Has Leveson finally delivered a mortal blow to Rupert Murdoch?

[babylonsister]

Has Leveson finally delivered a mortal blow to Rupert Murdoch?
Henry Porter

Allegations of lies, deceit, bribes, perversion of justice and downright malfeasance… all that has flowed out from News International



If Rupert Murdoch didn't know his power was in ineluctable decline, he had only to watch Harriet Harman on TV last week. When Harriet scents the wind and concludes she has nothing to lose from attacking him, the game is well and truly up.

Murdoch appeared in London last month wearing a Cosa Nostra-style trilby and, with some of his old moxy, launched a sell-out Sunday title. Yet within 24 hours, Sue Akers, a deputy assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police told the Leveson inquiry that the Sun had spawned a culture of corrupt payments to a network of public officials. These were, she said, "regular, frequent and sometimes involved significant sums of money", adding that the payments were authorised at a very senior level and that the journalists were well aware that they were breaking the law.

This could not be more serious for News Corp, which stands to lose so much if the bribing of foreign officials outside the United States is held to place the American parent company in breach of the US's Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. But Akers's statement was merely the start of the rolling disaster of Murdoch's supposed bounce-back week. News International could be forgiven for thinking that what followed was entirely choreographed by his enemies.

more...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/mar/04/hnery-porter-rupert-murdoch-corruption?fb=native

[dipsydoodle]

1. No

.

[Dont call me Shirley]

2. No, they just have more focus on doing more damage in the US now.

[2pooped2pop]

3. what was it that started this story?

I can't remember. What started the investigation? Were the hackers hacked?

[AnotherDreamWeaver]

4. I think it was some young girl who was murdered

and the newspaper erased her phone messages, because her mailbox was full and they wanted to get more messages. It led the family to believe the girl was still alive.
(That's what i recall anyway, don't remember her name now though.)

[2pooped2pop]

5. yes but how did they know it had occured?

what made the story come out?

[dipsydoodle]

6. That was the claim made solely by the Guardian

which subsequently turned out to be false. The Guardian's embarrassment was such that they then published an apology the next day on page ten making them something of a joke in "Fleet Street" given the seriousness of their claim.

I'm not saying there were not other issues.

In the case of this OP , "Sun had spawned a culture of corrupt payments" ,what the Guardian conveniently fails to mention is that all recent arrests were made as result of information supplied by News International internal investigation unit to the police and the fact that the first police officer arrested last August was actually the one who had been supplying information to the Guardian itself - thereafter their "news" dried up.

[LeftishBrit]

7. Sadly, I doubt it

I suspect that some middle-ranking people will be scapegoats, and that Rupert will survive, but with his reputation significantly damaged.

It would be great if this was the end of him, but even some reduction of power for him and his disgusting empire is a good thing.