Carl Bernstein: Murdoch’s Watergate? -This Is "THE BEGINNING-NOT THE END-OF THE SEISMIC EVENT"

[kpete]

Murdoch’s Watergate?

His anything-goes approach has spread through journalism like a contagion. Now it threatens to undermine the influence he so covets.
by Carl Bernstein
July 11, 2011


.......................

The empire is shaking, and there’s no telling when it will stop. My conversations with British journalists and politicians—all of them insistent on speaking anonymously to protect themselves from retribution by the still-enormously powerful mogul—make evident that the shuttering of News of the World, and the official inquiries announced by the British government, are the beginning, not the end, of the seismic event.

News International, the British arm of Murdoch’s media empire, “has always worked on the principle of omertà: ‘Do not say anything to anybody outside the family, and we will look after you,’” notes a former Murdoch editor who knows the system well. “Now they are hanging people out to dry. The moment you do that, the omertà is gone, and people are going to talk. It looks like a circular firing squad.” ... As one of his former top executives—once a close aide—told me, “This scandal and all its implications could not have happened anywhere else. Only in Murdoch’s orbit. The hacking at News of the World was done on an industrial scale. More than anyone, Murdoch invented and established this culture in the newsroom, where you do whatever it takes to get the story, take no prisoners, destroy the competition, and the end will justify the means.”

“In the end, what you sow is what you reap,” said this same executive. “Now Murdoch is a victim of the culture that he created. It is a logical conclusion, and it is his people at the top who encouraged lawbreaking and hacking phones and condoned it.”

...............................

Investigators are already assembling voluminous records that demonstrate the systemic lawbreaking at News of the World, and Scotland Yard seems to believe what was happening in the newsroom was endemic at the highest levels at the paper and evident within the corporate structure. Checks have been found showing tens of thousands of dollars of payments at a time.

............


VERY revealing:
http://www.newsweek.com/2011/07/10/murdoch-s-watergate.print.html

[WillyT]

1. HUGE K & R !!!

:bounce:

:kick:

[BonnieJW]

59. I want to know when Becky Redhead

is going to be arrested. Why is she still walking around London when this same illegal procedure was being conducted under her nose?

[femrap]

68. give me a break....

I want Murdoch dressed in orange! Why bother w/ underlings?

And if does business like this in Britain, wouldn't it make sense he is doing the same thing in the US of A????

Murdoch...may he die in jail.

[mwooldri]

78. Not enough "dirt" - yet.

Ms. Brooks is to undergo police questioning "under caution". She's probably going to lawyer up for this though. There's no 5th Amendment in the UK - so although questions do not need to be answered, inferences may be drawn from the silence under certain circumstances If the Serious Fraud Office is involved, inferences may be drawn from the silence even if the normal "certain circumstances" aren't met.

Give it time. Since this is a huge issue in the UK and with the police finding their own officers corrupt too ... there will be a lot of pressure to do things correctly and not to create a scapegoat. Also given the BSkyB takeover, it may be found that Ms. Brooks might not be found to be fit and proper to hold a broadcast licence.

[vanbean]

76. Who is my best news source? KPETE!!! K&R

[pansypoo53219]

94. wait.

isn't it hugh?

[RainDog]

2. k&r n/t

[Journeyman]

3. Let's hope this corporate culture Murdoch "invented and established" proves pervasive. . .

and leads to the collapse of Fox New as well.

[drm604]

4. K&R

:kick:

[Major Hogwash]

5. A tsunami of investigations will overtake them soon enough.

They fucked up the world market!!

[eppur_se_muova]

6. This is, of course, the same culture that was created in American politics ...

by Newt Gingrich, Tom Delay, Karl Rove, and Murdoch toady Roger Ailes. Winning is all. Using technology to cheat -- whether it's hacking votes, caging voters, circulating Big Lies by viral email, or shutting down Dem phone banks -- is admired for its cleverness, with not the slightest qualm for the corrupt criminality of it.

Let's hope that as the threads unravel, the connections between NewsCorp and the GOP will be exposed to the full light of day. We know there's a lot of blatant abuse, but what we know is sure to be much less than what has not yet been revealed. And seeing it splashed across the headlines (for a change) could turn a lot of Independents and middle-of-the-road voters against the GOP.

