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Andy Coulson guilty in phone hacking trial: How hacking scandal punctured the puffed-up House of Murdoch
Andy Coulson guilty in phone hacking trial: How hacking scandal punctured the puffed-up House of Murdoch
(about 9 hours later)
In the late summer of 2006, when officers from Scotland Yard made their first hacking arrests, Rupert Murdoch and his UK newspaper subsidiary News International were puffed up with their sense of importance.
On balance, the hacking verdicts will have been greeted by Rupert Murdoch and his senior lieutenants with a degree of relief.
The great media potentate was toying with British politicians, hinting at his future support for David Cameron and pointedly warning the Prime Minister-in-waiting Gordon Brown against calling a snap election. Tony Blair, who was in his final months in Downing Street, had agreed to be Rupert’s special guest at his annual company bash at the Pebble Beach resort in California, alongside Bill Clinton and NI editors including The Sun’s Rebekah Wade (as she then was) and Andy Coulson of the News of the World. Commentators surmised that the Prime Minister desired an “enduring relationship” with the News Corp boss.
For the old media baron, there will have been personal delight at the acquittal of a woman he regards almost as another daughter. But spin doctors at News Corp were well aware that Rebekah Brooks was the figure in the dock most associated with its corporate culture and governance. Her being cleared limits the likelihood of further repercussions against the company in the US.
We learned eight years later at the Old Bailey trial just how close they all were – and that Mr Blair offered to act as unofficial consultant to Rebekah Brooks and Rupert Murdoch as the hacking scandal reached a critical point in 2011.
That has to be weighed against the embarrassment of the conviction of Andy Coulson, the former editor of what was once News Corp’s biggest-selling British paper, and the guilty pleas of some of his senior colleagues.
But when the News of the World’s royal editor Clive Goodman and the paper’s in-house private detective Glenn Mulcaire were being questioned by police in 2006, News International appeared bomb proof. Home Secretary John Reid was backing the News of the World “Sarah’s Law” anti-paedophile campaign and his predecessor David Blunkett had accepted Brooks’s offer to write a column for The Sun.
In a statement, News UK, the London-based subsidiary, was careful to sound contrite. “We said long ago, and repeat today, that wrongdoing occurred, and we apologised for it. We have been paying compensation to those affected and have co-operated with investigations,” it said.
The media scandal of the moment concerned not News Corp but the former owner of the Daily Telegraph, Conrad Black, who was facing jail for looting his business empire. The hacking arrests were embarrassing, yes, but as news emerged of a UK terror plot to blow up US-bound jumbo jets, the matter quickly drifted off the news agenda.
Mr Murdoch has been officially informed that detectives want to interview him as a suspect as part of their inquiry into allegations of crime at his British newspaper, The Guardian reported.
Even when the hacking scandal re-emerged in 2009, News International famously attempted to dismiss the affair as the work of a “rogue reporter”. It was only in February 2011, when it set up its Management & Standards Commission – and began co-operating with Scotland Yard’s newly-formed Operation Weeting team, that the company seemed to be facing up to the scale of the scandal, even if its priority was to minimise civil payments to hacking victims.
It is all of marked contrast to the late summer of 2006, as officers from Scotland Yard prepared to make their first hacking arrests. Then the great media potentate was toying with British politicians, hinting at his future support for David Cameron and pointedly warning the Prime Minister-in-waiting, Gordon Brown, against calling a snap election. When the hacking scandal re-emerged in 2009, News International dismissed the affair as the work of a “rogue reporter”.
The Milly Dowler revelations, which emerged that July, changed everything. Since that moment, the UK company – founded by a proud Mr Murdoch in 1981 to oversee his stable of historic titles - has been seeking to cut ties with its past and re-establish itself as a business of the future. A total rebrand and sweeping senior personnel changes are designed to signal this fresh start.
It was only in February 2011, when it set up its management and standards commission – and began co-operating with the Yard’s newly formed Operation Weeting team, that the company seemed to be facing up to the scandal, even if its priority was to minimise civil payments to hacking victims.
