Petraeus Scandal No. 2

David Petraeus has been engulfed in scandal again, only weeks after the details of his affair destroyed his career. The scandal only came to light when the Washington Post released a tape that had been leaked to it, the tape consists of David Petraeus speaking ‘off the record’ to Fox News contributor, Kathleen McFarland in early 2011.

In the tape McFarland is passing on some information from her boss, chairman of Fox News Roger Ailes. She explains to Petraeus that Ailes wants him not to accept any position the Obama administration offers him, except chairman of the joint chiefs, resign in six months and run for President (as a Republican). As the conversation continues Petraeus reveals that this is not really new information, the owner of Fox News, Rupert Murdoch, had already approached Petraeus about running for President against Obama and promised him to ‘bankroll’ Petraeus’ campaign! At one point McFarland says the following:

“The big boss [Murdoch] is bankrolling it. Roger’s going to run it. And the rest of us are going to be your in-house.”

This should prove to everyone, what many people already believe, that Fox News is a media wing of the Republican Party. Simple as. You can argue whether that is good, bad or it doesn’t matter, but you can’t argue whether it is a wing of the party.

Regardless of the fallout from this case, we should take note of this in the UK. When speaking to Lord Justice Leveson Murdoch claimed he never asked a politician anywhere for anything, anyone could tell that he was lying. This proves it, Murdoch meddles in politics wherever he is, he is dangerous and he must be stopped, he simply has too much power. 

Leveson Report

In a move that has angered much of the public, the Prime Minister David Cameron had rejected proposals put forward by Lord Justice Leveson. To make matters worse for Cameron, he looks set to experience another humiliating defeat in the House of Commons as Labour will force a vote on the proposals. The vote should get the support of most of Labour and the Liberal Democrats as well as about 70 Conservative backbenchers. Unfortunately the vote will be non-binding as Labour does not have the power to introduce legislation.

So what is in the report causing such political angst? Well basically, Leveson calls for the setting up of a regulatory body that would be independent of both government and industry with the ability to fine organisations up to £1 million! The report castigates much of the press for their activities Leveson wrote that they have "wreaked havoc on the lives of ordinary people." Throughout the months that Leveson was listening to hundreds of testimonies, there were a number of specific stories that stood out. When Joanna Yates disappeared in 2010 her landlord, Christopher Jefferies was, in Leveson's words "the victim of a very serious injustice perpetrated by a significant section of the press". Leveson described the hunger of news organisations for stories on Madeleine McCann and her family as "insatiable." In most people's minds, it was the revelation that Milly Dowler, a murdered schoolgirl, had had her phone hacked by News of the World that started the avalanche of public anger that led to the Leveson inquiry. In July last year it seemed that barely a day went past when more people weren't added to the list of hackees. The families of 9/11 and 7/7 victims were hacked as well as those of dead soldiers and murder victims. The public revolution for the tabloids grew everyday.

The report was also critical of Jeremy Hunt and his handling of the BSkyB takeover bid. Hunt was at the centre of wider criticism of politicians' closeness to the press, particularly Murdoch titles. Leveson said that the huge amount of contact between Hunt's special advisor Adam Smith and News Corp lobbyist, Frédérick Michel was a serious problem that Hunt failed to address. Yet overall politicians were not heavily criticised notably Leveson cleared the government of being unfairly influenced by News Corp during the BSkyB takeover bid.

What happens in the next couple of moths will be of paramount importance to the nature of our press for the next generation. Parliament has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to stop the unethical and unnecessary excesses of the British press without harming free speech and with the support of the public. If Cameron rejects the idea, it will only be a matter of time until the 2011 press scandal returns in a new form.

Blair at Leveson

Today former Prime Minister Tony Blair appeared at Leveson Inquiry. It was interesting to watch Blair being questioned on his relationship with the press, but on the whole nothing scandalous or shocking was revealed. Probably the most shocking part was when a protester entered the courtroom and started to accuse Blair of war crimes. The protester was quickly removed from the courtroom and not seen again.

Blair claimed that he did not do a deal with the Murdochs to get power and once in power went against the Murdochs’ wishes more times than he went along with them and claimed that there was nothing out of the ordinary about phoning Rupert Murdoch in the ten days before the Iraq War in 2003. He claimed that he had problems with the Daily Mail, calling it a “personal vendetta” as it frequently attacked his family, particularly Cherie, and he found that difficult to deal with. Blair said he did not believe the attacks on his family were “real journalism”. Blair told the Inquiry that between 2006 and 2011 his family lawyers had sent 30 letters of complaint to the Daily Mail concerning stories about Cherie.

“The Daily Mail… have attacked me, my family, my children, those people associated with me, day in, day out. Not merely when I was in office but subsequent to it as well. They do it very well, very effective. It’s very powerful.”

