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In the year In 2011, Rupert Murdoch told MPs that “this is the most humbling day of my life” after the horrific hacking of his newspapers. Thankfully, the days of the media rich, sack-clothed man didn’t last.
He was one of the select guests at Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday. In the summer, as the UK election loomed, both Sir Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak b His summer party. The intervening years are not counted as rehabilitation. Murdoch has had to pay well over $1 billion in costs and damages to victims of news organizations on both sides of the Atlantic who have been victims of criminality, industrial interference or malpractice.
Wednesday saw a last-minute settlement in a dramatic phone-hacking case against the company in Britain, a case with one victim insisting on his day in court. Prince Harry He took it to the brink, however, with himself being tipped for huge losses, an unprecedented apology and the admission of historic wrongdoing by private investigators working for The Sun – although senior officials have denied wrongdoing.
Murdoch Newsgroup newspapersThe News UK subsidiary has used its financial resources to settle at least 1,300 cases out of court to avoid damaging revelations or inquiries. The UK civil courts exist not to disclose information, but to provide redress. The rules encourage settlement by imposing potential costs on the winning plaintiff if they go to trial and do not secure more than a pre-settled settlement. Those who want to fight will face impossible dangers. Actor last year Hugh Grant Failure to do so could cost him millions in legal fees, he said reluctantly.
For the Duke of Sussex – and his co-accused, former Deputy Leader of Labor Lord Tom Watson – it really wasn’t about the money. They hoped a trial would expose them. Murdoch Executives for new revelations about the illegal use of private investigators and the company’s efforts to contain the scandal. That possibility is now denied. NGN’s strategy worked despite Duque’s “major victory”. A lot of money has been spent trying to keep these cases from going to trial. Finally, he could not resist financial risks.
After the settlement, Prince Harry’s lawyer, David Sherborne, said that NGN had “deleted more than 30 million emails and made false denials”. They faced “more than £1 billion in fees and costs”. Sherborne added that the claimants were “hard-armed to settle without getting to the truth”. NGN’s lawyers strongly dispute the cover-up proposals and always say the cancellations are part of a broader housekeeping process.
A similar method of payment to avoid the daylight of a court case implemented in the US. In the year 2023 Fox News paid $787 million. to settle a defamation suit against Dominion Voting Systems over false claims the channel was involved in electoral fraud in the 2020 election. At the heart of the scandal was concern that Fox’s failure to support Trump’s allegations of fraud would drive viewers to more conservative channels. After the deal, Fox joked: “This deal demonstrates Fox’s continued commitment to the highest standards of journalism.”
No wonder Murdoch is still welcome in Trump’s circle. But he is still in court in the United Kingdom. The Tories protested media corruption and the government’s press law, reporting part two of the public inquiry. Starmer followed that line and challenged Murdoch in opposition. The Sun backed Starmer in the election – although perhaps victory seemed inevitable.
Murdoch has since sold his stake in Sky TV, handing over formal management of the businesses to his eldest son Lachlan. Rebecca Brooks, the former editor of The Sun and News of the World – and the company’s chief executive – is now chief executive of UK parent company News UK.
Many despise Murdoch for his politics and influence, though few would dispute his brilliance as a business and newspaper man. But the bottom line here is that the settlements have clouded troubling questions about the company’s actions. Journalist Nick Davis, who broke the scandal, has detailed the issues arising from the memos in stunning detail.Minutes, emails and documents have now been released to the court before the cases were resolvedWorrying about them is only one side of the story.
Murdoch’s businesses have spent huge sums to avoid further public scrutiny. The maximum risk of their bet has passed and this latest furore will decrease. The only hope for full transparency now is to re-open the police’s accountability issues raised by the new documents and by Sherborne and others at the top of the company, including former Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The police did not identify themselves in the initial inquiries and there are questions to be resolved. Only if a new diagnosis is confirmed can it really be a victory.
Otherwise, there can only be one conclusion. According to the Buchanans of The Great Gatsby, Murdoch’s businesses are able to destroy lives and retreat to their finances. He and his executors remain unbowed; Crushed and crawled. The warrior prince won over many, but in the end, he could not even pay the full price of justice.
