Murdoch's World: The Last of the Old Media Empires
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Page 128 “no worries”: James Murdoch, email reply, June 7, 2008, contained in Linklaters letter, as above.
Page 128 James Murdoch waved Crone and Myler: Tom Crone and Colin Myler, testimony to CMS, September 6, 2011; James Murdoch, testimony to CMS, November 11, 2011.
Page 128 sick of the drip, drip, drip: Transcript of Julian Pike notes of call with Tom Crone, June 10, 2008, CMS report, JCP 13. “CM was moving towards telling Taylor to fuck off—on the end of drip drip—do a deal.”
Page 129 Murdoch approved payments: James Murdoch, testimony to CMS, July 19, 2011.
Page 129 It took Nick Davies until July 2009: Nick Davies, “Murdoch Papers Paid £1m to Gag Phone-Hacking Victims,” Guardian, July 8, 2009.
Page 129 announced he had conducted a review: Statement by Assistant Commissioner John Yates, July 9, 2009.
Page 129 News International put out a slashing statement: News International Statement on Guardian article, News Corp, July 10, 2009.
Page 130 Jonathan Rees, a private investigator: Nick Davies and Vikram Dodd, “Murder Trial Collapse Exposes News of the World Links to Police Corruption,” Guardian, March 11, 2011.
Page 130 Rusbridger sent warnings: This section is drawn from Alan Rusbridger, interviews by author; and Guardian reports.
Page 130 Rusbridger urged Bill Keller: Alan Rusbridger; Bill Keller, interview by author.
Page 131 whose reporters developed their own reporting: Don Van Atta Jr., Jo Becker, and Graham Bowley, “Tabloid Hack Attack!” New York Times Magazine, September 5, 2010.
Page 131 filed a complaint: Letter from News of the World managing editor Bill Akass to New York Times public editor Arthur S. Brisbane, September 17, 2010, as reproduced in “Public Editor’s Journal,” September 18, 2010.
Page 131 Lewis and his clients had overstated their case: David Hooper, interview by author.
Page 132 she had warned the head of the parliamentary panel: “Statement by Baroness Buscombe, Chairman of the Press Complaints Commission, on New Evidence in the Phone Message Hacking Episode,” remarks at Society of Editors Annual Conference in Stansted, November 15, 2009.
Page 132 Buscombe apologized the next year: Prior statement, updated July 2010.
Page 132 reporters and private eyes were assigned: Letter from Tom Crone to House of Commons Select Committee on Culture, Media, and Sport, December 1, 2011; author’s interviews of Mark Lewis and Tom Watson MP; Nick Davies, “News of the World hired Investigators to Spy on Hacking Victims’ Lawyers,” Guardian, November 7, 2011.
Page 133 News International established a fund: James Robinson, “News of the World Phone Hacking Victims Get Apology from Murdoch,” Guardian, April 8, 2011.
Page 133 revelations raised the questions from Watergate: Andrew Neil, interview by author.
Page 134 enjoyed sauntering through newsrooms: Three former News Corp newspaper editors, interviews by author.
Page 134 some of them would go awry: Representatives of institutional investors in News Corp, including CalPers and Amalgamated Bank, interviews by author; outside corporate governance analysts, including Nell Minow, interviews by author.
Page 134 wrote down the value of the Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones: Felix Gillette, “Rupert Murdoch, News Corp, Dodge Phone Hacking Ruin,” Bloomberg Businessweek, April 18, 2013.
Page 135 Elizabeth Murdoch walked off with more than $200 million: News Corp Annual Report 2011, p. 14.
Page 135 News Corp sold the social media website MySpace: “Specific Media Acquires MySpace from News Corporation,” News Corp press release, June 29, 2011; Dawn C. Chmielewski and Jessica Guynn, “News Corp Sells MySpace for $35 Million,” Los Angeles Times, June 30, 2011.