When asked about why he didn’t tackle the press Blair said he would be unable to do so as it would have opened up the wrath of the press and attempting to tackle the power of the press would have taken up a sizeable portion of government time and side-lined other, more important issues.

“My view is, and I think it’s still my view actually, that you would have had to clear the desk, this would have been an absolute major confrontation. You would have had virtually every part of the media against you in doing it. And I felt that the price you would pay for that would push out a lot of the things I cared more about.” He said it would be “A long, protracted battle that will shove everything else to the side”

Although he acknowledges the political difficulties of doing so he says that now is the time to tackle the press, in the wake of the hacking scandal and the Leveson Inquiry it would be possible and the public would be prepared to listen. Blair has urged politicians across the board to support Cameron if he tried to tackle the press as he cannot be left alone to do this.

Blair at the Leveson Inquiry yesterday

The Brooks Arrested!

Yesterday Rebekah Brooks, along with her husband Charlie Brooks and four others were charged with perverting the course of justice. In a statement made yesterday Charlie said his wife had been the “victim of a witch hunt” (I find this hilariously ironic, considering the sheer volume of witch hunts that Rebekah Brooks has started during her time at Murdoch’s company) and Rebekah claiming that the decision to charge her was “unjust and weak”.

So what have they been charged with? Well Rebekah has been charged with three counts of perverting the course of justice. The alleged crimes occurred between the 6^th and the 19^th of July 2011, Brooks and her counterparts are accused of trying to conceal evidence from the police, all of which they strongly deny. Here’s a quick time line of some of the events of that period

4^th of July – The Guardian reveals that NOTW hacked Milly Dowler’s phone

5^th of July – It is revealed that Madeleine McCann’s parents, 7/7 victims’ families were also hacked

6^th of July – Cameron promised to open an enquiry (Now Leveson)

7^th of July – NOTW closes

8^th of July – Andy Coulson Arrested

15^th of July – Rebekah Brooks resigned as CEO of News International

17^th of July – Brooks arrested and released on police bail

19^th of July – Brooks appeared in front of a Commons Select Committee

The second charge relates to Rebekah Brooks and her PA, Cheryl Carter, who are accused of removing, permanently, seven boxes of material from News International between the 6^th and the 9^th of July 2011. The final charge relates to the final four days of the period (15^th – 19^th of July), they are all charged of trying to conceal documents, computers and other electronic equipment from the Metropolitan Police.

Although these are only charges, and the suspects are presumed innocent until proven otherwise, it’s still extremely embarrassing for the government. David Cameron once socialised with people who are being charged with a very serious crime.

Rebekah and Charlie Brooks making a statement yesterday

Coulson & Brooks at Leveson

The past couple of days will have been hotly anticipated in number 10, the former communications director for No.10, Andy Coulson appeared at the Leveson Enquiry on Thursday. Rebekah Brooks, former CEO of News International and good friend of David Cameron appeared yesterday.  Unfortunately they were not able to talk about phone hacking as they are both on police bail after being arrested in relation to the hacking scandal.

Coulson is particularly important as he was hired by David Cameron to be the communications director for him; he was sounded out by George Osborne. He told the enquiry that his hiring was not part of some grand scheme to get Cameron closer to the Murdochs, although I’d be extremely surprised if this never crossed Cameron’s mind. What is important to note is that Coulson had £40,000 of shares in News International, something he should have declared when he took office in the government, yet he never did claiming he was ‘too busy’ and didn’t notice the personal benefit to himself if News International did well, making him totally inappropriate as the government’s communications director. Coulson told the enquiry that even after the hacking scandal was blown wide open by the Guardian David Cameron, nor any other member of the government, questioned him on his knowledge of phone hacking despite the widening public interest in his part.

Rebekah Brooks caused more problems for the government, she told the enquiry that how after she was arrested she received messages of support from No.10, No.11, the Home Office and the Foreign Office. This reveals just how close the Murdoch press got to the very heart of government. She admitted that David Cameron had indirectly contacted her with a message that went along the lines of “I would have been more loyal to you had Ed Miliband not been on my tail”. What was even worse for the government was an email recovered from Brooks’ smart phone from Fred Michel [the PR man for News International] that read:

“Hunt will be making references to phone hacking in his statement on Rubicon this week. He will be repeating the same narrative as the one he gave in Parliament [a] few weeks ago. This is based on his belief that the police is pursuing things thoroughly and phone hacking has nothing to do with the media plurality issues. It’s extremely helpful… He [Hunt] wants to prevent a public inquiry.”

