LONDON — In a dramatic new turn in the scandals swirling around Rupert Murdoch’s British newspaper outpost, prosecutors said on Tuesday that two former top executives will be charged with paying bribes of up to $160,000 to public officials in addition to several earlier charges against them.
The Crown Prosecution Service identified the onetime aides as Rebekah Brooks, 44, and Andy Coulson, 44, both of whom have had close personal or professional ties to Prime Minister David Cameron. The British leader hired Coulson as his director of communications while in opposition and kept him on after coming to power in the 2010 elections....
See: Murdoch is Mad
As in insane.
Brooks, who faced a single charge of conspiring with another journalist to pay $160,000 over seven years to a defense ministry official, was a neighbor and personal friend of Cameron.
In one of several inquiries into the hacking scandal, she testified in May that they kept in touch by telephone, text message, and e-mail, meeting at lunches and dinners and socializing at parties, and summer outings.
Looking back on it now, knowing what we know about the NSA and GCHQ intelligence collection and sharing, knowing that the CIA took over most American newsrooms in the 1950s with Operation Mockingbird, we can reasonably conclude that Murdoch's pre$$ empire was simply another tool and asset for intelligence collection.
The charge of bribing a defense ministry official is potentially the most serious of all those drawn up by prosecutors in the scandal that has enveloped the Murdoch empire in Britain.
Under a new bribery act passed by Parliament in 2010, described by British legal specialists as one of the toughest statutes of its kind anywhere, the maximum penalty for bribing a public official is 10 years imprisonment and an unlimited fine, but the statute also provides for much lesser penalties.
The accusations seem certain to precipitate a new debate about the practice known in Britain as ‘‘checkbook journalism,’’ common for many years, under which editors, reporters, and investigators have paid sources clandestinely for information, or provided them with other benefits.
The Crown Prosecution Service said Tuesday that Coulson and Brooks, the former chief executive of News International, the British newspaper subsidiary of Murdoch’s News Corp., were among five people to be charged as part of a police inquiry called Operation Elveden. The investigation ran in parallel with other investigations related to a phone hacking scandal that led to the closing of News of the World.
Are they going to investigate themselves because the police were up to their ears in this as well.
Among the five were Clive Goodman, a former royal correspondent at News of the World, who served a brief jail term in 2007 for hacking into voice mail accounts in the royal household. A sixth potential suspect, apparently a public official, is still being investigated.
Related Sunday Globe Special: Hacking is Good Bu$ine$$
Yeah, all depends on who is doing it.
The accusation did not mention any amounts of money.
Brooks, who was editor of The Sun tabloid between 2003 and 2009, will face charges along with John Kay, the newspaper’s former chief reporter between 1990 and 2011, and an employee of the Defense Ministry, Bettina Jordan-Barber.
“We have concluded, following a careful review of the evidence, that Bettina Jordan-Barber, John Kay, and Rebekah Brooks should be charged with a conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office between 1 January 2004 and 31 January 2012,’’ Levitt said.
--more--"
"BBC officials admit to failures" by Alan Cowell and John F. Burns | New York Times, November 28, 2012
LONDON — Chris Patten, the head of the supervisory BBC Trust, and Tim Davie, the acting BBC director general, were addressing a parliamentary panel known for often aggressive interrogations in scandals at Britain’s newspapers and broadcasters.
Do they also have a parking problem in England?
They were speaking just days before a separate inquiry into a phone hacking scandal, mainly at Rupert Murdoch’s British newspaper holdings, is to deliver a long-awaited report that could lead to tighter regulation of the rambunctious British press.
The combination of inquiries and findings seemed to illustrate once more the intense scrutiny faced by journalists and editors in Britain at a time when the news business is struggling to make a painful and costly adjustment to the digital era.
I really don't want to hear the feeling sorry for ourselves whining of the $hit corporate pre$$, 'kay?
The newspaper scandal, in particular, has drawn in British politicians, including Prime Minister David Cameron, who have testified about what seems to have been a cozy relationship with Murdoch executives....
Related: Why Bother Voting in Britain?
To see the links?
--more--"
"British judge urges tight media regulation after scandal" by Jill Lawless | Associated Press, November 30, 2012
LONDON — Britain’s unruly newspapers should be regulated by an independent body dominated by nonjournalists with the power to levy steep fines, a judge said Thursday in a report that pleased victims of tabloid intrusion but had editors worrying about creeping state control of the country’s fiercely independent press.
That's not the answer to what happened. Looks like censorship to me.
