The End of News Of The World

[C0ckney]

well surely he knew that his privacy had been invaded when the stories appeared. he must have known that information on his bank accounts and legal files had been accessed when it was published in the newspapers.

[MikeH]

I don't think they ran any stories on the bank accounts, and they dispute how the medical information was obtained. He could have assumed someone at the hospital told them, which seems to be what they are saying happened.

[Tupac Shakur]

It's commentary section is garbage.

All opinion sections are ****.

[C0ckney]

i seem to remember a story about a property deal which presumably would have used such files. i suppose we'll have to wait for all the facts to come out but i have a hard time believing that brown didn't know they had accessed his private information while office.

[MikeH]

I'm saying he didn't have the evidence as to how they got any information they used in stories that he has now.

[Cort Haus]

What exactly would be the consequences to be feared? I don't doubt there are some, but my imagination is drawing a blank as to practical consequences.

Well, NoW demonstrated that they were quite happy to profit from his son's illness, showing that his family was fair game. I'm suggesting that he might have feared further damage to his family. Any embarrassing incident or detail, even if legal, could be uncomfortable. This is all about a press baron's power over politics, after all. The ability to shape public opinion in one thing, having top politicians by the balls personally is something else. It's already looking like they had key people in the Met by the balls.

[Dinner]

In the "no one should be surprised" department Fox News has been completely avoiding any and all mention of Murdoch's trouble's in the UK and now in the US. Fox literally has taken a complete pass and pretended like the scandal didn't exist until yesterday. Fair & balanced my ass.

FOX avoiding News of the World scandal?

[Dauphin]

I'm intrigued as to why Gordon Brown would have gone to Rebekah Brook's wedding (at which Murdoch was also present) if he was so unhappy with her (and him).

[Cort Haus]

I'm intrigued as to why Gordon Brown would have gone to Rebekah Brook's wedding (at which Murdoch was also present) if he was so unhappy with her (and him).

Indeed. Either he wasn't unhappy with NI or he felt under pressure to attend.

[MikeH]

Every prime minister for the last 30 years has had their heads so far up Murdoch's (and especially The Sun's) arse they could lick his tonsils.

[Cort Haus]

Murdoch has claimed that Brown is lying.

In his first interview about the crisis that has engulfed his media empire, Murdoch said some MPs' comments on the scandal were "total lies" and singled out Brown for criticism over the former prime minister's accusation that News International was guilty of "law-breaking on an industrial scale".

The media baron said Brown "got it entirely wrong" when he alleged that Murdoch's British papers had used "known criminals" to get access to his personal information when Labour was in power.

"The Browns were always friends of ours" until the Sun withdrew its support for Labour before the last general election, he told the Wall Street Journal, his flagship US paper.

Link

[Dinner]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0GFRcFm-aY

[OneFootInTheGrave]

this is a good insight into the empire

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/press/robert-fisk-why-i-had-to-leave-the-times-2311569.html

[Cort Haus]

So The Sun didn't access the medical records of GB's son:

In a statement printed in its corrections and clarification section today, The Guardian said: "Articles in the Guardian of Tuesday 12 July incorrectly reported that the Sun newspaper had obtained information on the medical condition of Gordon Brown's son from his medical records.

"In fact the information came from a different source and the Guardian apologises for its error."

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/me...y-2314195.html

[C0ckney]

Every prime minister for the last 30 years has had their heads so far up Murdoch's (and especially The Sun's) arse they could lick his tonsils.

except that's not really true is it. thatcher didn't, although she was his friend. major certainly didn't, and that goes for all newspapers. the rot really started with blair.

the whole brown thing now, like i said i have sympathy for him about what happened, but the man was and is a political coward and was a terrible prime minister. parts of his story don't stack up (i.e. the bits where he tries to explain why he kept quiet whilst in office) and in the end his intervention will probably end up just muddying the waters.