Lawyer Up!
You’ve been thrown under the bus.
One of the most important statements made by Rupert Murdoch today in London, when he appeared before the Parliamentary Committee for Culture, Media and Sport, took place when he was asked by MP Jim Sheridan if he felt any personal responsibility for the unethical (and alleged criminal) actions that took place at his company, News Corporation.
His reply was an emphatic, “No!”
News Corp employees need to take this statement very seriously and consider protecting themselves if they are (or were) involved in any illegal activities within the company. Basically, Murdoch is saying that these people are going to be left to fend for themselves.
Unlike with Watergate, when President Richard Nixon took full responsibility for what took place in his White House (and subsequently resigned), Company Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch is saying that these “rogue” employees acted on their own, without any instructions or guidance from senior management. And, if any of them are found guilty of any charges, they will suffer any consequences on their own.
Rupert Murdoch and the executives at News Corporation and its subsidiaries have had four years to legally prepare their own defense after the Royal phone hacking incident took place in 2007. They must feel comfortable by now that their legal team has all of its ducks in a row.
It appears that their intent is to “push down” the culpability to the lowest level of reporting, i.e., the “A few bad apples at Abu Ghraib” approach perfected by Donald Rumsfeld.
As more and more allegations are coming forth (with many more to come), it is becoming apparent that there are/were many individuals involved with the phone hacking, police pay-offs and other potentially illegal activities throughout the News Corporation empire. Furthermore, now that this scandal has reached an intense level of global media attention, it is only a matter of time before all of these people will be exposed.
If any of these individuals received their marching orders from senior management (which CW says to be the case), it would behoove them to seek legal support and initiate full media disclosures as soon as possible. They need to actively “push up” against the Murdoch “push down” defense.
It's their only hope.
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Comments
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Good point.
BTW before Nixon resigned hge said,"I'm not a crook!"
Then after that feeding frenzy they started the corruption all over again.
If NI bribed British police (or there is evidence of it) they are guilty here of a crime. But that is tip of the ice berg in this case, the scandal may well take out the PM (and in my opinion he deserves for hiring the former NI editor as his media coordinator at the expressed displeasure of the Queen, who reported her grandchildren had been hacked last summer by NoftheW.).
I think Murdoch is going to lose his broadcast license here in the U.S. which would definately affect Fox. I have said more than once today, I bet they are running short of toilet paper at Fox News this week! Thanks for posting this!
Corporations like Murdoch's expect larger and larger profits, more and more return, and when underlings pushed to the point of desperation to meet their bosses ever increasing greed will do anything to keep their jobs. Those who set the pace are just as culpable as the one actually doing the deed.
I hope this story does not go away and the blame finds its way up the food chain until it forces Murdoch to accept the blame. He may never see jail time, but hopefully the families hurt by his greed will extract their justice by extracting the millions of profits he gained by the actions of his employees.
Rebecca’s future is secure.
Oh, sorry. Do they still have any atoms of credibility?
Typical rich guy ploy to throw anyone and everyone under the bus to save their own sorry ass. I'd be throwing shoes rather than pies if I were his employee.
rate
This meretricious post is of value mostly for the comments which reveal the real motivation behind it--to bring down FOX. The liberals here really can't abide the fact that a conservative media outlet has tapped into the true sentiments of the American people resulting in a degree of commercial success that the languishing liberal media can only envy.
I appreciate your comment. However, liberals are not really concerned that a fake news outlet is successful. We are concerned that blatant wingnut propaganda and lies are being burned into the brains of the less intelligent in this country (no offense Gordon). We respect “real” conservative debate, like that which we had with William F. Buckley. But, today there is no rational debate coming out of Murdoch’s empire – only rightwing propaganda.
More importantly, our concern is for the good people in this country who have no idea that they’ve been brainwashed into believing the News Corporation nonsense.
Believe me, the demise of News Corp would be the best thing that could happen to all Americans - liberal and conservative.
To characterize Charles Krauthammer, Chris Wallace, Brit Hume, and Greta van Susteren as wingnuts is patently ridiculous.
The only real wingnut on FOX is Alan Colmes, the cable clown.
You have no idea what you're talking about.