Murdoch’s Giuliani Connection

[Donnachaidh]

http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/murdochs_giuliani_connection_20110722/?ln

Monday, ahead of Rupert Murdoch’s inquiry by the British Parliament, former NYC Mayor Rudolph Giuliani appeared on CNN to defend his beleaguered friend against accusations of knowledge of his employees’ hacking and bribing offenses.

The men’s relationship goes back at least 15 years, when Giuliani gave Murdoch one of New York City’s five public-access channels to launch Fox News Channel. As the article below shows, the sordid, often concealed Murdoch-Giuliani partnership is exemplary of the kind of societal destruction that becomes possible when public officials merge their interests and power with private wealth, and confirms the urgent need to write and enact laws that prevent such an occurrence. —ARK

The Nation Institute in conjunction with The Daily Beast:

Let’s start in 1996, three years after Murdoch’s New York Post helped make Giuliani mayor with the narrowest win in modern city history. That year, Rupert and Ailes, who’d actually managed Rudy’s unsuccessful mayoral run in 1989, were launching Fox Cable News and they had one rather daunting problem: Time Warner controlled the prime NYC cable franchise, with 1.2 million viewers, including virtually all of Manhattan, where every advertiser who might buy a spot lived or worked. And Time Warner refused to give Fox a channel for its new venture. In those days, Time Warner only had space for 77 channels on the dial, and 30 applicants had lined up before Fox. Richard Aurelio, who ran the NYC cable system for Time Warner, recalls now that he assured Ailes that in a year or so, they would “get more capacity and put you on.” But, says Aurelio, now long retired at age 83, “Murdoch was furious.” A former deputy mayor under John Lindsay, Aurelio says he’d “never seen such a display of raw political power,” branding it “ferocious.”

More at the link --

[Wilms]

1. Giuliani: Let's Give 'Honorable' Murdoch The Benefit Of The Doubt

Giuliani: Let's Give 'Honorable' Murdoch The Benefit Of The DoubtJillian Rayfield | July 15, 2011

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani doesn't believe his "honorable, honest" friend Rupert Murdoch knew anything about the phone hacking that may have taken place in the name of his U.K. newspapers.

"Give people the presumption of innocence," he told CNN's Candy Crowley Thursday, "I think that just how high up it goes is a big question and one we shouldn't be jumping to conclusions about."

snip

But he defended Murdoch. "He's a very honorable, honest man," Guiliani said. "This can't be something that he would have anything to do with."

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/07/giuliani_lets_give_honorable_murdoch_the_benefit_o.php

[JDPriestly]

3. I think I saw the clip.

Giuliani was not very convincing. I had the impression that he hasn't even convinced himself that Murdoch wouldn't have done this.

[spanone]

2. k&r...