This is clearly bad for Hunt, Ed Miliband is already calling for his resignation (again). The email seems to suggest that Hunt was asking the Murdochs how he should handle the phone hacking scandal. I do not see Hunt being able to stay on for much longer due to this scandal.

"Murdoch Not Fit to run a Global Company"

A damning report was published today by the Culture Media and Sports Select Committee which accused Rupert Murdoch of not being a fit person to run a major global company. The report was even harsher on three of Murdoch’s “underlings”, Colin Myler, Tom Crone and Les Hinton who were accused of miss-leading MPs and could have to face the House of Commons.

Although the report is extremely damning it did not receive unanimous support from the committee, the four Conservatives voted against the report due to harsh attack on Murdoch. The report was able to pass as the five Labour members and the one Liberal Democrat member voted in favour of it. Louise Mensch is a Conservative member of the committee, in defending her decision to vote against the report on Newsnight, she appeared to think that the public would agree with her. Has she got any idea of public opinion? There is a massive anti-Murdoch swing in the general public and most people will be delighted with the report that so vilifies Murdoch. At a time when the fallout from the Jeremy Hunt scandal is deepening, this will harden the view that the Conservatives have become the party for Murdoch and could deal another blow to the Conservatives.

Although the Conservative members did vote against the report, they actually agreed with everything in the report apart from the one line. The rest of the report deals less with Murdoch and more with the lies told by Myler, Crone and Hinton to Parliament.

Murdoch must leave the UK once and for all; he still controls large parts of BSkyB and our press. The hacking scandal has created a very rare chance, for us to seize our democracy from the hands of Murdoch and return them to the people. His International Empire was founded in the UK with the Sun newspaper (which he took over), and we will be the ones to end it. Murdoch has had his time in power, the time for people power has returned.

The Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee releasing the report yesterday

Rebekah Brooks and husband arrested

Today Rebekah Brooks and her husband, Charlie, were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. This is the second time that Ms Brooks has been arrested as a result of the fallout of the hacking crisis at NOTW. Last time she was arrested on suspicion of intercepting voicemails but was never charged, this current arrest is for a far more serious crime. Perverting the course of justice is one of the most serious crimes in our legal system as it totally undermines the idea of bringing criminals to justice.

These arrests come the week that David Cameron finally admitted to riding a horse that belonged to the Met but was loaned to the Brooks.  Charlie Brooks is an old school friend of Cameron and this makes things extremely difficult for Cameron, he has been shown time and time again to have personal links to some of the biggest names in the NOTW hacking scandal and subsequent press enquiry.

This year is going to be as bad as 2011 for News International and its former employees, as the company lurches from crisis to crisis. It will surely mark the end of Murdoch’s dominance of British politics and the new political scene in 2013 and beyond will be unrecognisable when compared to the end of 2010.  If the enquiry is handled correctly and the police investigations carried out in the right manner then we may end up with a great press at the end… Somehow I don’t see us getting a free press at the end of this though; the press will still be controlled by a handful of wealthy, powerful men. The only way a press can be described as free is if it is controlled by as many people is possible.

The Worrying Relationship Between the Met & the Sun

Today Sue Akers, the deputy assistant commissioner spoke to Lord Justice Leveson to tell him of the “culture of illegal payments” by Sun journalists to police officers and other public officials. What she spoke of threatens to engulf the Metropolitan Police with many more arrests likely to come, it will be the most devastating issue for the Met since the organisation was branded institutionally racist by the MacPherson inquiry. It is horrifying to think that some of those who are meant to uphold the law and make our streets safe were performing illegal activities themselves. It is absolutely sickening and every police officer who took payments should be sent to prison.

Yet nobody really knows the full story yet, both the Leveson inquiry and the investigation by Sue Akers will continue for many more months and delve further into both the cosy relationship between the police and the press and other illegal activities. Most notably at Murdoch’s big names, the News of the World and the Sun. My only hope is that this time the investigation will produce meaningful results and that both the press and the police will complete the necessary reforms to give us a free but law abiding press.

Only an idiot would believe Rebekah Brook’s or Andy Coulson’s statements that they did not know about phone hacking or other illegal activities as well as denials coming from senior journalists at the Sun or NOTW. There is much evidence that take apart Brook’s and Coulson’s lies, Jeff Edwards was the crime correspondent at a Murdoch paper between 1980 and 1985 and says he lost his job because he was uncomfortable paying police officers. This isn’t a simple hunch that Mr Edwards has come up with, he was actually told that he’d lost his job because of his ethics.

Nobody really knows that will happen over the next year but it will be an important one for this country in terms of both the press and policing, I just hope both institutions can reform.

