Murdoch shutting down 'News of the World' amid scandal

[Mole]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle2089728/



Though this makes me sad in that it has clearly gone too far, perhaps this will cause the entire press to pull their head out.

[rusure]

Is it me or does Rupert remind you of Jonathan Pryce as the evil Elliot Carver in the Bond movie, Tomorrow Never Dies?

Just putting that out there

Cheers all...

[Dioneo]

It's a pretty amazing story. Reminds me of the State of Play miniseries on BBC.

Also, what does the thread title mean?

[Jake]

I edited the title to reflect the linked article.

Here is another article from Reuters Canada.

http://ca.reuters.com/article/topNew...7641IO20110708

[hugh]

I have removed some inflammatory posts. Let's try to be civil.

[lima20]

NOTW has been asking for it for years. I use to read it religiously when I was back in London, and use to get it late Saturday night before it came out Sunday Morning.
Some of the stories they ran, and how much they were willing to pay for a juicy story was just crazy, but people loved all that and there was appetite for it.

Now 2 editors from the past, one that now works for the PM, have been arrested today according to the evening papers over there.

[gworg]

Originally Posted by Mole

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle2089728/



Though this makes me sad in that it has clearly gone too far, perhaps this will cause the entire press to pull their head out.

To date, based on an archives search, The New York Times has run 42 articles, op-eds and editorials on News of the World (PowerLine). That a tabloid in Britain could generate that level of interest makes me shake my head.

I have to ask, what makes this story so interesting? What am I missing?

[NeilN]

Reporters breaking into other people's voicemails, interfering with a murder investigation, harassing families of dead soldiers, having a very cozy relationship with political parties, and having the power to intimidate the police is not news to you?

[gworg]

Reporters having a cozy relationship with political parties isn't news to anyone.

[Mole]

I think the core message is that Newscorp is questionable at any level and I don't think of it in terms of right/ left as far as I can see O'Reilly on the right = Olberman on the left.


At this point if the New York Times or any Newscorp vehicle says the sky is blue I'm looking for a window.

[gworg]

Originally Posted by NeilN

Reporters breaking into other people's voicemails, interfering with a murder investigation, harassing families of dead soldiers, having a very cozy relationship with political parties, and having the power to intimidate the police is not news to you?

A different view of so-called police intimidation

The police had “a symbiotic relationship with the News of the World where they would leak things to it and the News of the World would drum up sympathy for police cases and against alleged criminals. They did not want to damage that relationship.”

[NeilN]

You asked why the "News of the World" is generating so much interest when it seems all you're interested in is defending them.

[gworg]

Oddly enough I haven't said a word in favor of or against News of the World. I have no use whatever for tabloids.

I admit to curiosity as to why the New York Times, as an example, is so interested in News of the World, which I don't give two hoots about, and Operation Fast and Furious, on which they have reported a mere 5 times, which potentially has the capability of causing high ranking government officials to be fired or even imprisoned.

But then the NYT knows it's readers far better than I.

[NeilN]

Hopefully the NYT never lets a blatantly partisan political blog dictate what it reports on. One of the reasons why the Times is giving prominence to the story is that they effectively broke the story (http://www.cjr.org/feature/anybody_there.php?page=all ). The British press was doing a good job in ignoring it ("British newspaper proprietors have enjoyed a longstanding tradition of covering each other’s travails as minimally as possible, lest wounded rivals take revenge."). All three major English newspapers in Canada have also now extensively covered the story.

I am curious as to why, as a Canadian, why you give "two hoots" as to what the NYT reports on.

[gworg]

Originally Posted by NeilN

I am curious as to why, as a Canadian, why you give "two hoots" as to what the NYT reports on.

It's off topic but I'll reply anyway and if it gets punted so be it.

The recession, depression or whatever it was had it's historical roots in the U. S. I am seriously interested in the investment climate in the U. S. and it's impact on the world. Understanding what stories an influential paper such as the NYT will report on and what their biases are or may be is important to understanding the current financial situation. So if I see a NYT article that makes claims about QE2 and maybe QE3 (quantitative easing for those not interested in the financial world) I have to view it in the context of what is their likely bias. I get a sense of that bias by reading many topics on many news services and forming my own opinion.

Long story short, the NYT version of U. S. finances and political motivations is of interest to me as it impacts my financial situation directly.

IMO the NYT motivation for 42 articles on a Rupert Murdoch owned paper is that the NYT and it's readers are afraid of his influence and will try to diminish that influence any way they can.