Page 135 Rupert Murdoch wanted to invest $28 million: Matthew Cranston, “Cowley’s Cunning: How We Got $9m out of Canberra,” Australian Financial Review, September 24, 2011; “Why News Corp. Invested $30 Million in Cow and Chicken Farms,” Business Insider, December 6, 2012.
Page 136 Elisabeth suggested Fox import: Wolff, Man Who Owns the News, Kindle edition, location 1737.
Page 136 Fox News . . . profits standing at roughly $900 million a year: Estimates from SNL Kagan for 2011, as cited in “State of the Media 2013,” the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence on Journalism, March 18, 2013.
Page 136 jurors took just seven hours: Caroline Davies, “Milly Dowler Murder: Levi Bellfield Convicted,” Guardian, June 23, 2011.
Page 137 a series of grievous wrongs: Nick Davies and Amelia Hill, “News of the World Hacked Milly Dowler’s Phone During Police Hunt,” Guardian, July 4, 2011.
Page 138 “Prime Minister, if I could ask you”: Transcript of press conference in Kabul, Prime Minister’s Office, July 5, 2011.
Page 138 “an obsession of one newspaper”: House of Commons Official Report, House of Commons debates, July 6, 2011.
Page 138 offered little protection: “300 Alleged Phone Hacking Victims: Phone Hacking: The Victims and Possible Victims,” BBCNews.co.uk, May 15, 2012; Lisa O’Carroll, “From Prince Charles to Milly Dowler,” Guardian, November 29, 2012.
Page 139 “a dispassionate sociopathic act”: Steve Coogan, written statement to Leveson Inquiry, posted November 22, 2011.
Page 140 in commerce he accepted the rules: Author search of IMDB and Amazon.com databases.
Chapter 12
This account of the creation of Sky and the takeover of British Satellite Broadcasting to form BSkyB draws on many previous accounts, especially Sky’s corporate history: http://corporate.sky.com/about_sky/timeline; Pearson’s corporate history: www.pearson.com/about-us/our-history.html; Chenoweth, Rupert Murdoch: The Untold Story of the World’s Greatest Media Wizard; Ghemawat, Games Businesses Play, chapter 7, “Entry and Deterrence: British Satellite Broadcasting and Sky.”
Page 141 its first radio transmission in 1922: Caroline Crampton, “Ninety Years of BBC Radio: Listening Back Through Time,” New Statesman, November 14, 2011.
Page 142 “He basically stole a march on them”: David Gordon, interview by author.
Page 143 the succession games Rupert Murdoch played: Author interviews with associate of Lachlan Murdoch and two former News Corp executives; accounts of family dynamics in Shawcross, Murdoch; and Wolff, Man Who Owns the News.
Page 144 tossed the five-year-old Rupert: Chenoweth, Rupert Murdoch, pp. 36–37.
Page 144 Elisabeth Murdoch worked at News Corp’s basic cable channel: Sarah Ellison, “The Rules of Succession,” Vanity Fair, December 2011.
Page 144 “the management trainee”: Emiliya Mychasuk and Peter Fray, “The Sky’s the Limit,” Sydney Morning Herald, November 8, 2003.
Page 144 “She’s ambitious, she’s aggressive”: Ali Cromie, “Liz Murdoch, Caught in the Death Star,” BRW magazine, December 3, 1999.
Page 145 He had been a gawky youth: Author interviews with Halla Timon, childhood friend of James Murdoch, and two Harvard College classmates; Jon Rees, “A New Star Is Burning Bright in Asia’s Sky,” Scotsman, January 22, 2001.
Page 145 A photographer for the rival Sydney Morning Herald: “A Chip Off the Old Block?” BBCNews.co.uk, November 4, 2003.
Page 145 the wedding toast of his college friend: John Koblin, “Jesse Angelo: Rupert Murdoch’s Main Man,” Women’s Wear Daily, February 3, 2011.
Page 146 Newspapers had to give away their articles for free: A former senior editor at a News Corp newspaper, interview by author.