Sue Aker at the Leveson Inquiry today

Sun Crisis Deepens

Today another twist occurred in the crisis at The Sun; Trevor Kavanagh, its associate editor, launched a scathing attack on the police. He called the arrests of five senior journalists heavy handed, out of proportion and an attack on freedom of speech. Many reporters at the Sun feel like they are being unfairly treated, they believe that their colleagues are being arrested because they did their job. They also feel betrayed by their News Corporation bosses and fear for their jobs, even though Rupert Murdoch has promised to keep the newspaper open, unlike its sister paper, News of the World. Kavanagh believes that the company has deliberately framed the recently arrested journalists to get out of jail themselves. This is a very serious accusation.

My feeling is quite the opposite, the police investigate crimes and the reporters at the Sun are being investigated by the police. Everyone in the country should be subject to the same laws, no special privileges for one profession or another. If reporters are guilty of corruption, then they should be sent to prison like everyone else. This claim that it attacks the freedom of the press is ridiculous and just plain silly, News Corporation are trying to turn public opinion against the police by calling the investigation a “witch hunt”. We all know why they want the investigation to stop, the further the police delve the more dirt they will find on Sun reporters. This could do a further blow to the Sun in a time when newspaper circulations are in perpetual decline.

Yet the virus that began with 2011’s hacking scandal hasn’t stopped at the Sun, it has spread to America too. In the States there is a law called the “Foreign Corrupt Practices Act” concerning bribery of foreign officials and other illegal activities, the FBI is looking into both the hacking at the News of the World and the bribery claims at the Sun. This could significantly damage Murdoch in the USA, many in his American press and media companies want him to let the UK companies go as the Americans feel they are being dragged down by the revelations about their British counterparts.

Regardless of what happens as a result of these arrests, Murdoch’s media empire is collapsing with the UK being the first country to lose his slimy grip. When it does, I will celebrate. 

Scandal at the Sun

 Ever since the phone hacking scandal erupted last year, Rupert Murdoch has been mired in scandal after scandal. The most recent was at the Sun, one of his most important newspapers. Yesterday five senior journalists were arrested; this included chief reporter, John Kay, picture editor, John Edwards, foreign correspondent Nick Parker, reporter, John Sturgis, and even the deputy editor, Geoff Webster. The newspaper’s owner, Rupert Murdoch has stated that unlike its sister newspaper, the News of the World, the Sun will not be closed. Today’s arrests were not only significant because of the journalists arrested; an army officer, policeman and civil servant were also arrested. This is the first time that such arrests have been made under Operation Elveden, which is investigating illegal payments by journalists to get information. This crisis occurs during the Leveson Inquiry into press standards, which was set up after the fallout from the original scandal at NOTW. This, combined with evidence of harassment of people by journalists only further proves that there needs to be some sort of regulation of the press. This would not harm free speech, but strengthen the rights of individuals to privacy. The only reason you hear the likes of Paul Dacre claiming it would harm free speech is because of nasty practices going on in the Daily Mail, a newspaper which has been accused of dabbling in illegal activities by a number of high profile names.

We won’t know for a long time what the full extent of illegal activities at newspapers was, but unless a press regulator is created with real power, we will be looking at another press scandal in the future. This saga has shown that the press, particularly the tabloids, to be untrustworthy and must be dealt with harshly.

The Sun is the latest Murdoch newspaper to be mired in scandal

Phone Hacking

One of the biggest press scandals in history occurred in 2011 when revelations of the extent to which hacking was rampant at the News of the World. Originally only celebrities were revealed to have been hacked and although this did provoke anger from the public, it was a muted response compared to what was to come.

It was when the Guardian published, on the 4^th of July, that the News of the World had hacked murdered teenager Milly Dowler’s phone that the public got extremely angry. As the scandal unfolded it was found out that the newspaper had also hacked victims of the 7/7 bombings’ families as well as the families of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan and the possibility of the same for 9/11 victims. It was when people saw grieving, ordinary families suffer at the hands of a mighty company that the rage set it. It wasn’t long until the News of the World was shut down permanently.

Yet the ramifications of the phone hacking scandal are far from over. Police corruption is being investigated as to how the newspaper gained some of the phone numbers  and the Leveson Inquiry has been set up to investigate press standards and looks at all UK papers, especially the tabloids. The scandal also has caused major problems for the person that owned the newspaper, Rupert Murdoch. He was forced to abandon his bid to buy the majority of BSkyB due to public resentment for him. His son, James Murdoch, claims that he did not know what was going on at the News of the World despite receiving an email from a senior editor saying that hacking went far beyond the Glenn Mulcaire case. James Murdoch claims that he did not read the entire email and that he did not know hacking was rampant. This effectively means that he’s either lying or he’s incompetent.

2012 will definitely be an important year for the press in the UK, as the question over whether or not they will have to submit to tighter regulations will have to be answered.

Rupert Murdoch