[dissidentboomer]

10. THIS. What you wrote, a million times. Tragically, it has been

glorified on tv, in film, news, etc., and the rotten philosophy of "rugged individualism" has swept over the nation like a bad prarie fire. You'll find it in everything from wall street to congress to college football to little league and junior beauty pageants. It has all but eroded the great pillars that support all great nations - a sense of community and caring for fellow citizens and causes larger than yourself and your own pocket book. The damage these people have done could never be under estimated. May they rot in hell.

[Kaleko]

24. Beautifully perceptive answer.

Welcome to DU, dissidentboomer. Glad to see a voice like yours here.

[Enthusiast]

40. We got a close up of that "rugged individualism"

when Dubya Bush was president. You know, cowboy tough guy Bush gonna smoke 'em out of their holes. Remember that guy? Thought he hit a triple.

I agree. May they rot in hell.

[Duppers]

52. ++++

I wish there were 'like' buttons, as on FB. Your reply would get 100's of clicks.

[malaise]

19. +1,000

Great post

[defendandprotect]

30. +1000% ---

[Enthusiast]

37. Nice post...nt

[SpiralHawk]

47. That's it - good, solid description of Republicon Family Values

They are the opposite of everything good, honest, honorable.

[MrMickeysMom]

48. Surely "value" in the most negative sense...

Yet, as revealed in a study of religiousity, most white Republicans are HIGHLY religious, associating themselves with the "values"!

!

[harun]

70. +1, took a long time for this to hit headlines.

[PM Martin]

7. K/R

[zbdent]

8. Isn't it amazing how Murdoch gets "special rights"?

(Oh, wait ... I forgot ... that term is only allowed to be used by Republicans, and only in the context of gay marriage)

You know ... media in the U.S. was historically not allowed to be owned by fureners ... but then the Republican-controlled Congress passed some measures, and Republican Rudi Giuliani made sure that Rupert's "citizenship" was fast-tracked ...

[Enthusiast]

42. PLUS ONE! nt

[kestrel91316]

62. He's the head of a HUGE corporation. OF COURSE he gets special rights.

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

83. Glad to see that posted...

...I have argued that point into oblivion in politics chat rooms, glad the news is still getting out there.

[notadmblnd]

87. This story is reminding me so much of another media mogul

Robert Maxwell (Daily Mirror). When his real owners were done with him (because even people like Murdock are owned by someone), he met an untimely death (some say suicide others say murder) off the side of his yacht. Either way, his body was found floating in the ocean.:shrug:

[City Lights]

9. K&R with gusto! eom

[OneGrassRoot]

11. K&R n/t

[onethatcares]

12. yep,this is gonna be as big as

Fitzmas.:beer: :rofl: :rofl:

[mucifer]

20. You beat me to it. That's what I was gonna post.

:) :(

[gratuitous]

13. "We will look after you"

I don't think it was the "look after you" so much as the "we will find you." Keep your lip zipped, and you continue to have a career; talk and we send you back to Kansas whether you came from there or not. Ever wonder why nobody quits Fox? It ain't just the money.

[vanbean]

77. K.O. quite FOX, but he doesn't talk an awful lot about it.

[WinkyDink]

14. Prison is the end game.

[russspeakeasy]

26. I won't be convinced of that until I see handcuffs on his corpse.

:hurts:

[WinkyDink]

55. Hope springs eternal!

[BumRushDaShow]

15. K&R!

This should be on the front page!

:kick:

[chill_wind]

16. "Now Murdoch is a victim of the culture that he created." Pure poetic justice.

K & R.

[Peacetrain]

17. Karma..

[oldhippydude]

88. hey peace train..

i have been on D U for about a year now..your logo made me a magnifying glass to read "the rails" i still cant decipher... whats the message on the interior of the rails?

[malaise]

18. Yep as Snoutport has been saying from day one

This is HUGE! :popcorn:

[Stuart G]

21. K and R

[JohnyCanuck]

22. "Checks have been found showing tens of thousands of dollars of payments at a time".

Have to wonder if any of these payments were ever made to a certain performing pet poodle who always seemed eager to please his masters.