I'm all for everyone and anyone putting out their speech, including crap papers. It is the VIEWERS RESPONSIBILITY to DISCERN the TRUTH for THEMSELVES!
Prime Minister David Cameron echoed concerns about government interference, expressing misgivings about a key recommendation of the report — that the new regulator be enshrined in law. He called on the much criticized press to show it could control itself by implementing the judge’s proposals quickly — and without political involvement....
How about telling the truth once in a while?
Lord Justice Brian Leveson issued his 2,000-page report at the end of a media ethics inquiry triggered by a scandal on tabloid phone hacking that expanded to engulf senior figures in politics, the police, and the media empire of Rupert Murdoch.
Oh, yeah, did the ILLEGAL SPYING get LOST in the hand-wringing over the next pile of shit to be published?
His key recommendation was to create a new print media regulator, which he said should be established in law to prevent more people being hurt by ‘‘outrageous’’ press behavior that had ‘‘wreaked havoc with the lives of innocent people whose rights and liberties have been disdained.’’
Now I think he is ON to SOMETHING!
Let's get the COMPLICIT and COLLABORATIVE WAR-PROMOTING WORLD CORPORATE MEDIA in the DOCK for all the WAR LIES that were BLAIRED from their FRONT PAGES!
Cameron, under intense pressure from both sides of an issue that has divided his own Conservative Party, welcomed Leveson’s proposal for a new regulator and said ‘‘the status quo is not an option.’’
But he said that asking legislators to enshrine it in law meant ‘‘crossing the Rubicon of writing elements of press regulation into the law of the land.’’
‘‘I believe that we should be wary of any legislation that has the potential to infringe free speech and a free press,’’ Cameron told the House of Commons. ‘‘In this House which has been a bulwark of democracy for centuries, we should think very, very carefully before crossing this line.’’
I agree, and wonder why my government is doing just that!
It is not a QUESTION of whether we "deserve" freedom of speech, sir; it is a NON-NEGOTIABLE RIGHT that is ENSHRINED INTO LAW by way of the FIRST AMENDMENT to the CONSTITUTION!
Leveson said that politicians and the government should play no role in regulating the press, which should be done by a new body with much stronger powers than the current Press Complaints Commission.
Related: Who Reads the Boston Globe?
But the judge said it was ‘‘essential that there should be legislation to underpin the independent self-regulatory system.’’
He said the new body should be composed of members of the public including former journalists and academics — but no more than one serving editor, and no politicians. It should have power to rule on complaints, demand prominent corrections in newspapers, and to levy fines of up to$1.6 million, though it would have no power to prevent material being published.
Membership would be voluntary, but papers would be encouraged to join in part to stave off expensive lawsuits — the regulator would handle complaints that currently end up in court.
So this is really a lot of nothing, as per the corporate pre$$.
The proposal is similar to the system in Ireland, where a press council and ombudsman were set up in 2008 to make the media publicly accountable....
That's what BLOGGERS are FOR, not some self-serving commission!
--more--"
"Hacking trial begins for UK detective" Associated Press, January 08, 2013
LONDON — A senior British counterterrorism detective committed a ‘‘gross breach’’ of public trust by trying to sell information to Rupert Murdoch’s News of the World about the police investigation into the tabloid’s illegal phone hacking, a prosecutor told a court on Monday.
Detective Chief Inspector April Casburn is charged with misconduct and accused of phoning the newspaper and offering to pass on information about whether London’s police force would reopen its stalled hacking investigation....
Prosecutors said the newspaper did not print a story based on her call and no money changed hands.
I would have thought an intelligence official would be smarter than that.
Casburn, 53, who managed the Metropolitan Police terrorist financing investigation unit, denies a charge of misconduct in public office. She also faces a charge of breaching the Official Secrets Act that will be dealt with separately.
The prosecutor said that in a police statement Casburn admitted phoning the newspaper but denied asking for money.
She only had one drink.
Tim Wood, the News of the World news editor who took the call, told the court that Casburn had expressed concern that counterterrorism resources were being diverted to the phone hacking investigation.
The "terrorists" missed another chance?
He said she also complained of interference from John Prescott, former deputy prime minister, a hacking victim and vocal Murdoch critic.
‘‘The one thing that stands out in my mind is the fact that she kept going on about Lord Prescott,’’ Wood said. ‘‘Her saying that he was pressing for them to put charges on the News of the World, and she was saying that she felt it was wrong that he was interfering in the scandal, so to speak, and she resented that.’’
A News of the World reporter and a private investigator were jailed in 2007 for hacking into the voicemails of royal aides.
