A Fox News sister company is being shut down because Londoners are not reacting well to allegations that the News Corp subsidary hacked into the cell phones of crime victims and the families of dead soldiers. The British government is investigating the allegations. It has been reported that several top News Corp executives were involved with the subsidary during the period in which the hacking occured. And it causes one to wonder if the allegations are true; how high up the News Corp management chain does this scandal go? Was Murdoch, News Corp CEO, aware of the practice? Did he endorse it? How could Murdoch not know? Murdoch is known as a very hands on manager. If the allegations are true are other Murdoch subsidaries engaged in similar activities (e.g. Wall Street Journal, Fox News, etc.)? And if the allegations are not true, why is News Corp shutting down one of its very profitable companies? http://www.latimes.com/health/la-fg-britain-newspaper-closing-20110708,0,5723579.story http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0711/58475.html And why is Fox News not discussing the closure or the scandal? Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
It's VERY early to attempt to ask a question of that nature - there's a very simple and easy way for this to all play out without chopping up Murdock's empire and the first step is already quite visible. First you (they) sacrifice the World News unit (which they are doing) and label it a rouge enterprise - a "black sheep" among the white flock. And anyone like Murdock is WAY smart enough to have many layers of management between himself and the real action just for situations like this that could arise anywhere, anytime within his large empire. Guys in his position keep the principle of 'plausibility of denial' in the forefront of their operations at all times. It just makes good business sense - and he didn't get to where he is by being stupid.
I noticed, they finally covered the basics without mentioning that it was a sister company. And they were very slow to report the story.
I won't hold my breath unless something similar gets leaked on the US side. Until then, it's just a UK problem, one that News Corp will handle, and the British police are left with their own fire to try and put out.
As I understand it, News Corp is also accused of paying bribes to police in the UK in order to get privilaged information.
Apparently this scandal is now involves people in the office of the Brittish prime minister. http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jan/21/andy-coulson-phone-hacking-statement
