News Of The World hacking scandal

[scotsgit]

Jul 19, 2011 4:53:22 GMT -5 malicious_bloke said:

Jul 19, 2011 4:19:19 GMT -5 Shane for Wax said:

Lulzsec confirmed to have hit the Sun

Though I would have at least put an apostrophe in 'Mogul's'.

The Sun's readership generally have no idea about the correct usage of such grammatical niceties.

NSFW:

[Shane for Wax]

Jul 19, 2011 4:53:22 GMT -5 malicious_bloke said:

Jul 19, 2011 4:19:19 GMT -5 Shane for Wax said:

Lulzsec confirmed to have hit the Sun

Though I would have at least put an apostrophe in 'Mogul's'.

The Sun's readership generally have no idea about the correct usage of such grammatical niceties.

Yeah well, I don't care.

[mistermuncher]

Fair and Balanced, eh?

m.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/07/the-most-incredible-thing-fox-news-has-ever-done/242037/


(Oops! Should read the whole thread)

Meanwhile, though, Sean Hoare's death is apparently the starting gun for NI to start poisoning the well on this one. He Drank And Took Drugs! Surely that makes everything he's said invalid!

[Shane for Wax]

Jul 19, 2011 6:29:58 GMT -5 mistermuncher said:

Fair and Balanced, eh?

m.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/07/the-most-incredible-thing-fox-news-has-ever-done/242037/


(Oops! Should read the whole thread)

Meanwhile, though, Sean Hoare's death is apparently the starting gun for NI to start poisoning the well on this one. He Drank And Took Drugs! Surely that makes everything he's said invalid!

12 lashings for trying to steal my thunder.

[Smurfette Principle]

I'm listening to Tom Watson's questioning of Murdoch on the radio. And by "questioning," I mean "smackdown." I think I may be in love. That guy is so awesome.

[chad sexington]

He's sticking the knife into Brooks now. Oh, Tom, why can't all the inquiry members be like you?

[Doctor Fishcake]

Well that fucking moron with the pie attack has made a martyr out of Murdoch now. Absolute fucking moron.

[scotsgit]

Jul 19, 2011 12:11:38 GMT -5 Doctor Fishcake said:

Well that fucking moron with the pie attack has made a martyr out of Murdoch now.

I think that's how The Sun will try to spin it tomorrow.

[shadowpanther]

Well I managed to call the headline Private Eye is using. I'm just surprised no-one else used it first.

"GOTCHA! Murdoch goes down with all hacks." About the first 7 pages can be summed up as "AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. I told you so. Since the 60s in fact."

[chad sexington]

Latest updates: Former NotW editor and lawyer release statements disputing James Murdoch's testimony, inquiry announces intention to recall Murdoch Jnr for further questioning.
Scandal begins to spread to other papers.

Annoyingly, I can't find any news links online right now

[Damen]

Jul 22, 2011 8:23:23 GMT -5 chad sexington said:

Latest updates: Former NotW editor and lawyer release statements disputing James Murdoch's testimony, inquiry announces intention to recall Murdoch Jnr for further questioning.
Scandal begins to spread to other papers.

Annoyingly, I can't find any news links online right now

I can. ;D

[chad sexington]

I am in awe of your 1337 r3534rc|+| skillz

[chad sexington]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14336691

MPs vote not to recall James Murdoch over hacking

MPs have voted against recalling News International chairman James Murdoch to give more evidence on phone hacking.

Labour MP Tom Watson had wanted Mr Murdoch and two ex-News of the World executives to appear before MPs.

The ex-executives dispute Mr Murdoch's claim to have been unaware of an email suggesting hacking was widespread.

The culture committee voted to write to the men but chairman John Whittingdale said the "chances are" they will take oral evidence after meeting next month.

The Tory MP said it would also write to law firm Harbottle and Lewis, who investigated the phone hacking claims on behalf of News International.

He told a news conference the Commons culture, media and sport committee would meet again once it had received replies.

