Tag Archives: The Sun

Murdoch: I am hurt and betrayed by the leak at The Sun

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Rupert Murdoch: crying into his American beer

Rupert Murdoch: crying into his American beer

Rupert Murdoch has told  David Dinsmore the new editor of the Sun, that he has been hurt and betrayed by the leaking of his private comments to arrested journos at The Sun.

A report today on  Exaro News reveals that the man is devastated by the disclosures that he knew about the payments to officials which have now led to a string of his reporters and executives being arrested under the Met police Operation Elveden investigation.

Probably more devastating is the fact the disclosure of the audio recording has now led to the American media mogul being summoned to appear before Parliament and the police being sent the tape of his words by Exaro News. And pressure is expected in his adopted homeland the United States as the new liberated Tom Watson gets going again.

One is tempted as a fellow pensioner Rupert Murdoch to feel sympathy for the disclosure of one’s private thoughts when you reach the ripe old age of 82 and you can’t have any privacy at all.

But then one thinks of all the  distress faced by the Dowler family  after the hacking into Milly’s phone or  the feeling politicians and other celebs had when their private phones and e-mails were tapped. Perhaps the angst you are going through now might just give you a glimmer of what it is like for other people who have found themselves in this situation. There is still time to repent, Rupe!

Murdoch: The Full Monty

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Rupert Murdoch: has he broken the law?

Rupert Murdoch: has he broken the law?

Exaro News have put up the last six minutes of the audio of Rupert Murdoch talking at the  meeting with arrested Sun journalists – bringing to 24 minutes the audio of the  private comments of  the News UK owner.

You can listen here – http://www.exaronews.com/articles/5033/audio-rupert-murdoch-fumes-rails-and-bangs-meeting-table .

It comes as officers from Operation Elveden  have requested Exaro News for the audio recording. Operation Elveden say they want the recording because ” We believe this meeting  may contain evidence of conspiring to commit misconduct in public office and we need to secure the best evidence.”

Exaro have said they are happy to supply these audio clips but they are now publicly available and the police can listen to them on Exaro’s website.

News UK the successor to News Corporation have denied these recordings reveal that Murdoch knew about the payments before the police investigation.

You can judge that for yourself.

The Murdoch Tapes: Fleet Street, Hypocrisy and the Police

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Are the Met Police on Operation Elveden interested in Rupert Murdoch’s comments? This seems to be the point of this blog which is highlighting that the audio ( there is no actual tape) has re-opened the whole issue of payments to police officers and public officials By Fleet Street for stories. I have also put this up as a summary of all the latest development and links to blogs and articles for those keen to follow events.

INFORRM's avatarInforrm's Blog

MurdochLast month, Private Eye reported that Sun journalists had taped a meeting with Rupert Murdoch in March 2013.   The Executive Chairman of News Corporation was quoted as taking a supportive view of the position of arrested journalists.  This story was not followed up at the time.  It broke again this week when the investigative journalism website, Exaro and Channel 4 News claimed an exclusive on the story and released a transcript of the recording.

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How Rupert Murdoch’s practices bought a Sun executive to tears

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Rupert Murdoch: Did he look that at the end of the Sun meeting

Rupert Murdoch: Did he look that at the end of the Sun meeting

Exaro have today released the final section of the 45 minute audio of Rupert Murdoch’s meeting with arrested Sun journalists. It is a very poignant moment when Deidre  Sanders, the Sun’s agony aunt, reads out a  damning letter from the wife of a senior executive.

You can hear it at http://www.exaronews.com/articles/5035/audio-dear-deidre-rupert-murdoch-betrayed-us-the-sun . The feeling among Sun journalists that they have been betrayed  by a decision of the Management and Standards Committee to hand over mountains of material  to the Met Police and face a life with criminal convictions could not be more emphasised.

The meeting closes with a former Sun executive sobbing as Rupert Murdoch promises to stuff the letter down a lawyer’s throat. It makes awful listening. A tale of betrayal for people who have been loyal to the company for years while the Murdoch employee who sanctioned the release of the information and gave evidence to Leveson has been promoted to ” some fancy job ”  in the United States.

The audio recording serves as a warning to Murdoch staffers world wide, in Australia, the United States as  well as Britain. If he allows people on his beloved Sun to be treated like this, what chance will you have if anything goes  badly wrong  on your paper, radio or TV station in your country.

The real Rupert Murdoch addresses The Sun: 13 minute recording of his words

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Extracts from the full digital recording of Rupert Murdoch’s astonishing views on  the police investigation Operation Eleveden is now available on Exaro’s website. The link is http://www.exaronews.com/articles/5032/audio-rupert-murdoch-was-aware-of-payments-to-officials. For those who have never heard Rupert  in private you will notice the huge  difference between ” This is the humblest day of my life” approach to MPs in 2011  and his  aggressive and angry response to the ” total incompetence” of the police this year. There is also a contrast between this and his appearance before Lord Leveson.

Exclusive: Gotcha! Shocker Sun Tape Reveals the Real Rupe

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rupert murdoch picture courtesy of The Guardian

rupert murdoch picture courtesy of The Guardian

Today  I have  read a transcript and heard a rather sensational tape of Rupert Murdoch facing the music  for 45 minutes from his embattled Sun staffers and executives as his organisation hands over loads of information to the Met Police in the current hacking and bribery investigations.