Blair 'tried' to hush up hacking scandal as whistleblower MP told: 'Rebekah Brooks will pursue you for the rest of your life'

By Simon Walters

Tony Blair urged Gordon Brown to persuade the Labour MP who led the campaign to expose News of the World phone-hacking to back off, friends of Mr Brown said last night.

Well-placed sources said Mr Blair, who has close links with the paper’s owner Rupert Murdoch, wanted Mr Brown to get his ally Tom Watson to lay off the News International (NI) title, but Mr Brown refused.

Mr Watson’s two-year crusade played a major part in Mr Murdoch’s shock decision to close the paper after today’s edition

snip

Mr Blair’s attempt to persuade Mr Brown to put pressure on Mr Watson is likely to bring his links with Mr Murdoch under fresh scrutiny.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2013027/News-World-Tony-Blair-tried-hush-phone-hacking-scandal.html#ixzz1RjeXh3Sy

[Enthusiast]

43. Wow! nt

[Octafish]

23. Omerta is a mafia word.

Fox News is run by Roger Ailes, BFEE.

That's an organization that scares the mafia.

[ooglymoogly]

25. And now for a little good news and some fair and balanced reporting

Thank you kpete...kr

[butterfly77]

27. Kick,kick,kick &recommended!

:kick:

[Dappleganger]

28. The house of cards is beginning to fall.

[Kaleko]

29. So here we have clear evidence of a conspiracy to defraud the public

at the highest levels between government officials, law-enforcement and the press...

An ongoing conspiracy to harm and exploit citizens at the top tiers of government and commerce...

Tell me again why conspiracy theorists like Carl Bernstein are idiots who have fallen for tinfoil hat woo-woo BS.


Anyone?

[Fumesucker]

32. You ought to post this as an OP.. n/t

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

49. Indeed, dude.

;)

[Kaleko]

79. I was hoping to get a lively exchange going

on this thread since it deserves to be kicked a lot more for greater exposure.

But I agree, this idiotic notion that criminal conspiracies cannot possibly be sustained at the highest levels of government and commerce needs to be kicked to the curb if we want Americans to wake up from their psy ops-induced, propaganda-addled trance.

[myrna minx]

60. +1

[Hissyspit]

31. Kick nt

[Firebrand Gary]

33. Karma is what I call this.

I have never liked seeing other people endure their "punishment", this however is a part of the cycle. He has fueled hatred, confusion, distrust, manipulation all in the name of greed. Good, bad or indifferent, Murdoch is receiving all the destruction he has put into the world in return.

[Enthusiast]

44. He isn't receiving nearly enough

destruction to suit me. There are many U.S. conspirators that should be locked up for decades.

[NBachers]

34. This can't get too big for me- I want to see it go all the way

[The Wizard]

35. Any bets as to when

Rupert The Pirate falls on his sword. Some say the Murdoch fortune is in off shore tax havens.

[6000eliot]

36. Couldn't happen to a nicer dirty scumbag!

[spicegal]

38. I would think that even many Republicans would find it a

welcome relief to see Fox brought to its knees. Wouldn't you think many Republicans would be tired of being so beholden to Fox and Roger Aisles? And aren't we all tired of the constant parade of misinformation from Fox that is so damaging to this country? The Murdoch empire has become far too powerful and influential, and not in a good way.

[Enthusiast]

46. No.

Fox has built the scaffold for the Republican alternate reality. Fox is absolutely essential to them. If by some incredible confluence of events Fox was brought down I suppose the GOP could ramp up right wing CNN. CNN is nearly there already.

[kstewart33]

39. kpete, you are a treasure.

You always post noteworthy articles that the rest of us seem to miss. It's clear that you're careful in selecting the pieces for posting.

It is so appreciated by us all.

Thank you for doing this. And don't ever leave DU, okay?

[DFW]

41. Don't I wish

Murdoch and his family still have a few billion in cash. To them, it's not about the money any more, but
the power that their money buys. If that power is suddenly placed outside their reach, they can spend
their weekends wallowing in $100 bills at their mansions and aboard their yachts for all I care. The main
thing is to demonstrate that money need NOT be equated with power, and to show that popular will can deny
power to those who think it is always for sale at a price.

"Make it so," and let the Kochs be next. Rove will go home to Alabama to spend more time with his Dobermans.