"Once we have received those replies - and we will make it clear that we expect to receive them very shortly - the committee will meet again, probably in about two weeks' time to determine what further action to take and we certainly reserve the right to invite witnesses to reappear before the committee," Mr Whittingdale said.

'For Neville'

In other developments:

*Allegations have emerged that News of the World illegally accessed the phone belonging to the mother of murder victim Sarah Payne

*Baroness Buscombe is to step down as head of the Press Complaints Commission at the end of year after growing criticism of the watchdog's handling of the phone-hacking scandal

*BSkB's board has unanimously agreed to keep James Murdoch as its chairman

*A man appears in court and admits throwing a foam pie at Rupert Murdoch as he gave evidence to a committee of MPs


Earlier this month, James Murdoch told the committee that he was not aware of a key document - known as the "for Neville" email - when he approved an out-of-court settlement with Gordon Taylor, the Professional Footballers' Association chief executive.

But the two former NoW executives, ex-editor Colin Myler and the paper's ex-legal manager Tom Crone, later released a statement saying they did inform him of the email.

Mr Murdoch has said he "stands by his testimony" to the committee.

Mr Watson told BBC Two's Newsnight programme on Thursday that he would make the recall requests to the committee on Friday "so that we can get to the bottom of this, find the facts and Parliament can then move on and let the police do their inquiry".

In April 2008, James Murdoch authorised the payment of an out-of-court settlement of more than £600,000 to Gordon Taylor over the hacking of his phone.

Mr Murdoch has said that, at the time, he did not know the full extent of hacking that may have been going on at the NoW.

That paper's royal editor Clive Goodman and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire were both jailed for hacking into phones of the royal household in 2007.


But the email in question was marked "for Neville" and is said to have implied the NoW's chief reporter Neville Thurlbeck was also implicated in malpractices.

Before the committee's decision was announced, Labour's deputy leader Harriet Harman told the BBC it was right to recall Mr Murdoch before the committee.

She said he gave evidence that had "now been flatly contradicted" by Mr Crone and Mr Myler and that "in the face of a complete conflict of evidence, the committee is entitled to get to the bottom of where the truth lies".

Shadow culture secretary Ivan Lewis also said it was vital the select committee heard more evidence from Mr Murdoch.

"[News Corporation and News International] now claim they're in full co-operation mode. If that's the case, and there are discrepancies, it's very, very important that he, and other people who are relevant to this, go back to that select committee and give evidence," he said.

Sarah's Law

The latest development comes after the mother of murder victim Sarah Payne learned she may have been a phone hacking victim.

Police told Sara Payne her details were in notes compiled by Mulcaire, who was used by the NoW, which championed her Sarah's Law child protection campaign.

According to a report in the Guardian, the evidence uncovered by police in Mulcaire's notes is believed to relate to a phone given to Ms Payne by the NoW's then-editor Rebekah Brooks "as a gift to help her stay in touch with her supporters".

The BBC has not been able to confirm whether the evidence relates to this particular mobile.

But Mrs Brooks, who left her role as NI chief executive because of the hacking scandal but denies having had any knowledge of the practice while at the paper, says the phone "was not a personal gift".

She said the allegations were "abhorrent and particularly upsetting as Sara Payne is a dear friend".

In a statement, Ms Payne's charity, Phoenix Chief Advocates, said she was "absolutely devastated" by the claims.

News International said it would co-operate fully with any potential criminal inquiries or civil proceedings which may arise.

The Metropolitan Police's Operation Weeting is investigating claims of phone hacking at News of the World, which was shut down earlier this month after it emerged that the phone of murder victim Milly Dowler had been hacked.

'Shareholder base'

On Friday it was announced that James Murdoch had received the backing of the BSkyB board to remain as the company's chairman. The decision was confirmed in BSkyB's annual results statement .

BSkyB chief executive Jeremy Darroch told the Today programme the decision to keep Mr Murdoch in the position had been unanimous.