There has also been a concerted attempt to change the corporate culture – or at least convince the outside world of such a transformation.
The Milly Dowler revelations, which emerged that July, changed everything. Since that moment, the UK company has been seeking to cut ties with its past and re-establish itself as a business of the future. There has also been a concerted attempt to change the corporate culture – or at least convince the outside world of such a transformation.
Staff entered the old company through the “Gatehouse” – a name more synonymous with a Norman castle or Victorian jail than a modern media company. The entrance building of NI’s Wapping plant became television’s stock shot of NI during the early years of the hacking scandal. It stood at the junction of a network of high walls and wire-topped fences that were a legacy of the company’s stormy past as “Fortress Wapping” became the scene of the bloody trade union dispute of 1986-87.
The entrance “Gatehouse” became television’s stock shot of NI’s Wapping plant during the early years of the scandal. The Gatehouse no longer functions after NI moved to discreet modern offices nearby in 2011. Last year, the company rebranded as News UK, dropping its portcullis-style badge for an open logo inspired by the handwriting of Mr Murdoch and his late father, Keith. Later this year, News Corp hopes to complete this cleansing process by abandoning Wapping after 30 years and crossing the Thames to new premises at The Place, alongside the Shard skyscraper, where journalists will work alongside other News Corp businesses, including the publisher HarperCollins, giving a softer corporate focus.
The Gatehouse no longer functions after NI quit its fortress in 2011 for a discreet modern office complex nearby. The company has deployed a succession of strategic firebreaks in its desperate attempts to contain the hacking conflagration. Last year it rebranded as News UK, dropping the old portcullis-style badge in favour of a more open logo inspired by the handwriting of Mr Murdoch and his late father Keith. That change came as the global News Corp business split into two, with the entertainment division taking the name 21st Century Fox.
Tony Blair and Rupert Murdoch at an awards ceremony in 2008 – a remarkable friendship that started in 1995
Tony Blair and Rupert Murdoch at an awards ceremony in 2008 – a remarkable friendship that started in 1995 Later this year, News Corp hopes to complete this cleansing process by abandoning Wapping after 30 years and moving across the River Thames to new premises at The Place, alongside the Shard skyscraper, where journalists will work cheek-by-jowl colleagues from other News Corp businesses, including publisher Harper Collins, giving a softer corporate focus.
Has Mr Murdoch got away with it? Many analysts in the US think so. The influential Business Week ran a cover story on him last year under the headline “The Escape Artist”. No Murdochs were arrested during this protracted scandal. The global empire has kept its US broadcasting licence and its 39 per cent stake in BSkyB, which is set to become a pan-European broadcaster. Rupert retains control of the seven-day Sun, The Times and The Sunday Times. Planet Murdoch is richer than ever and its founder remains in charge.
Has Rupert Murdoch got away with it?
Hacking, for all the humiliation it caused Mr Murdoch in Britain, and for all its potential implications for his US business, never really crossed the Atlantic.
Many analysts in America think so. The influential Business Week ran a cover story on him last year under the headline “The Escape Artist”. It traced his path from the “most humble day of my life” in July 2011 when he was questioned over hacking by MPs to an improved share price and enormous cash reserves.
The News Corp part of the divided business recently reported a fall in revenues but outperformed Wall Street expectations and continues to make acquisitions. Meanwhile 21st Century Fox, buoyed by the success of its Super Bowl coverage, reported quarterly revenues of $8.2 billion, also above predictions.
No Murdochs were ever arrested during this protracted scandal. The global empire has kept its US broadcasting licence and its 39 per cent stake in BSkyB, which is set to become a pan-European broadcaster. Rupert retains control of the seven-day Sun, The Times and The Sunday Times. Planet Murdoch is richer than ever and its founder remains in charge.
Hacking, for all the humiliation it caused Rupert in Britain and for all its potential implications for his US business, never really crossed the Atlantic.
