Poor Rebekah Brooks! The disgraced former News of the World editor and News International executive, who oversaw the paper and its parent company while it hacked into the phones of murder victims, resigned in July and was arrested a few days later. She must be destitute! Except for the $2.7 million, chauffeured limousine, and office that her boss Rupert Murdoch gave her.
The final tally of victims in News International's hacking scandal looks like it will eventually reach 5,800, according to the Guardian. Which may explain why News Corp. has set up a dedicated web site for victims to apply for an out-of-court settlement. Think of it as a MySpace for targets of Rupert Murdoch's criminal surveillance operation.
The parliamentary committee investigating illegal voicemail hacking at News International has released a cache of internal company documents showing that the firm was well aware of just how deep its phone hacking scandal went way back in 2008, when it was still publicly claiming that the problem was limited to a few bad apples.
In your wacky Wednesday media column: Christiane Amanpour's reportedly unhappy, the New Orleans paper's crazy Twitter scheme, the Hackgate Phone Zero located, and Wikileaks isn't so easy to copy after all.
A British attorney, who represented the family of a murder victim whose phone was hacked by News Of The World journalists, says he is teaming up with a lawyer in the U.S. to begin legal proceedings against the Murdochs and News Corporation.
News Corp has allowed that the ongoing UK and US investigations into the News Of The World phone hacking scandal might just hurt its reputation and business interests.
In your brave Wednesday media column: the journalism job outlook is... okay, another News of the World arrest, Tavis Smiley is peeved at Obama, an editor flees the HuffPo, and Dick Cheney interview time approaches.
James Murdoch, whose claim to Parliament last week that he had no idea there was rampant phone hacking going on at News International when he approved a $1.1 million settlement for a phone hacking case has since been contradicted by two of his executives, will probably be called back to explain the discrepancy.
News of the World, the Rupert Murdoch-owned tabloid shut down last month over allegations of extensive illegal story-gathering practices, is now accused of hacking the voicemail of the mother of a murdered eight-year-old—on a phone that the paper's editor Rebekah Brooks gave her as a gift.
German lingerie company Blush has mocked up a series of ads inspired by the News of the World hacking scandal. In them, the King, Queen and Jack of this particular house of cards — CEO Rupert Murdoch, his slippery heir James Murdoch, and henchwoman/editrix Rebekah Brooks — are called out by name in a series of tabloid-inspired headlines. This is about as sexy as the News Corp. scandal is going to get, so enjoy it. (Click image to expand.) [AdWeek]
The Murdoch phone-hacking scandal has crested; the parliamentary hearing was nothing compared to this. Now there are Murdoch-blocking browser add-ons! Never again accidentally visit a Murdoch-owned website!
Former News of the World editor Colin Myler and former News International legal manager Tom Crone have issued a terse joint statement saying James Murdoch was "mistaken" when he told a parliamentary inquiry on Tuesday that he didn't know about an email that directly implicated News of the World reporter Neville Thurlbeck in phone hacking. It's likely he will be called back to clarify the issue.
Blotchy Gong Show revivalist and CNN host Piers Morgan came off looking good in his confrontation with a British MP who accused him—falsely, as it turns out—on Tuesday of having confessed in his memoir to phone hacking while he was editor of the Daily Mirror. So we decided to catalog all the other—far more credible—indications that hacking went on under his nose during his tabloid days and...not so good! Let's have a look.
Obviously, this is not the real Rebekah Brooks singing her inner monologue to the tune of Rebecca Black's "Friday." If real Rebekah Brooks were to sing her inner monologue, it would be a string of British curse words set to the Wicked Witch of the West's theme song in the Wizard of Oz. Until the internet gets around to that, here is a much cuter version of "Rebekah Brooks" singing about "Phone hacking, phone hacking, hey! Sun, Sun, Sun, Sun." [AdWeek]
Rupert Murdoch appeared before a British parliamentary committee yesterday to testify about his knowledge of the News of the World phone hacking scandal, a subject Jon Stewart touched on during last night's Daily Show. Stewart returned to Murdoch once again tonight, but this time he focused on the crime-fighting abilities of Murdoch's wife, Wendi Deng, as well as the shoutfest that is Parliament itself.
Puffy British game-show presenter Piers Morgan, who also hosts a show on CNN about Twitter, is in the spotlight these days because he formerly edited Rupert Murdoch's News of the World and a competitor called the Daily Mirror, and as such is prima facie guilty of hacking into everyone's voicemails all the time.
