The Staggers: Rupert Murdoch

Trevor Kavanagh's article in today's Sun is notable for its hyperbolic attack on the police investigation (Kavanagh casually dismisses alleged bribery as "standard procedure") and for its coded critique of News Corp management.

Referring to "a sensitive domestic issue within the News International 'family'", Kavanagh, one of Murdoch's longest-serving lieutenants, writes that while it is important for News Corp to protect its reputation in the US, ... read more

Since his arrival in the Twittersphere, Rupert Murdoch has praised three politicians: Republican candidate Rick Santorum, New York mayor Michael Bloomberg and Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond. Of the latter, Murdoch tweeted:

Great to see alexsalmond Briton of the year. Fellow antiestablishmentarian's Econmist piece equal very good and bs!

Murdoch's praise for ... read more

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It looks like Tony Blair is even closer to Rupert Murdoch than anyone imagined. This morning it emerged that Blair is godfather to Murdoch's nine-year-old daughter, Grace, the second youngest of his six children. The secret was divulged by Wendi Deng in an interview in the October edition of Vogue. The magazine reports that Blair, who Deng described as one of ... read more

Accompanying the screenplay of his highly successful film Romulus My Father, starring Hollywood heartthrob Eric Bana, is an essay by Melbourne philosopher Raimond Gaita where he explains why he even wrote the story detailing the hardships of growing up with a damaged yet stoic man:

There is no single reason why I wrote Romulus, but I wrote it partly because I ... read more

To the LSE last night to hear Murdoch Kremlinologist Michael Wolff discuss what the future holds for News Corp. The answer, according to him, is a world without the Murdochs.

"I think this is the endgame for the Murdoch family's relationship with News Corp," he said. "In the next 90 days we'll see that play out." The chance of the "discredited" James Murdoch succeeding his father as chief executive was "nil", ... read more

College Green had more tents that a boy scouts jamboree as the world's press gathered for the ritual disemboweling of the Great Dictator .But when Rupert turned up it looked we might be just in time to celebrate his departure.

Floors had no doubt been strengthened and roofs raised in anticipation of the appearance of the ogre who frightened the world for almost half acentury but all that turned up was ... read more

19.19 The chairman brings the session to a close. Brooks's evidence has been overshadowed by previous events. Her claim that she had no inkling about the Dowler hacking will, I'm sure, be analysed in the coming days. As will the fact that she confirmed that hiring Coulson was George Osborne's idea. Thanks for reading.

19.15 Brooks stumbles when she said that she did not approve Andy Coulson's salary being subsidised by ... read more

Rebekah Brooks spearheaded a strategy designed to implicate other British newspapers in the phone-hacking scandal, according to the New York Times. Based on a series of interviews with former News International staff, the newspaper claims that Brooks asked News of the World journalists to find evidence of hacking by other papers.

The paper reports that Paul Dacre, the editor of the Daily Mail, told senior managers ... read more

Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation has withdrawn its bid to take full control of BSkyB, ahead of a Commons vote urging the company to do so.

News Corp made the following statement:

News Corporation ("News Corp") announces that it no longer intends to make an offer for the entire issued and to be issued share capital of British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC ("BSkyB") not already owned by it *.

Chase Carey, Deputy Chairman, President ... read more

Jay Rockefeller, a key Democratic senator and chairman of the Senate commerce committee, has called for the authorities to investigate whether journalists at Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation targeted US citizens. In a written statement, he said:

I encourage the appropriate agencies to investigate to ensure that Americans have not had their privacy violated.

The reported hacking by News Corporation newspapers against a range of individuals -- including children -- is offensive and ... read more

There is one thing the media loves reporting on it: itself. Broadsheets and tabloids alike have leapt upon the demise of the News of the World with delight. They have reported the movements of an 80-year-old man in fine detail, and analysed to death the likelihood of a media company taking over another media company that it already has a controlling stake in. In their ... read more

This newspaper carried out a lengthy investigation into phone-hacking at the News of the World in September 2010. Today, Don Van Natta Jr and Ravi Somaiya allege that police officers had their phones hacked. These claims are particularly interesting on the day that police officers face a committee of MPs:

Shortly after Scotland Yard began its initial criminal inquiry of phone hacking by The ... read more