Page 146 His father had been consistently blocked: James McGregor, former Dow Jones China CEO, interview by author; China Central Television consultant Jim Laurie, interview by author; Dover, Rupert Murdoch’s China Adventures.
Page 147 all three children of Rupert and Anna: This account of family dynamics based on author’s interviews with one current News Corp executive, three former News Corp executives, and one associate of Lachlan Murdoch. Useful detail can be found in Wolff, The Man Who Owns the News.
Page 147 young Grace and Chloe would share: “A Conversation wi
th Rupert Murdoch,” Charlie Rose Show, July 20, 2006.
Page 147 gave each of the six children $160 million: Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson, “Rupert Murdoch Files for Divorce,” Financial Times, June 13, 2013.
Page 147 James Murdoch traveled to Edinburgh: James Murdoch, “The Absence of Trust,” 2009 MacTaggart Lecture, www.geitf.co.uk/sites/default/files/geitf/GEITF_MacTaggart_2009_James_Murdoch.pdf.
Page 147 the James MacTaggart for whom the event had been named: Matt Wells, “Who Was James MacTaggart?” Guardian, August 21, 2005.
Page 148 He spoke presciently: Rupert Murdoch, 1989 MacTaggart Lecture, www.geitf.co.uk/sites/default/files/geitf/GEITF_MacTaggart_1989_Rupert_Murdoch.pdf.
Page 148 leading public officials: Correspondence from Murdoch aides to Sununu and other White House officials, George H.W. Bush Presidential Library.
Page 149 “in hindsight, I regret”: Rupert Murdoch testimony, Leveson Inquiry, April 25, 2012, morning session, p. 94.
Page 149 the first decade of the twenty-first century: Description of BSkyB’s financial standing drawn from BSkyB 2009 Annual Report; “BSkyB Profits from High Definition Services,” BBC.co.uk, July 29, 2010; News Corp 2011 annual report.
Page 150 convinced Rupert Murdoch to shift his support: “Labour’s Lost It,” Sun, September 29, 2009; Stephen Brook and Patrick Wintour, “Sun Turns Its Back on Labour,” Guardian, September 29, 2009.
Page 150 Tory stars embodied British privilege: Andy McSmith, “George Osborne: A Silver Spoon for the Golden Boy,” Independent, June 19, 2010; Elizabeth Day, “George Osborne: From the Bullingdon Club to the Heart of Government,” Observer, October 1, 2011.
Page 151 The tabloids feasted: Keith Gladdis and Sara Nuwar, “Parties with a Cocaine-Snorting Dominatrix,” News of the World, October 16, 2005; “Tories’ Fate Is in Your Hands,” editorial, News of the World, October 16, 2005. John Bingham, “George Osborne: Tabloid ‘Spoiler’ That Took on Life of Its Own,” Telegraph, September 12, 2011; Matthew Holehouse, “George Osborne Allegations: Andy Coulson’s ‘Favourable’ Editorial,” Telegraph, September 12, 2011.
Page 151 the two men discussed “politics and policy”: Leveson Inquiry, exhibit KRM29.
Page 151 Osborne told Cameron that they wanted: James Chapman and Tim Shipman, “I Knew That Hiring Coulson Was Risky, Admits Osborne,” Daily Mail, June 11, 2012.
Page 151 “Have we any Tories coming to KRM party?” . . . “I will encourage”: Leveson Inquiry, exhibit FM21.
Page 152 Cameron dispatched Jeremy Hunt: David Leigh and Vikram Dodd, “Jeremy Hunt Visited News Corp in US as Murdochs Considered BSkyB Bid,” Guardian, April 25, 2012.
Page 152 James Murdoch invited Cameron to drinks: Leveson Inquiry, exhibit JRJM 10.
Page 152 “in return for Rupert Murdoch’s support”: Simon Kelner, interview by author.
