Rupert Murdoch, News International & Phone Tapping

Balthazar · 10-07-2009, 09:52 AM

It looks like Murdoch could be in trouble at last. His journalists have been caught hacking literally thousands of mobile phones.

News International was facing three fresh inquiries into the conduct of its journalists and executives following the Guardian's disclosures that Rupert Murdoch's newspaper empire paid £1m to keep secret the use of criminal methods to get stories.

Source

The favoured technique is to employ a private investigator to hack a cellphone's voicemail. People often don't change the security code so the PI dials the number, enters the code and listens in. This busts the privacy not just of the phone's owner, but those leaving messages. Alternatively he bribes someone at the phone company for the code.

There's talk of a class action by those affected. It's otherwise almost impossible to go after a Murdoch newspaper - £50,000 before a lawyer will let you in his office. Discussion on last night's This Week (5:20) It will be intriguing to see if this spreads to other countries where Murdoch has titles, e.g. Australia and the U.S. Presumably, as he's been doing it in Britain he'll have been doing it there too. It's a story relevant to all journalists. If you're an honourable reporter, trying to do your job ethically, and you're competing with a Murdoch hack who is using illegal methods, they're almost certain to win, i.e. get the story first. So the disease will tend to spread as reporters trash their ethics to compete with Murdoch titles.

**DTE** · 10-07-2009, 12:49 PM

Great post Balthazar, very interesting this one. Already we're seeing the battle lines being drawn, obviously The Guardian calling out News International, but there's also the political implications with former NotW editor Andy Coulson now (call me) Dave Cameron's communication director. Already there's accusations that Prescott and Tessa Jowell's phones were bugged, so they are up in arms about it, certainly looks like this story could run and run. It has everything, a big baddie (Murdoch), spies and espionage, political manouvering and most important to us paper-buying Brits; celebrity. If Vanessa Feltz is angry then everyone will be.

Balthazar · 10-07-2009, 12:55 PM

Originally Posted by Dr The Evidence

It has everything, a big baddie (Murdoch), spies and espionage, political manouvering and most important to us paper-buying Brits; celebrity. If Vanessa Feltz is angry then everyone will be.

LOZL:

Other prominent victims of the Sunday newspaper are said to include former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, London’s Mayor Boris Johnson, Hollywood star Gwyneth Paltrow, former Cabinet minister Tessa Jowell and celebrities Lenny Henry and Nigella Lawson. Supermodel and actress Elle MacPherson and Google Page Ranking guru Max Clifford were also said to have been targeted.

And yesterday broadcaster and Daily Express columnist Vanessa Feltz was seeking legal advice amid fears that she was one of the celebrities targeted.

Ms Feltz believes private investigators hired by the Sunday paper hacked into her mobile-phone messages to discover her movements. She said she had been baffled by the number of times photographers from the News of the World seemed to know exactly where she would be.

“Journalists popping out of the bushes when I didn’t know myself that I would be there until 20 minutes before – how could they possibly have found out?” she asked.

Source

Another trick the Murdoch hacks play is to 'phone someone's GP, claim to be an A&E doctor treating them for a serious injury - something dramatic like a car crash - and ask for medical details. Some GPs fail to 'phone back through the hospital switchboard to check, but give the details then and there. Which is understandable if the "hospital doctor" sounds credible and claims a dire emergency.

It's all an argument for keeping as much as possible off computers. God knows how deeply Murdoch's hacks have penetrated the PNC, the tax system, DVLC Swansea, etc etc. Oh, and the credit card companies leak like colanders. If you're a celebrity on some tiny holiday island in the middle of nowhere and use plastic to buy a tube of suntan lotion, a team of Murdoch hacks is liable to arrive 12 hours later having been tipped off by a paid informer at American Express.

The main hope is civil actions by enraged celebs who pool their resources, co-ordinate lawyers, pick the most winnable cases, and start hitting Murdoch with writs. There are signs of that starting to happen. Pathetic the police, the CPS and the politicians won't act, but Murdoch's probably bought them too.

It's worth watching Selina Scott on the vid linked at post #1 - clever, angry, articulate, determined. Quite a lady.

**DTE** · 10-07-2009, 01:48 PM

Yeah I saw This Week, this week (ahem) so I heard Selena Scott's take on this issue. She seems to know whats she's talking about, although I still don't have clue who she is.

Anyway, the larger issue, and hopefully something good will come out of this, is the right to privacy. Maybe more people will realise just how easy it is to get hold of phone records, emails, answer messages etc in the wake of this. Portillo made a good point as well yesterday, saying that although there are people who favour and champion privacy, they are in the minority, and that still the the majority of the country prefers exposure. Certainly the people who buy the NotW do, and there sure is a lot of them.

**Midas** · 10-07-2009, 04:23 PM

Originally Posted by Dr The Evidence

Yeah I saw This Week, this week (ahem) so I heard Selena Scott's take on this issue. She seems to know whats she's talking about, although I still don't have clue who she is.

You don't know who Selina Scott is!! She is, or rather she was, a very well known TV reporter and journalist from the 1980s and 1990s, both here in the UK and in the US. She presented news programmes on the BBC, ITN and Sky at various times, as well as hosting quite a number of other topical programmes. She still makes a guest and presenter appearance from time to time.

DC · 20-07-2009, 07:17 AM

IMO, the media has grown to dangerous proportions, where it reports on what's popular or will make money, rather than actual news. In Australia the domination of Murdoch and Packer is quite frightening, it seems whatever party they pick will win the election. They've also actually contrived stories out of nowhere, they constantly bark on about Liberal leadership, when in fact there's really no controversy except the 'speculation' that they themselves create. Having said that SBS rocks, best news outlet in the World IMO.