The Murdoch tape: weak, weak, weak.
It remains surprising just how often stories that first appeared in Private Eye aren't followed up until rival organisations then suddenly decide to claim them as their own. A case in point is the Murdoch tape: Private Eye published extracts from it 2 issues ago. 3 weeks later and Exaro News along with Channel 4 claim the tape as their own scoop. True, they've made available the full tape, apparently recorded by embittered Sun journalists who didn't trust Keith meant what he said at their meeting, but without giving the Eye any credit for having obtained it first.
What's more, for the most part both Keith and the Sun's hacks have good reason to be embittered. Murdoch's comment that "news tips from cops" in exchange for money have been going for over 100 years is right, nor is it just the Sun or the late Screws guilty of such payments. That only the Sun has been turned over by the Met does give more than a hint of how this is in some way vengeance for how the Met were themselves caught in the phone hacking fallout. The handing over of the archive by News Corporation's Management and Standards Committee helped immensely, but don't underestimate the desire of the police to get even, for which see the continuing revelations about how they attempted to smear the family of Stephen Lawrence.
Nor should anyone underestimate the desire of Murdoch to strike back. That he promises they will "hit back" when they can is a wonderful insight into how his papers have always worked. They might not wreak revenge immediately, but they will. Just look at how the Sun last week almost unbelievably highlighted how the police smeared Liverpool fans after Hillsborough without mentioning its own abhorrent role. The message was clear: the police, who used to be able to rely on the Sun to back them come what may, have at least temporarily lost one of their closest media allies.
The other insight provided is just how loyal Keith remains to Rebekah Brooks, which understandably continues to anger the rest of the staff on his papers. He whinges not just about how the police came into her office, despite being told they wouldn't find anything, but also about how she was arrested on a Monday morning by about "15 or 16 officers", which is "ridiculous, quite openly". Considering the number of times Sun hacks have been in tow when the police have raided celebrity targets, or how the Scum recently entrapped Tulisa Contostavlos and then rejoiced when she was picked up, excuse me if I don't empathise with Brooks' sad predicament.
The point is, neither do the hacks. They don't believe Keith when he says that even if they're found guilty and imprisoned that News Corp will look after them, as he did Brooks when she walked away with an astonishing £10.8m in compensation for in effect screwing over his company. If they did commit misconduct in public office, then surely so did their editors and those who signed off the payments. Never before has Murdoch been anything other than trusted, and never before has he been so weak while still trying to give an image of strength.
What's more, for the most part both Keith and the Sun's hacks have good reason to be embittered. Murdoch's comment that "news tips from cops" in exchange for money have been going for over 100 years is right, nor is it just the Sun or the late Screws guilty of such payments. That only the Sun has been turned over by the Met does give more than a hint of how this is in some way vengeance for how the Met were themselves caught in the phone hacking fallout. The handing over of the archive by News Corporation's Management and Standards Committee helped immensely, but don't underestimate the desire of the police to get even, for which see the continuing revelations about how they attempted to smear the family of Stephen Lawrence.
Nor should anyone underestimate the desire of Murdoch to strike back. That he promises they will "hit back" when they can is a wonderful insight into how his papers have always worked. They might not wreak revenge immediately, but they will. Just look at how the Sun last week almost unbelievably highlighted how the police smeared Liverpool fans after Hillsborough without mentioning its own abhorrent role. The message was clear: the police, who used to be able to rely on the Sun to back them come what may, have at least temporarily lost one of their closest media allies.
The other insight provided is just how loyal Keith remains to Rebekah Brooks, which understandably continues to anger the rest of the staff on his papers. He whinges not just about how the police came into her office, despite being told they wouldn't find anything, but also about how she was arrested on a Monday morning by about "15 or 16 officers", which is "ridiculous, quite openly". Considering the number of times Sun hacks have been in tow when the police have raided celebrity targets, or how the Scum recently entrapped Tulisa Contostavlos and then rejoiced when she was picked up, excuse me if I don't empathise with Brooks' sad predicament.
The point is, neither do the hacks. They don't believe Keith when he says that even if they're found guilty and imprisoned that News Corp will look after them, as he did Brooks when she walked away with an astonishing £10.8m in compensation for in effect screwing over his company. If they did commit misconduct in public office, then surely so did their editors and those who signed off the payments. Never before has Murdoch been anything other than trusted, and never before has he been so weak while still trying to give an image of strength.
Labels: abuses by tabloids, dark arts, Leveson inquiry, media analysis, Metropolitan police, phone hacking, Rebekah Brooks, Rupert Murdoch, Scum-watch, Sun-watch
| Permalink
Post a Comment