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| Ex-Tabloid Executive Acquitted In British Phone Hacking Case | |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| LONDON — She rose from being a secretary in Rupert Murdoch’s British newspaper empire to running it. She called prime ministers her friends. Then she found herself in the middle of one of the most riveting trials in years, accused of illegally intercepting voice mails and other crimes, alongside her husband and her former deputy, who it turned out, was also her lover. | |
| And on Tuesday, in the latest twist in her extraordinary saga, Rebekah Brooks, the protagonist of Britain’s phone hacking trial, who more than any other defendant had come to symbolize the freewheeling tabloid press and its proximity to power, was acquitted of all charges against her. | And on Tuesday, in the latest twist in her extraordinary saga, Rebekah Brooks, the protagonist of Britain’s phone hacking trial, who more than any other defendant had come to symbolize the freewheeling tabloid press and its proximity to power, was acquitted of all charges against her. |
| Her former lover, Andy Coulson, who succeeded her as editor at the now-defunct Sunday tabloid at the heart of the hacking scandal and who later became a spokesman for Prime Minister David Cameron, was found guilty of a conspiracy to intercept voice mails. Of the seven defendants in the case, Mr. Coulson was the only one to be convicted Tuesday; the jury has yet to decide on two other charges against Mr. Coulson, who faces a maximum of two years in prison for hacking, and another defendant. | |
| That single conviction belied the outsize impact of a yearslong saga that produced parliamentary hearings, humbled Mr. Murdoch, led to a new media law and spurred a cleanup of the worst practices in tabloid newsrooms. | That single conviction belied the outsize impact of a yearslong saga that produced parliamentary hearings, humbled Mr. Murdoch, led to a new media law and spurred a cleanup of the worst practices in tabloid newsrooms. |
| The trial embarrassed many in Britain’s media and political establishment, inducing additional political heartburn for Mr. Cameron, who on Tuesday apologized publicly for having hired Mr. Coulson as one of his top aides in 2007. Testimony in the trial revealed that former Prime Minister Tony Blair offered to act as an “unofficial adviser” to Ms. Brooks after she was implicated in the case. | The trial embarrassed many in Britain’s media and political establishment, inducing additional political heartburn for Mr. Cameron, who on Tuesday apologized publicly for having hired Mr. Coulson as one of his top aides in 2007. Testimony in the trial revealed that former Prime Minister Tony Blair offered to act as an “unofficial adviser” to Ms. Brooks after she was implicated in the case. |
| Tense and at times tawdry, the trial has also exposed in great detail the inner workings of British tabloid journalism — the six-figure price tags paid for celebrity scoops, the scavenging in trash cans and the systematic eavesdropping on the cellphones of celebrities, sports stars, politicians, members of the royal family and others caught up in the news. | Tense and at times tawdry, the trial has also exposed in great detail the inner workings of British tabloid journalism — the six-figure price tags paid for celebrity scoops, the scavenging in trash cans and the systematic eavesdropping on the cellphones of celebrities, sports stars, politicians, members of the royal family and others caught up in the news. |
| Ms. Brooks and Mr. Coulson, both 46, were close colleagues and friends who rose from scrappy tabloid newsrooms to become members of the London elite. Part of the prosecution’s case was that their relationship was so intimate that they would have shared what they knew about how their newspapers were operating, including the phone hacking. But in the jury room, their parallel careers diverged with finality. | Ms. Brooks and Mr. Coulson, both 46, were close colleagues and friends who rose from scrappy tabloid newsrooms to become members of the London elite. Part of the prosecution’s case was that their relationship was so intimate that they would have shared what they knew about how their newspapers were operating, including the phone hacking. But in the jury room, their parallel careers diverged with finality. |
| He was found to have admitted enough knowledge of what was going on that he could be convicted on at least one charge of conspiracy to intercept cellphone calls and messages. She apparently managed to convince the jury that she was sufficiently removed from it that it was possible she was unaware. | He was found to have admitted enough knowledge of what was going on that he could be convicted on at least one charge of conspiracy to intercept cellphone calls and messages. She apparently managed to convince the jury that she was sufficiently removed from it that it was possible she was unaware. |
| When the verdict was read and Ms. Brooks was cleared of charges related to phone hacking, hiding evidence and bribing public officials for information, she appeared to be overcome by emotion and was led away by a court official. Mr. Coulson clenched his jaw, then took a deep breath and stared straight ahead. | When the verdict was read and Ms. Brooks was cleared of charges related to phone hacking, hiding evidence and bribing public officials for information, she appeared to be overcome by emotion and was led away by a court official. Mr. Coulson clenched his jaw, then took a deep breath and stared straight ahead. |
| During the trial, the jury heard that Mr. Coulson commented “brilliant” when a journalist played him an intercepted voice mail left for the James Bond star Daniel Craig by the actress Sienna Miller. When a reporter was working on a story about Calum Best, a television celebrity, Mr. Coulson told him to “do his phone.” | |
| Prosecutors had presented phone data confirming widespread hacking during Mr. Coulson’s editorship of News of the World from 2003 to 2007. There was far less evidence of hacking from 2000 to 2003, when Ms. Brooks was in charge. | |
| The most controversial instance of hacking, however, did occur on her watch, in 2002: News of The World intercepted the voice mail of a kidnapped teenager, Milly Dowler, who was later found dead. When The Guardian disclosed the hacking in 2011, it galvanized public outrage at unscrupulous tabloid practices and helped pave the way to the trial. | |
