It’s been a bad day for Rupert. In the UK, he has lost BSkyB, a big hit to his propaganda empire. The Prime Minister he used to own has turned on him, and investigations are beginning. In the US, there are multiple calls for criminal investigations. Even the Bancroft family is running for cover, claiming that if only they had known, they would never sold him the WSJ, but more about them later. We have a lot of ground to cover.
Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. abruptly withdrew its bid to take over Britain’s biggest satellite broadcaster Wednesday, bowing to intense pressure from lawmakers and a general public outraged over a spiraling phone-hacking scandal involving newspapers owned by the Australia-born tycoon.
"We believe that the proposed acquisition of BSkyB by News Corporation would benefit both companies, but it has become clear that it is too difficult to progress in this climate," Chase Carey, the deputy chairman of News Corp., said in a terse statement released Wednesday afternoon in London.
The decision was a humiliating turnaround for Murdoch and for News Corp., which has been seeking government approval for months to take control of BSkyB. Owning the broadcast company would have represented a major expansion of Murdoch’s already-large media empire in Britain, which includes newspapers such as the Times of London and the Sun.
Only 10 days ago, Murdoch seemed on track to receive the green light for his $12 billion bid. The British government had given strong indications it would grant permission for the takeover on the grounds that antitrust rules on media ownership would not be violated…
Inserted from <San Francisco Chronicle>
This is HUGE! It’s as though he had been unable to get Faux Noise here.
Let the investigations begin.
The scandal enveloping the media conglomerate News Corp. crossed the Atlantic on Wednesday, as several Senate Democrats called for investigations of allegations that the firm bribed foreign officials and hacked the phones of 9/11 victims.
Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) all called for the U.S. government to act on Wednesday, even as News Corp. dropped its bid to take over the British satellite TV provider BSkyB under political pressure from the U.K. Parliament.
Later on Wednesday, Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, became the first Republican to call for an FBI investigation. Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) also called for a probe… [emphasis added]
Inserted from <The Hill>
I suspect that King is privy to inside information, and he’s getting out of the line of fire. I expect Issa will hold hearings too, trying to assist in the cover up.
Keith Olbermann has the story in two segments with John Dean and Michael Wolff on Countdown.
The second:
Back to the Bancroft family, while they were making their decision we flooded them with calls, email, and petitions begging them not to sell it to him. Their had we only knew claim rings false, because we told them exactly what he is like, based on the manner in which he operates the Republican Ministry of Propaganda. We deserve a better apology from them than that.
No doubt more and more shocking discoveries are forthcoming.
13 Responses to “Murdoch: The Plot Intensifies”
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You’re to easy on ISSa. I believe he is the wealthiest member of congress (about a half billion bucks) and probably has some knowledge he wants attention diverted away from as well.
Issa has got some Tbills so that if the currency crashes, he’ll make a boat load of money. Sounds like the perfect person to conduct an investigation, eh?
This will be more fun than the Wateergate Hearings.
I might start watching Fox again, just to see them squirm, as they report on their own demise. 😈 Maybe Bill’o can team up with Geraldo. 😈
Does anyone know if it’s possible to overdose on Schadenfreude? But this just keeps getting bigger and better:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jul/13/news-corp-pulls-out-of-bskyb-bid
I know the £38.5m (a little over $62 million) may be chump-change to Rupert, but it’s still nice!
Oh that’s rich!
Yes — in this case it is wonderful fun to watch the high and mighty fall– due to their own arrogance.
Heh, heh, heh. Lovin’ the whole damn show.
Phyllis – you’re absolutely right. They have been so arrogant and smug for 20 years, thinking they are untouchable this whole time. Now they have fucked up big time and may even go to jail for it! And they’ll all lose their jobs too, how sad. I’m ROTFLMAO! 👿
Me too! 😈 ROTFLMAO WMOI
Thanks to all who replied here. Mark, I think your point was excellent. I stand corrected.
I would ask Murdock, if his employees can hack into phone systems, then how about computers. I don’t care what anyone believes, but I still say that Murdoch and his cronies had something to do with the election between Gore/Bush.
If this government has one ounce of backbone, they would take Murdoch’s US citizen. The Republicans and Democrats seem to get along fine, until Murdoch purchased the Chicago Sun newspaper, then Fox News.
I believe that is the reason, that Mike Roko (sp?), a columist for the Chicago Sun quit.
Welcome Peggy! 🙂
I have no evidence of Murdoch’s involvement in any of these, but none would surprise me, as they are consistent with his norm. Certainly Fox, The Republican Ministry of Propaganda has pushed the hate beyond the limit.