Rupert Murdoch and new 'Washington Post' CEO accused of cover-up in hacking scandal

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: NPR

March 21, 2024 5:00 AM ET


For the first time, media titan Rupert Murdoch was accused in court of personally knowing about phone hacking and other illegal acts by his British tabloids stretching back nearly two decades, far earlier than he admitted, and giving "knowingly false" evidence under oath in an official inquiry.

In addition, lawyers for Britain's Prince Harry, the actor Hugh Grant and other prominent figures accused The Washington Post's new publisher and chief executive, Will Lewis, of actively plotting to cover up senior executives' role in the scandal when he worked for the Murdoch publishing empire in London, now called News UK. NPR previously reported on these allegations against Lewis, but Wednesday's presentation fleshed them out with damning detail.

The accusations threaten to tether the two men together at a time when Lewis is seeking to push forward in his new role at the Post. Lewis and the Post declined comment through a newspaper spokesperson. An aide to Murdoch did not respond to a query seeking comment from the 93-year-old media mogul.

The accusations arose during an effort by litigants to amend their phone-hacking lawsuit against Murdoch's British newspaper arm. If successful, the case would lodge broader and deeper charges that place Murdoch, Lewis and News UK chief Rebekah Brooks, among other executives, at center stage. Harry and the others are suing over a variety of forms of invasion of privacy, which include phone hacking, computer hacking, and payments to acquire confidential personal information.

Read more: https://www.npr.org/2024/03/21/1239682458/prince-harry-hacking-murdoch-tabloids-will-lewis-washington-post

[liberalgunwilltravel]

1. Great.

Maybe now the Washington Post will stop looking like a Murdoch rag.

[Martin68]

3. That's absurd on the face of it. The Post provides excellent journalism. I know because I read the paper daily.

Yes, some conservative editorialists are included for balance. Overall, the reporting is truly balanced and fair.

[jaxexpat]

2. How much evidence is requred to finally........

expose the fact democracy cannot endure in the face of concentrated wealth? This concentration is a byproduct of targeted loosening of antitrust regulations over the last 40 years.
Like doggie romance in the Kroger parking lot, it's right out there in front of everyone.

[hay rick]

5. Doggie romance is my phrase for the day.

"Free speech" for corporations and billionaires has turned into a very few people having megaphones sufficiently large to drown out most other voices.

[twodogsbarking]

4. Piece of old shit.

[speak easy]

6. Lachlan Murdoch is worse than Rupert.

[Wild blueberry]

7. I cancelled my subscription to the Washington Post when they hired Lewis

Hard decision, since I utterly respect some of their journalists. However, having someone that corrupt at the top is a very bad sign.
Trusted Martin Barron, Lewis not at all.
Oddly enough, even when I tried to convey why I was cancelling there seemed to be zero interest.

[mopinko]

8. been happening for a long time. a convo i had in 04

w jan schakowsky’s political director- y isnt she pushing doe impeachment? y isnt anyone?
he- they’re afraid
me- afraid of what?
well, he wouldnt say, but implied it was about oppo. there were already rumors about murdoch’s hacking. not long after there was a story that jan had had a fling w a red sparrow.

it never stuck, but ya know, i know her pretty well, and my response was- u go grl. honestly didnt have a hard time believing is. but i was quite sure she wouldnt have fallen for much. and certainly wouldnt have given up shit.

it aint just the russians or the chinese spying on american citizens.

[KS Toronado]

9. So, how much phone & computer hacking is FQX guilty of?

[Prairie_Seagull]

10. It would be very interesting to know

What actual hardware/software was hackable so we could take appropriate measures. We think this is only used on newsworthy people but ...