| During the week in question in 2002, however, Ms. Brooks was on vacation and her then-deputy, Mr. Coulson, was in charge. The prosecution failed to persuade the jury that as Mr. Coulson’s boss and on-and-off lover, Ms. Brooks must have known. | |
| Roy Greenslade, a professor of journalism at City University in London, said many in Britain had expected her to be convicted. “People will be outraged that the prosecution couldn’t make a good enough case,” he said. | Roy Greenslade, a professor of journalism at City University in London, said many in Britain had expected her to be convicted. “People will be outraged that the prosecution couldn’t make a good enough case,” he said. |
| Ms. Brooks and her husband, Charlie, a racehorse trainer who was also acquitted of charges of hiding evidence (along with his pornography collection) from the police, left the court in a taxi without offering comment. The other people acquitted were Ms. Brooks’s former personal assistant, Cheryl Carter, 50; Mark Hanna, 51, a former security director; and Stuart Kuttner, 74, a retired managing editor. The jury is still considering further charges against Mr. Coulson and Clive Goodman, 56, the former royals editor of News of the World, on charges related to paying police officers for access to royal telephone directories. | Ms. Brooks and her husband, Charlie, a racehorse trainer who was also acquitted of charges of hiding evidence (along with his pornography collection) from the police, left the court in a taxi without offering comment. The other people acquitted were Ms. Brooks’s former personal assistant, Cheryl Carter, 50; Mark Hanna, 51, a former security director; and Stuart Kuttner, 74, a retired managing editor. The jury is still considering further charges against Mr. Coulson and Clive Goodman, 56, the former royals editor of News of the World, on charges related to paying police officers for access to royal telephone directories. |
| At times Britain’s phone-hacking scandal has felt like a badly scripted television drama, with all its barely believable turns and twists: the father-daughter-like relationship between Mr. Murdoch and Ms. Brooks; her $17.6 million severance payment from News International (renamed News UK since); a steamy love letter to Mr. Coulson that was read out in court; and a tabloid-style defense strategy that featured the kind of highly personal revelations for which the tabloids Ms. Brooks once edited might have paid six figures, like the adultery and the daughter she had by a surrogate mother. | |
| “My personal life was a bit of a car crash,” she said in the witness stand early on. | “My personal life was a bit of a car crash,” she said in the witness stand early on. |
| Ms. Brooks was a longtime protégée of Mr. Murdoch’s, and has been called his “fifth daughter” in the British news media. At 31, she became editor of News of the World. A decade later, she was running his British newspapers. All the while, she accumulated a glittering list of friends. Mr. Cameron, a neighbor in the Oxforsdshire countryside, rode her husband’s horses. | Ms. Brooks was a longtime protégée of Mr. Murdoch’s, and has been called his “fifth daughter” in the British news media. At 31, she became editor of News of the World. A decade later, she was running his British newspapers. All the while, she accumulated a glittering list of friends. Mr. Cameron, a neighbor in the Oxforsdshire countryside, rode her husband’s horses. |
| The tabloid culture revealed in the trial was one in which paying as much as $240,000 for a single article was deemed justified, if that meant beating rivals, even at other Murdoch papers, to a scoop. In one striking example, News of the World tracked down the prostitute Divine Brown, who had been arrested with the actor Hugh Grant in Los Angeles in 1995, and offered her £100,000, or about $160,000, for an exclusive. “Hugh Told Me I Was His Sex Fantasy,” the resulting headline read. | The tabloid culture revealed in the trial was one in which paying as much as $240,000 for a single article was deemed justified, if that meant beating rivals, even at other Murdoch papers, to a scoop. In one striking example, News of the World tracked down the prostitute Divine Brown, who had been arrested with the actor Hugh Grant in Los Angeles in 1995, and offered her £100,000, or about $160,000, for an exclusive. “Hugh Told Me I Was His Sex Fantasy,” the resulting headline read. |
| The testimony was such that Ms. Brooks is unlikely to fully recover her reputation — and the trial has humbled a once mighty and swaggering tabloid press, regardless of the outcome. Newspapers may become a little more boring, experts said, but at least they appear to stay within the law these days. | |
| “The tabloids have become rather less tabloidy,” said John Lloyd, co-founder of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford. Indeed, given the economics of the industry, he suggested, these changes are unlikely to be reversed. The tabloids, Mr. Lloyd said. “are losing power all the time.” | “The tabloids have become rather less tabloidy,” said John Lloyd, co-founder of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford. Indeed, given the economics of the industry, he suggested, these changes are unlikely to be reversed. The tabloids, Mr. Lloyd said. “are losing power all the time.” |
| This may not be the end of legal action against Mr. Murdoch’s News UK. More trials loom, involving 20 current or former reporters from The Sun and News of the World, accused of phone hacking and paying public officials for information. | |
| The Guardian reported Tuesday that News UK itself may be charged as a corporation, following Mr. Coulson’s conviction. Mr. Murdoch and his son James, the former executive chairman of the company, might both face questioning by the police in the “near future,” the newspaper reported. | |
| In an internal memo to his staff on Tuesday, Mike Darcey, the current chief executive of Mr. Murdoch’s News UK, urged staff members to “hold your head high.” | In an internal memo to his staff on Tuesday, Mike Darcey, the current chief executive of Mr. Murdoch’s News UK, urged staff members to “hold your head high.” |
| “We should all be proud of what we do here, and the way we do it,” Mr. Darcey said. “Our journalism is world class, and is conducted under the strictest standards of ethics and governance.” | “We should all be proud of what we do here, and the way we do it,” Mr. Darcey said. “Our journalism is world class, and is conducted under the strictest standards of ethics and governance.” |