--more--"
"Detective guilty in UK hacking case" by GREGORY KATZ | Associated Press, January 11, 2013
LONDON — A top counterterrorism detective was found guilty Thursday of trying to sell information to a Rupert Murdoch tabloid, becoming the first person to be convicted on charges related to Britain’s phone-hacking scandal since a police investigation was reopened in early 2011.
Detective Chief Inspector April Casburn was charged with misconduct for phoning the News of the World and offering to pass on information about whether London’s police force would reopen its stalled phone-hacking investigation.
Prosecutors said the tabloid did not print a story based on her call and no money changed hands. However, she committed a “gross breach” of the public trust by offering to sell the information.
Casburn, 53, was also accused of trying to ruin the inquiry, which centered on journalists at the now-defunct News of the World, by leaking information to the press....
Bad unless they are government-approved leaks.
--more--"
"British officer gets prison in phone hacking case" by John F. Burns | New York Times, February 02, 2013
LONDON — A senior police officer in Scotland Yard’s counterterrorism command, Detective Chief Inspector April Casburn, was sentenced to a 15-month prison term Friday for seeking cash payments from Rupert Murdoch’s News of the World tabloid in return for information about a Scotland Yard investigation into phone hacking at the paper.
A unanimous jury verdict after a four-day trial made Casburn, 53, the first person to be convicted of a criminal offense in the phone hacking scandal that has enveloped Murdoch’s media empire in Britain. The judge told Casburn that she would have drawn a three-year term if she were not in the process of adopting a child.
At the trial, the jury was told that evidence was provided to Scotland Yard by an internal investigative unit established by Murdoch’s News Corp., which was started as part of Murdoch’s pledge in 2011 that his firm would give police any incriminating information that it came across.
--more--"
"British lawmakers to recall Murdoch" by Raphael Satter | Associated Press, July 10, 2013
LONDON — British lawmakers will recall Rupert Murdoch to London for further questions about a leaked recording in which he appeared to dismiss evidence of wrongdoing at his UK newspaper titles, a senior parliamentarian said Tuesday.
The recording — obtained by the ExaroNews website and broadcast on Britain’s Channel 4 — caught Murdoch describing the allegations against his journalists as ‘‘next to nothing,’’ boasting that his lawyers were refusing to actively cooperate with investigators, and speaking dismissively about accusations of bribery leveled against his newspaper empire.
‘‘We’re talking about payments for news tips from cops,’’ he was quoted as saying. ‘‘That’s been going on a hundred years.’’
The recording — allegedly made secretly when Murdoch addressed staffers from The Sun newspaper in March — made waves in Britain because it appeared at odds with Murdoch’s public condemnations of illegal behavior at his newspaper titles.
Oh, ol' Rupe got caught being a hypocrite, huh?
When Murdoch last appeared before parliamentary committee members, just after the scandal over phone hacking broke two years ago, he struck an apologetic tone, saying the appearance was ‘‘the most humble day of my life.’’
Hacking phones or corrupting police officers to win scoops was ‘‘totally wrong,’’ he told lawmakers at the time.
--more--"
Related:
“Murdoch said he didn't see what the Palestinians' problem was and James said it was that they were kicked out of their f---ing homes and had nowhere to f---ing live,” said the account in The Guardian."
I always like putting that up, and it gives you an idea why the scandal broke in the first place. Jim won't be taking over now.
Also see: New look of Murdoch’s News Corp. detailed
Yup, despite the investigations and outrage nothing has changed and the British pre$$ is back to bu$ine$$ as u$ual.
LONDON — Internet service providers in Britain will be asked to automatically block access to pornography sites unless customers opt in, Prime Minister David Cameron announced Monday.
Makes the governments job of classifying perverts a lot easier! How those sites stay up with all the western intelligence agency spying and monitoring is a mystery to me.
Cameron also announced a proposal to make it a crime to possess violent pornography containing simulated rape scenes, and said Google and other search engines would be asked to block searches based on certain phrases....
Who makes that call?
Cameron said it was not entirely clear how the measures would work, but service providers should be able to come up with solutions....
NSA allowing it to continue!
Columnist Nick Cohen, of the Spectator magazine, said recent disclosures about government snooping should make people wary of giving companies and authorities personal information — such as a desire to view pornography.
We already are even if we aren't viewing the Jewish filth.
‘‘The expansion of legislation prohibiting pornographic images may sound equally reasonable until you remember it gives more powers to police and prosecutors,’’ he wrote. ‘‘The record shows they cannot be trusted to use them justly.’’
Yes, it does.
--more--"
I'm opting out of this post now.
