Related: Slow Saturday Special: No More News of the World
"Power of the press makes British politicians cower" by Sarah Lyall, New York Times / July 10, 2011
LONDON - In 2004, Clare Short, a Labor member of Parliament, learned what could happen to British politicians who criticized the country’s unforgiving tabloids.
Didn't she resign from the cabinet over Iraq?
At a lunch in Westminster, Short mentioned in passing that she did not care for the photographs of saucy, topless women that appear every day on Page 3 of the populist tabloid The Sun, owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. “I’d like to take the pornography out of our press,’’ she said.
Big mistake. “ ‘Fat, Jealous’ Clare Brands Page 3 Porn’’ was The Sun’s headline in response. Its editor, Rebekah Wade (now Rebekah Brooks and the chief executive of News International, Murdoch’s British subsidiary), sent a busload of semidressed models to jeer at Short at her house in Birmingham.
The paper stuck a photo of Short’s head over the body of a topless woman and found a number of people to declare that, in fact, they thoroughly enjoyed the sexy photographs. “Even Clare has boobs, but obviously she’s not proud of them like we are of ours,’’ it quoted a 22-year-old named Nicola McLean.
It is the fear of incidents like this, along with political necessity, that has long underpinned the uneasy collusion between British politicians and even the lowest-end tabloids here.
Politicians generally deplore tabloid methods and articles - the photographers lurking in the bushes, the reporters in disguise entrapping subjects into sexual indiscretion or financial malfeasance, the editors paying tens of thousands of dollars for exclusive access to the mistresses of politicians and sports stars, the hidden taping devices, the constant stream of stories about illicit sex romps. But the officials have often been afraid to say so publicly, for fear of losing the papers’ support or finding themselves the target of their wrath.
If showering politicians with political rewards for cultivating his support has been the carrot in the Murdoch equation, then punishing them for speaking out has generally been the stick. But the latest revelations in the phone-hacking scandal appear to have broken the spell....
The power to harass and intimidate is hardly limited to the Murdoch newspapers; British tabloids are all guilty to some extent of using their power to discredit those who cross them, politicians and analysts say.
“The tabloid press in Britain is very powerful, and it’s also exceedingly aggressive, and it’s not just News Corp.; The Mail is very aggressive,’’ said John Whittingdale, a Conservative member of Parliament who is chairman of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee. “They do make or break reputations, so obviously politicians tread warily.’’
Those who do not pay a price. Cherie Blair, wife of former prime minister Tony Blair, was regularly tortured in print by the right-leaning Daily Mail because she made no effort to cultivate it and because it was not an admirer of her husband’s government.
Oh, was she waterboarded or sleep deprived? Then shaddup!
Related: Slow Saturday Special: “Your Lies Killed My Son’’
Now that is torture.
In a stream of articles, The Mail portrayed her as greedy, profligate and a follower of wacky alternative medicine regimes, and selecting unflattering photos to make her look chunky and ill-dressed.
But politicians have always been most afraid of the sting of The Sun and its Sunday sister (at least until today, when it is to close), The News of the World, because the papers’ good will is so important politically....
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Next Day Update:
WTF? Still printing?
"Murdoch visits UK offices as tabloid closes; Tries to salvage firm’s image amid scandal" by Cassandra Vinograd, Associated Press / July 11, 2011
LONDON - Rupert Murdoch flew to London yesterday to take charge of his media empire’s phone-hacking crisis as his bestselling Sunday tabloid, the News of the World, published its last. The scandal lives on despite his sacrifice of the 168-year-old paper at the heart of it.
The scrapping of the News of the World has not tempered British anger over improprieties by journalists working for Murdoch, and his $19 billion deal to take full control of satellite broadcaster British Sky Broadcasting remains in jeopardy.
The 80-year-old News Corp. chief executive was reading the paper’s last issue in a red Range Rover as he was driven to the east London offices of his UK newspaper division, News International. Later, at his London apartment, he met with News International’s chief executive, Rebekah Brooks, who led News of the World when its reporters committed some of the most egregious ethical lapses.
Murdoch has publicly backed Brooks, who insists she had no knowledge of wrongdoing. He put his hand on her shoulder as they left the residence about an hour after she arrived; they smiled for the pack of camera crews outside before walking to a nearby hotel for a meal.
The drama gripping media watchers has expanded at breakneck pace....
I know some necks I'd like to see broken.
Some of the 200 journalists being laid off from News of the World appeared to sneak in their own message to Brooks....
The paper’s demise does not end the questions surrounding Murdoch’s media conglomerate, which has been hugely influential in British politics for years. Chief among them: What did Murdoch, Brooks, and other executives know about the actions of News of the World journalists?
The Guardian newspaper reported yesterday that e-mails and memos from 2007 only recently turned over to police indicate News International was aware that phone hacking was more widespread than acknowledged.
Everywhere you look in the "MSM" media is a liar.
The BBC reported that News International had found e-mails at the same time period that suggested payments were being made to police for information.
So when are the cops going to be charged?
Closing down the News of the World was seen by some as a desperate attempt to stem negative fallout from the scandal and save Murdoch’s $19 billion bid to get full ownership of British Sky Broadcasting, which he holds a stake in. The British government has signaled that deal will be delayed because of the crisis.
The "news bidness" is ABOUT SELF-SERVING SELF-INTEREST and PUBLIC IMAGE RELATIONS??!!
Britain’s opposition leader, Ed Miliband, warned that a Murdoch takeover of British Sky Broadcasting should not be allowed while a phone-hacking investigation is ongoing....
But afterward, okay.
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