"I think James has got strong support in the shareholder base, he's got strong support in the management base and unanimous support in the board."

Mr Darroch said the board would keep a watching brief on external events but when asked what it would take to get Mr Murdoch to step down, refused to speculate.

He said: "I'm not going to speculate on things in the future, there are a whole set of inquiries that are going on, they will establish the full facts of what's happened, what we will do is focus on our business - Sky - and keep developing that and keep delivering."

Meanwhile, a man has admitted throwing a shaving cream pie at News Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch during his select committee appearance with his son James.

Jonathan May-Bowles, 26, of Windsor, Berkshire, admitted behaviour causing harassment, alarm or distress in a public place under Section 5 of the Public Order Act.

[chad sexington]

Get ready for Round 2!

Phone hacking: News of the World reporter's letter reveals cover-up

Rupert Murdoch, James Murdoch and their former editor Andy Coulson all face embarrassing new allegations of dishonesty and cover-up after the publication of an explosive letter written by the News of the World's disgraced royal correspondent, Clive Goodman.


In the letter, which was written four years ago but published only on Tuesday, Goodman claims that phone hacking was "widely discussed" at editorial meetings at the paper until Coulson himself banned further references to it; that Coulson offered to let him keep his job if he agreed not to implicate the paper in hacking when he came to court; and that his own hacking was carried out with "the full knowledge and support" of other senior journalists, whom he named.


The claims are acutely troubling for the prime minister, David Cameron, who hired Coulson as his media adviser on the basis that he knew nothing about phone hacking. And they confront Rupert and James Murdoch with the humiliating prospect of being recalled to parliament to justify the evidence which they gave last month on the aftermath of Goodman's allegations. In a separate letter, one of the Murdochs' own law firms claim that parts of that evidence were variously "hard to credit", "self-serving" and "inaccurate and misleading".


Goodman's claims also raise serious questions about Rupert Murdoch's close friend and adviser, Les Hinton, who was sent a copy of the letter but failed to pass it to police and who then led a cast of senior Murdoch personnel in telling parliament that they believed Coulson knew nothing about the interception of the voicemail of public figures and that Goodman was the only journalist involved.


The letters from Goodman and from the London law firm Harbottle & Lewis are among a cache of paperwork published by the Commons culture, media and sport select committee. One committee member, the Labour MP Tom Watson, said Goodman's letter was "absolutely devastating". He said: "Clive Goodman's letter is the most significant piece of evidence that has been revealed so far. It completely removes News International's defence. This is one of the largest cover-ups I have seen in my lifetime."


Goodman's letter is dated 2 March 2007, soon after he was released from a four-month prison sentence. It is addressed to News International's director of human resources, Daniel Cloke, and registers his appeal against the decision of Hinton, the company's then chairman, to sack him for gross misconduct after he admitted intercepting the voicemail of three members of the royal household. Goodman lists five grounds for his appeal.


He argues that the decision is perverse because he acted "with the full knowledge and support" of named senior journalists and that payments for the private investigator who assisted him, Glenn Mulcaire, were arranged by another senior journalist. The names of the journalists have been redacted from the published letter at the request of Scotland Yard, who are investigating the affair.


Goodman then claims that other members of staff at the News of the World were also hacking phones. Crucially, he adds: "This practice was widely discussed in the daily editorial conference, until explicit reference to it was banned by the editor." He reveals that the paper continued to consult him on stories even though they knew he was going to plead guilty to phone hacking and that the paper's then lawyer, Tom Crone, knew all the details of the case against him.


In a particularly embarrassing allegation, he adds: "Tom Crone and the editor promised on many occasions that I could come back to a job at the newspaper if I did not implicate the paper or any of its staff in my mitigation plea. I did not, and I expect the paper to honour its promise to me." In the event, Goodman lost his appeal. But the claim that the paper induced him to mislead the court is one that may cause further problems for News International.

Rest of article behind link

[malicious_bloke]

Hey, who just poured cornflour into the plot?