Full amazing story is on Exaro at: http://www.exaronews.com/articles/5025/rupert-murdoch-secretly-admits-i-knew-about-bribing-officials

Exaro provided extracts of the audio to Channel Four News for a special report tonight and a  full transcript – suitably redacted to protect people for legal reasons – is on the Exaro website: http://www.exaronews.com/articles/5026/transcript-rupert-murdoch-recorded-at-meeting-with-sun-staff. Tomorrow you can hear 13 minutes of  the great man, sometimes angry, sometimes put out as a grown man sob about his plight at a private meeting inside  the mighty News International (now News UK) London  HQ. All will be revealed on the Exaro website.

In a series of extraordinary revelations the media mogul reveals:

He knew the practice of paying public officials had been going on for years at The Sun and the News of the World

He attacks Britain ‘s judges ( Lord Leveson watch out)  for being biased against News International and put his faith in juries to acquit them all.

He describes the Met Police and other police forces as ” totally incompetent ” in their investigations into News International. He cites the way police turned up to arrest Rebekah Brooks as a particularly crass example. Another staffer reveals the police pulled up his floorboards in searching his home.

He says the police inquiry into the Sun is about “next to nothing.” This contradicts what he said to Parliament.

Hints that he may give the arrested journos their jobs back – ” even though I am not supposed to say this.”

Names checks Lord Puttnam and people close to Gordon Brown ( Tom Watson Mp?) for wanting to get at the Sun for years.

Claims the Management Standards Committee set up by Murdoch is refusing to hand over stuff now to the police after journos complain about a decade of expenses and authorised payments being turned over to the Met.

Also  the recording reveals that the Sun’s  agony aunt,Deidre Sanders, read out a letter to Murdoch from one of the wives of the newspaper’s executives. The letter is so poignant that the executive bursts into tears , interrupting Murdoch’s  angry reaction.

News UK in a statement to Exaro deny some of this. “The Sun has been and continues to be supportive of its employees. Mr. Murdoch has great empathy for those whose lives have been overturned and continues to believe everyone charged deserves the right to be presumed innocent unless proven otherwise.  It is simply false that Mr. Murdoch knew payments were made to police before News Corporation disclosed that to UK Authorities. The MSC continues to cooperate with those authorities, under the supervision of the court.”

However what is really revealing is how different Murdoch  is at this meeting in comparison with his appearance before the Commons Culture,.Media and Sport. The bumbling elderly media boss who had never heard of Neville Thurbeck and never knew anything because it was only one per cent of his Empire is transformed into a man who says spends an hour every day worrying about his staff and has a great grasp of detail about people who have been hacked.

Perhaps the super rich have a secret stash of regenerative pills- not available on the NHS – so they improve with age. Or perhaps it is all the adrenalin flowing in front of his staff.

Altogether this is an amazing revelation of what the real Rupe is like in private. Just for the record, Rupe,to obtain this story no phone or computer hacking was used and no payments were made by me.  But I must congratulate you  for the way you have trained your staff and executives to make covert recordings. It does you credit when it is in public interest.

No animals or children were hurt in this investigation.Only the rich and powerful.

Hacking scandal:Trevor,You don’t have to bribe people to get scoops

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The Sun's Trevor Kavanagh: Defender of the Press? Pic courtesy : digitalhen

Trevor Kavanagh, the Sun’s most vociferous associate editor, has launched an extraordinary attack on the police operations which led to the arrest of a number of very senior Sun journalists. Using language I normally associate with my former employer, The Guardian, he condemns the police for disproportionate action and speaks of a police state and witch hunts against News International. (See http://bit.ly/we4MKo )

 My heart bleeds for him in one sense. Yes, you are right, it doesn’t take dawn raids and 20 police officers to arrest one unfortunate Sun hack. As far as I know they are not the equivalent of armed drugs gang. I am sure you wrote lots of articles in the Sun condemning the tactics of the Scotland Yard’s  former  assistant commissioner, John Yates, when he used the same approach against Lord Levy and Blair’s Downing Street staff in the ” Cash for Honours ” investigation. (this needed investigating but some of the tactics were disproportionate.)

Where I do quarrel with him is his implication that somehow allegations of bribing police officers ( which I gather is the reason for all this) is an essential tool of journalism to expose scandals to save Britain from turning into a corrupt cesspit.

It isn’t. If you think so it sends out all the wrong messages and puts journalism in the dock – and encourages a culture where money is the main motive and moral outrage irrelevant.

Without meaning to be pompous, I have just managed to get by in a long journalist career without paying anyone ( other than professional journalists who are making a living from passing on information) and still produced the odd exclusive.

I may appear to be naive at times but nobody needed paying to expose the ” cash for questions” scandal in the 1990s nor that Peter Mandelson had taken an undeclared £373,000 home loan from a  fellow minister.

Nor did any money change hands in the latest scandal of Ed Lester, the student loans company chief, and his tax affairs – just one  morally outraged source, a few beers, and a well targeted freedom of information request.

Of course, not all leaks are based on moral outrage. Base motives and deadly sins could be involved. By removing money from the equation – it gets rid of one motive and also stops people ” over egging” the information to make more cash.

My main disagreement with you is there has been something wrong in the practice of journalism and it does need cleaning up. I haven’t a clue whether these journalists  are guilty or innocent – or in doing their jobs have been corrupted by a culture that ended up being corrupt itself.

But I think you are being a little too disingenuous to suggest the fabric of investigative journalism is about to collapse because of these actions. There are many other practices  – not least the current financial collapse of newspapers – that are much more deadly.