NOTW reporters tried to access 9/11 phone data: report

[babylonsister]

Hopefully this tidbit will inspire an investigation on this side of the pond; totally outrageous. I imagine families will be furious.


http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/11/us-newscorp-hacking-sept-idUSTRE76A04V20110711

NOTW reporters tried to access 9/11 phone data: report

LONDON | Mon Jul 11, 2011 2:17am EDT


LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Daily Mirror newspaper reported on Monday that News of the World journalists had offered to pay a New York police officer to retrieve the private phone records of victims of the September 11, 2001, attacks.

Citing an unidentified source, the newspaper said journalists had wanted the phone numbers of the dead as well as details of the calls they had made and received in the days leading to the attacks.

News Corp chief executive Rupert Murdoch last week shut down the News of the World, Britain's top-selling Sunday tabloid, as allegations grew that its journalists had illegally accessed the voicemails of thousands of people, from child murder victims to the families of Britain's war dead.

The police officer, who now works as a private investigator, said at the time that he would turn down the request because of "how bad it would look," the source was quoted as saying.

[babylonsister]

1. KO discussing this, means, if true, story goes international. nt

[salin]

2. if true/verified... it will have the Schaivo effect.

My sense has been that the pubic sentiment in the middle, turned against Bushco despite the patriotic fervor when the ongoing attempts at interventions in the Schaivo tragedy got too personal. Many folks have had to deal with extremely difficult end of life decisions for loved ones. When the GOP line moved so far to the right - including (iirc) a GOP senator's memo giving talking points on how to turn this into a big win for the prolife camp - public sentiment turned. When one of the Family Values groups sent out a mailer and then described the Shaivo family tragedy as an opportunity to get people to open their wallets... the middle started leaving the right in droves. I say this as a liberal in a red state. It was a tipping point.

If verified - there is nothing that has unified this public in the last 15 years - as did the horrors and grieving after the 911 attacks. Except for the furthest right die hards - this news if true and exposed here - would decimate the legitimacy of fox news. The unthinkable that happened to NoTW in less than a week, would eventually happen here.