Rupert Murdoch might not be guilty of picking up a phone and hacking into someone’s private messages, but he is guilty of not knowing what is going on in the apparent one percent of his business empire. In the phone hacking hearing which took place in the UK, Murdoch claimed that the News of the World represented less than 1% of his business as a whole. This was nearly as ignorant and disrespectful as his opening line; “Today is the most humble day of my life”, as he interrupted the heir to his throne at the beginning of proceedings.
The aim of the hearing was to get answers, as to who was responsible for the phone hacking and who should be brought to justice. However, at the end of the proceedings, an idiot and shaving foam remained the centre of attention. So what did we learn from the hearing? Not a lot surprisingly. Murdoch is blaming the people he trusted, which would have been Brooks, who not surprisingly also went on to blame someone else. The hearing provided the world with an image of Murdoch never before seen, a speechless, defeated, confused old man. Rupert Murdoch is certainly showing his age, as question marks must be raised over how much control his son James now has over his business empire.
Rupert answered questions like any man in his eighties would, pithy and to the point with a brazen attitude. The younger Murdoch was much more advised and acted as a PR practitioner more than a son. This was clearly evident when Murdoch senior was attacked by an idiot comedian during the hearing and hit in the face with a shaving foam pie. While James appeared to move back from the incident, Wendi Deng - the wife of Rupert Murdoch, leapt to the defence of her frail husband and retaliated with a right hook of her own for the attacker. This almost heart warming defence of Murdoch by Wendi took the attacker by surprise. When asked about the attack Marbles ironically replied, "As Mr Murdoch himself said, I'm afraid I cannot comment on an ongoing police investigation."
When quizzed about his dealings with former News of The World chief reporter Neville Thurlbeck, Murdoch senior stated that he, “Never heard of him”. Murdoch also stated that he spent more of his time talking to the editor of the wall street journal than with representatives of his papers in the United Kingdom. If this, “hands off” approach by Murdoch is true, who has been in charge of the News of the World and for how long? It is absolutely fascinating what Murdoch claims not to know and also what he may not have been told. James Murdoch served as his father’s chief protector during the hearing and it looked like damage limitation on his behalf. He attempted to fine tune his father’s answers and “old school approach”, with much more advised answers and feedback. James also stated that the Murdoch’s welcomed David Cameron’s inquiry.
I’m sure it is as welcome as a shaving foam pie.
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