[SpiralHawk]

45. Republicon Family Cesspool Values = Murdoch style

just disgustipating - stanky, devolved, corrupt, putrid Republicon ethics.

[craigmatic]

50. It's hard to say how this will affect him long term. Some say that the reason he ended NOTW is

because he wanted to avoid controversey while he tries to buy a cable channel in the UK. He's defonately weaker than he was but it's hard to tell to what extent.

[BeFree]

53. He stopped in Britian? Or does he do it here, too?

During the Weiner thing, a fox news reporter beat the cops to the young lady's house who was to be questioned. Now we know how fox got there first?

Is Murdoch a global hacker, or what?

[renate]

65. wow--really?

It could just have been good luck, hitting the lights just right on the way there--or were they hours or days earlier than everybody else? I hadn't heard anything about that and I would love to know more.

[craigmatic]

92. It's been documented that he spies on his own employees. I assume he does it to his enemies here too

[aquart]

51. Hmm. It was a standard technique to bribe the police.

But the police unions don't love the Republicans anymore. I wonder what an offer of immunity would shake loose?

[Odin2005]

54. Naw, it will be ignored my the US MSM.

[Casandia]

56. Keith has been following this story.

Looking forward to his show tonight...bet it will be good!

[SemperEadem]

57. kind of reminds me of the implosion of the French Revolution

once they fed enough people to the guillotine, they began feeding each other to it.

karma... it's a beyotch!

[salin]

58. new rumor... tweeted by Murdoch's biographer "Get Out of Dodge" strategy. Sell NewsInt.?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/blog/2011/jul/11/news-world-hacking-scandal-live#block-60

To keep up with the Watergate analogy - if happens would that be like firing the Attorney General / Saturday Night Massacre?

[Chimichurri]

61. I love this story to no end.

[GliderGuider]

63. "Look, there's some electrical tape on this door latch. I wonder what that's about?"

I love the smell of schadenfreude in the morning. It smells like ... karma!

:woohoo:

[avebury]

64. K&R

[Uncle Joe]

66. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, kpete.

[valerief]

67. Our govt can't do without Fox News as their echo chamber

(since our govt officials are mostly just agents for the powerful and very wealthy), so I don't think we'll be rid of that Lie Machine all too soon.

[harun]

71. It's not going anywhere. Even if Fox goes away they have plenty of other agents besides Fox.

[Blue Owl]

69. tick... tock... tick... tock...tick... tock... tick... tock...

:evilgrin:

[MODem75]

72. I bet this pales in comparison to the skullduggery commited by Foxnews.

[malaise]

81. No it will be a mere part of it

:hi:

[Hubert Flottz]

73. I hope the 9/11 families get to stone that prick at ground zero.

[Name removed]

74. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[felix_numinous]

75. Ironic that all the trillion dollar surveillance equipment and cameras everywhere

didn't break open the Murdoch case, but it took a pissed of actor? They are a total waste of resources!!!!

[Oceansaway]

80. k & r...nt

[marions ghost]

82. I wish I thought

we could get this snake and his minions routed out of this country...but Murdoch is very crafty and tightly tied to the PTB. He has found fertile ground in this country seething with corruption.
The corporatocracy will rally around their mouthpiece.

What happens will be a big test of judicial and democratic processes.

[tsuki]

84. A very short skip, not a jump, to The Sun. nt

[Ccarmona]

85. Two Questions

-When will the domestic news outlets (WSJ, NY Daily News & FNS) shit hit the fan?
-When will the lesson be learned; the cover-up: ALWAYS worse than the crime?

[SteveM]

86. News Corp becoming News Corpse.

[Graybeard]

89. Hacking-gate: New revelations every day.

The scandal keeps ballooning bigger and bigger. Former PM Brown believed hacked, the Royals security force reportedly bribed, 9/11 families now involved. Murdoch is trying to survive the death of a thousand cuts...all self inflicted.

[Kingofalldems]

90. The house of cards is crumbling

[SalmonChantedEvening]

91. The rupe, the rupe, the rupe is on fire

We don't need no water
Let the motherfu**er burn
Burn motherfu**er, burn.

K&R :kick:

[PuffedMica]

93. K&R