Page 153 News International had additionally extracted promises: George Eaton, “The Murdoch-Cameron Deal,” New Statesman, October 1, 2009.
Page 153 Kelner’s Independent ran a marketing campaign: Simon Kelner, interview by author; contemporaneous coverage.
Page 153 four months after Cameron’s camp took power: Leveson Inquiry, exhibit FM 81.
Page 154 code-named Rubicon: See emails in Leveson Inquiry, exhibit RMB 1, for example, Rebekah Brooks to Frederic Michel, June 27, 2011, “when is the rubicon statement”; Michel’s reply: “Hunt will be making references to phone-hacking in his statement on Rubicon this week. . . .”
Page 154 Mark Thompson . . . joined other media executives: “Mark Thompson Expresses ‘Regret’ over Sky Letter,” BBCNews.co.uk, November 8, 2010.
Page 154 an independent analysis from Claire Enders: Leveson Inquiry, annex 2 to submission by Claire Enders.
Page 154 News Corp officials countered: Internal News Corp documents filed to Leveson Inquiry, exhibit VC 1–2, p. 66 (“Possible Acquisition by News Corporation of British Sky Broadcasting Group Plc./ Preliminary Briefing by News Corporation to the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills and the Office of Communications”).
Page 155 Hunt and Michel kibbitzed back and forth: Leveson Inquiry, exhibit FM 8: text message Michel to Hunt, August 28, 2010.
Page 155 “a very useful meeting”: Frederic Michel, questions from Robert Jay, Leveson Inquiry, May 24, 2012, transcript, p. 65.
Page 155 Michel also lined up government officials: Leveson Inquiry, exhibit FM 12, Frederic Michel text to Lena Pietsch, communications director to deputy prime minister Nick Clegg, January 13, 2011: “James could do the energy/environment event on 28th feb or 1st march: would that work for Nick? We are very keen to have him there.”
Page 156 “I would like to be able to show it”: Leveson Inquiry, exhibit FM 2, Fred Michel, email, October 7, 2010.
Page 156 “There is real unease in Libdem ranks”: Leveson Inquiry, exhibit KRM 18, Michel, email to Matthew Anderson, October 8, 2010.
Page 156 “What did you have in mind”: Leveson Inquiry, exhibit FM 3, Giles Wilkes, email to Michel, November 8, 2010.
Page 156 “Hi daddy!”: Leveson Inquiry, exhibit FM 8, Michel text to Hunt, November 9, 2010.
Page 156 Hunt then received direct legal advice: “‘I Just Heard James Murdoch Out,’ Says Jeremy Hunt,” Telegraph, May 31, 2012.
Page 156 “You must be fucking joking”: Leveson Inquiry, schedule of emails between James Murdoch and Frederic Michel relevant to KRM 18; James Murdoch, email to Michel, November 15, 2010.
Page 157 “James Murdoch is pretty furious”: Leveson Inquiry, exhibit AS 7, “Fortnightly Update 19 November 2010.” This memo is the source for subsequent quotations as well.
Page 157 James Murdoch and his family had joined the Camerons: Leveson Inquiry, exhibit JRJM 9.
Page 158 “UK Authorities have assumed that News exercises material influence”: From “Possible Acquisition by News Corporation of British Sky Broadcasting Group Plc./ Preliminary Briefing by News Corporation to the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills and the Office of Communications,” as cited above.
Page 158 actually undercover reporters for the Telegraph: Robert Winnett, “Vince Cable: I Have Declared War on Rupert Murdoch,” Telegraph, December 21, 2010.
Page 158 “Just OfCom to go!”: Leveson Inquiry, exhibit JH 16, Jeremy Hunt, text to Frederic Michel, December 21, 2010. Subsequent text messages between Hunt and Osborne from same exhibit, sent on same day.
Page 159 the younger Murdoch dined with the Camerons: Leveson Inquiry, exhibit JRJM 9.
