering. The trickle down effect these guys are so fond of should work perfectly too, when he's prosecuted to shut down limbaugh and all the other hate mongers on the radio. Good bye right wing extremists. Your days are numbered and the planet and all the good people on it are anxious to have you imprisoned.
we can only hope...
So sleazy liberal endoctrination is your idea of "educated reporting" well put from a left wing extremist. Hey here's a great idea why don't you two move to Cuba or Venezuela where every liberal idea is working so well that everybody lives equally in poverty.
Keep drinking the kool aid.......
Matt, do you work for NewsCorp?
White people? Hate much?
Matt does seem to have the education level and research skills of a Newscorp reporter, add with it the fear of a paper tiger created by his own people to instill fear in people dull enough to buy into the SOCIALIST THREAT that is so prevelant right now, and he's just the cutest little right winger since Alex Keaton on Family Ties. Keep buying everything they tell you, little buddy, you might put together a logical thought some day. Bless his heart...
Matt, do own a dictionary? If so, do yourself a favor, look up "communism" and "liberal".
Funny, but I don't hear many liberals comparing conservatives to fascists.
But then liberals don't play the "be afraid" card everyday either.
Dave- I think you mignt want to refer to that dicionary you are talking about. The definition of fascists is:
"A right-wing nationalist ideology or movement with a totalitarian and hierarchical structure that is fundamentally opposed to democracy and liberalism. In ancient Rome, the authority of the state was symbolized by the fasces, a bundle of rods bound together (signifying popular unity) with a protruding axe-head (denoting leadership). As such, it was appropriated by Mussolini to label the movement he led to power in Italy in 1922, but was subsequently generalized to cover a whole range of movements in Europe during the inter-war period. These include the National Socialists in Germany, as well as others such as Action Française, the Arrow Cross in Hungary, or the Falangists in Spain. In the post-war period, the term has been used, often prefixed by ‘neo’, to describe what are viewed as successors to these movements, as well as Peronism and, most recently, some movements in ex-Communist countries, such as Pamyat in Russia (see extreme-right parties)."
Good. Grill him on a spit. And look at that picture of his wife. Phew, would hate to come across her in a dark alley.
Absolute power corrupts absolutely...
He's a hackin' fool. I can see it in his eyes.
Does anyone actually expect the truth out of Murdoch? The truth, as they say, is not in him.
....Believe Nothing you hear, and only Half of what you see......
jimd,,,, exactly,,,,,it's time to put these devils behind bars,,,,this is the problem with capitalism,,it allows people to get so rich that no one can touch them,,,,and yes, it is the right that are more in line with the interests of the rich!!!!!!
This should not be news to you or anyone else. It's pretty much been that way since the Whig party turned into the GOP
Hey I'm poor and can't stand either party. BTW Obama is a multimillionaire. Should we hate him too?
John Lennon wrote: "They hate you if you're clever, they dispise a fool..." We all LOVE to see the high and mighty fall for whatever reasons...maybe to feel not so less successful or powerful or rich...BUT sometimes when the powerful and rich fall, it is justice or at least, poetic justice....Murdoch and his family got rich off of non-news, attacking people for no other reason than to sell newspapers and TV shows...he NEVER cared about real news or fairness...All his newspapers and nothing more than cheap junk tabloids and his broadcasts are nothing more than talking heads with an ajenda: to attack and smear...People love gossip...they love controversy...they love drama...so he fed off of that and got rich...BUT sooner or later, people like him push the envelope...if they go unfettered, without consequence, no different than a person who gets away with stopping at a bar and driving home without anything happening time after time...sooner or later something happens, and it did...the drunk driver hit someone...Murdock and his phony news organization got caught breaking the law AND actually have the common people disgusted at what he did...I hope he and his whole family go tumbling off the cliff...that would make great headlines: MURDOCH"S EMPIRE IN RUINS...FAMILY LIVING IN POVERTY AS INTERNATIONAL PARIAHS...
Like I have posted before: Murdoch owns IGN and its file repository FILEPLANET where all these kids have downloaded LOIC the executables used in all the major high profile hacks against the FBI and others.. And owns GAMESPY... Yeah it is exactly what it sounds like.
Just because Murdoch owns lots of things doesn't mean he has absolute control over everything. For example, Family Guy is done by Fox, but they frequently rip on Fox News. However, Murdoch does have to approve of important decisions like phone hacking and he does have influence over what gets shown on Fox News.
QUOTE: "Under oath, Murdoch faced detailed scrutiny about his..."
I always wonder why journalists mention that R.M. was under oath. He doesn't care if he's under oath.
Rupert Murdoch is a lying Neocon S.O.B. who along with the Bush Administration misled the American people into an unnecessary war in Iraq. When he dies the world will be a better place. He is a lying,murdering piece of @!$%#.
Aww some old guy made you very maddy. Lets relive past enemies and roll them into your new pet so you can defer your insecurities and manifest them as anger towards others. Hate much?
I think our justice system is so scared of R.M. that they're tinkering around and delaying his prosecution. They're hoping that if they delay things enough, R.M. will pass on and they won't have to deal with him.
Who the heck is Rupert Murdoch? I sound to me like msn is making up news again. MSN = Made up sharty news.
the owner and creater of all the right wing lies and agenda of fox news, whats they're saying-we distort you decide or is it report??
So I guess Bart Simpson & Al bundy distort the truth too. Oh wait they do! GO FOX!
In the middle? Questionable.
good god they cant shut down rupert murrdock and fox news with out all the lies and corruptions and unethical news they provide the gop will never ever make it
Who the heck is Rupert Murdoch? I sound to me like msn is making up news again. MSN = Made up sharty news.
Your not to bright, are you?
Notice how the FOX Entertainment News doesn't talk about the corruption of their glorified boss Murdock and his organization. If they were a real news organization or if this organization supported the center/left this would be head line news. Murdock and his organization is dirty and so are the politicians which work for Murdock, Boehner/Cantor/Ryan and McConnell.