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04 Sep 2011 16:10

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Biz: James Murdoch turns down bonus; Rupert Murdoch takes his own

  • In light of the current controversy surrounding News of the World, I have declined the bonus that the company chose to award to me. While the financial and operating performance metrics on which the bonus decision was based are not associated with this matter, I feel that declining the bonus is the right thing to do.
  • James Murdoch • Explaining his reasons for not accepting a $6 million bonus from News Corp. in the wake of the News of the World scandal. Accepting the bonus would have increased his 2010 take-home pay by 74 percent. His dad Rupert, meanwhile, accepted a $12.5 million bonus of his own. Do you think James made the right move? And if so, should Rupert Murdoch have followed the same track? source

16 Aug 2011 15:55

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World: New evidence might really hurt the Murdochs’ testimony

  • thenJames Murdoch pleaded ignorance when he went in front of Parliament last month as part of the phone hacking scandal that felled News of the World. Though it kinda seemed unlikely that Murdoch would know nothing of the phone hackings, there was no evidence against him.
  • nowThe law firm that previously represented News International has begun testifying against them — labeling their testimony as having “serious innaccuracies.” Murdoch might be questioned again, and he’ll have new evidence and testimony to answer for. source

20 Jul 2011 13:59

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World: David Cameron regrets hiring guy that made his office look bad

  • Thought of the day: They have more fun raggin’ on world leaders on the other side of the pond. As for the clip itself, Cameron makes a point to emphasize that, Andy Coulson, the former “News of the World” editor who worked for him, didn’t do any wrong on his watch. “Of course I regret,” he said, “and I am extremely sorry, about the furor it has caused.” Well, duh. What else is he going to say? “Oh yeah! Andy was a great hire! He made my office look smashing! We got such good publicity from hiring that Andy Coulson! He was the sugar in my office’s tea!” source

19 Jul 2011 15:28

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World: Recap: Key highlights from Rupert Murdoch’s hearing

  • hearing Today was a pretty harrowing day for News Corp’s Rupert Murdoch. He went before the British parliament with his son James regarding the ongoing phone hacking scandal.
  • result Both Rupert and his son maintained they didn’t know anything. James talked a lot more than his dad — but paused when a member of parliament obliquely compared the scandal to Enron.
  • dessert? Toward the end of the hearing, someone snuck in and gave Rupert a pie to the face — a not-so-tasteful distraction that nearly overshadowed the fairly serious situation at hand. source
  • » If the hearing wasn’t enough to make Murdoch sweat, LulzSec might be able to do the trick. They’re reportedly going to release a whole bunch of emails from News International staffers. Those emails will show what various people in the organization know, if they know anything about the phone hacking. They’ve already released Rebekah Brooks’s email password.

18 Jul 2011 14:01

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World: News of the World whistleblower Sean Hoare found dead

  • Right now, police are saying that Sean Hoare’s death isn’t suspicious. And that’s understandable, because he did have problems with alcohol and drugs — so Hoare’s death could easily be related to substance abuse. However, this phone-hacking scandal has gone far and brought down a lot of people — it’s hard not to wonder “What if?” Hoare was one of the first people to implicate Andy Coulson, the former News of the World editor and communications director for PM David Cameron, in the scandal, leading to the current chain of events that include NotW’s closure and Coulson’s arrest. source

17 Jul 2011 10:25

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U.S.: News of the World scandal: Rebekah Brooks reportedly arrested

  • Friday As pressure piled on embattled News Corp. executive Rebekah Brooks for her role in an ongoing phone-hacking scandal at News of the World (a now-shuttered-but-very-popular paper she used to edit, by the way), she resigned with hopes of clearing her name
  • Sunday Now Brooks has no choice but to do just that, as police have reportedly arrested Brooks for her role in the hacking scandal that even has some loose ties to British Prime Minister David Cameron. She’s the highest-profile News Corp. official to get arrested. source

16 Jul 2011 15:35

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World: News of the World scandal: Did Scotland Yard turn a blind eye?

  • After the past week, that assertion has been reduced to tatters, torn apart by a spectacular avalanche of contradictory evidence, admissions by News International executives that hacking was more widespread, and a reversal by police officials who now admit to mishandling the case.
  • New York Times reporter Don Van Natta Jr. • Discussing the News of the World phone-hacking case in a piece that suggests that Scotland Yard had played a role in keeping evidence of hacking under wraps. “At best, former Scotland Yard senior officers acknowledged in interviews, the police have been lazy, incompetent and too cozy with the people they should have regarded as suspects,” the article continues. “At worst, they said, some officers might be guilty of crimes themselves.” Maaaan, this is getting messy. source
 

16 Jul 2011 15:22

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World: News of the World hacking scandal gets messier amid resignations

  • worse After weeks of scandal tainted News Corp to its core, a woman at the center of the ongoing News of the World phone-hacking scandal — News International leader Rebekah Brooks — resigned Friday.
  • worser Hours after Brooks left her job, Les Hinton — a Rupert Murdoch’s longtime confidante who headed the Wall Street Journal and was Brooks’ predecessor during the time of the alleged hacking — also resigned.
  • worsest Now various claims are floating around that the scandal has damaged relationships between some of Murdoch’s children. Murdoch, meanwhile, apologized profusely in a series of newspaper ads. source

14 Jul 2011 14:42

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World: Rupert Murdoch, son will get cozy in Parliamentary hot seat

  • Their appearances required a little bit of arm-twisting. Rebekah Brooks, the editor of News of the World during the phone hacking scandal will be with them, too. They’ll be questioned on the situation and will have to offer up evidence. Originally Murdoch and his son weren’t going to attend, but only decided to after facing enormous pressure from government officials. The hearing is set for next Tuesday, and it really doesn’t seem like any of this will turn out well for News Corp. In other news — the FBI will investigate News Corp. to see whether the phones of 9/11 victims were possibly hacked by British tabloids. Which would bring this to a whole new level of messed-up. source

13 Jul 2011 10:28

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Biz, World: Rupert Murdoch’s BSkyB deal straight-up goes bust, painfully

  • We believed that the proposed acquisition of BSkyB by News Corporation would benefit both companies but it has become clear that it is too difficult to progress in this climate.
  • News Corp. chairman Chase Carey • Explaining why the company chose to drop out of the coveted BSkyB deal  which they had been gunning for for a while. However, this mess with News of the World happened, and here we are. Right now, the company’s problems center on the United Kingdom, but Sen. Jay Rockefeller is threatening to give them some increased stateside scrutiny. This could be bad. source