Page 159 the fresh face Conservatives wanted to put forward: Richard Wray, “Jeremy Hunt: Ambitious Entrepreneur Still Has Much to Prove,” Guardian, May 17, 2010.
Page 160 “the look of an estate agent”: Alan Bennett, “Diary,” London Review of Books, January 3, 2013.
Page 160 Just before Christmas . . . Ian Edmondson: Vikram Dodd, James Robinson, and Nicholas Watt, “Met Police Reopen Investigation into Phone Hacking at News of the World,” Guardian, January 26, 2011.
Page 160 According to Michel’s minutes: Leveson Inquiry, exhibit JRJM 5.
Page 161 Michel texted Gabby Bertin: Leveson Inquiry, exhibit FM 12.
Page 161 allowing News Corp to arrange its ducks in a row: Michel emails cited in David Leigh and Nick Davies, “Jeremy Hunt and the Murdochs: How Minister Oiled Wheels of BSkyB Bid,” Guardian, April 24, 2012.
Page 162 “This is the second job”: As cited in “In Quotes: Coulson Steps Down,” BBCNews.co.uk, January 21, 2011.
Page 162 “might be best to wait”: Susan Beeby, email, cited in “Text Trail: Inside Jeremy Hunt’s iPhone,” Independent, June 1, 2012.
Page 162 Coulson dined with him at Chequers: “Andy Coulson Stayed with Cameron at Chequers After Resigning over Hacking Scandal,” Daily Mail, July 15, 2011. Also source for Craig Oliver’s email to Hunt concerning view that James Murdoch would “pull a fast one.”
Page 163 “You were great” . . . “Merci”: Leveson Inquiry, exhibit FM 8.
Page 163 the murder case
. . . fell apart: Nick Davies and Vikram Dodd, “Murder Trial Collapse Exposes News of the World Links to Police Corruption,” Guardian, March 11, 2011.
Page 163 News International admitted phone hacking: James Robinson, “News of the World Phone Hacking Victims Get Apology from Murdoch,” Guardian, April 8, 2011.
Chapter 13
Page 165 Bryant asked Brooks whether her newspaper: Chris Bryant MP questioning Rebekah Wade (later Brooks) and Andrew Coulson amid hearings on privacy and the press, March 11, 2003, House of Commons Select Committee on Culture, Media, and Sport.
Page 166 “We have paid the police”: House of Commons Select Committee on Culture Media, and Sport, examination of witnesses, March 11, 2003.
Page 166 “Do you declare how much, if any”: News International and Phone-Hacking, Eleventh Report from House of Commons Committee on Culture, Media, and Sport, April 30, 2012, part 3.
Page 167 “We do not pay for interviews”: Ethical Journalism: A Handbook of Values and Practices for the News and Editorial Departments, the New York Times Co.; Los Angeles Times Ethics Guidelines; NPR Ethics Handbook; BBC Editorial Guidelines.
Page 167 the Telegraph paid the equivalent: “Daily Telegraph Paid £100k for MPs’ Expenses Scoop,” Press Gazette, September 25, 2009.
Page 168 Networks evaded their own rules: David Folkenflik, “ABC News Under Fire for Payment to Murder Suspect,” All Things Considered, March 19, 2010.
Page 168 he had an impeccable source: Calder, Untold Story, pp. 254–255.
Page 169 “It was almost industry standard”: Paul McMullan, interview by author.
Page 169 These highly trusted police officials: Mark Hughes, “Royal Protection Officers ‘Were Paid for Information,’ News International Emails Show,” Telegraph, July 12, 2011.
Page 169 Alex Marunchak . . . paid translator: Tom Watson MP, interview by author; “NoW journalist Worked as Translator for Met,” BBC Channel 4 News, July 18, 2011.
Page 169 Neville Thurlbeck, had been an unpaid police informant: Chris Greenwood, “News of the World Hacking Suspect Neville Thurlbeck ‘Was Police Informant,’” Daily Mail, July 19, 2011.