Video of Rupert and James Murdoch at the select committee

Guardian has done a great job in posting the video and transcript plus insightful commentary, “Rupert and James Murdoch at the select committee – interactive presentation – Video and text of Rupert and James Murdoch’s appearance before the culture select committee, with commentary from Lisa O’Carroll“

Guardian’s Alan Rusbridger: How We Broke the Murdoch Scandal

Here is an excerpt from Guardian’s Alan Rusbridger Newsweek article: How We Broke the Murdoch Scandal - Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger on his dogged reporter, a U.S. ally—and a gamble that finally paid off,

“The tipping point came some time around the new year. The stream of civil legal actions became a torrent. The police became seriously engaged at last, appointing a new 45-strong team to do what had so glaringly not been done back in 2006. It has so far said that it has informed 170 out of nearly 4,000 targets. The regulator ripped up its old report as worthless. And then came the revelation by Nick Davies that NoTW had hacked into the phone calls of the missing teenager Milly Dowler, deleting her voice messages so that it could listen to new ones. That single action—which had given Milly’s parents hope during the dark days before it was confirmed that she had been murdered—caused a surge of revulsion from which NotW found it hard to recover.

Rarely has a single story had such a volcanic effect. Suddenly you couldn’t keep the politicians, journalists, police officers, and regulators off the TV screens. Police officers lined up to apologize for oversights and errors of judgment. M.P.s were suddenly saying very publicly things that, a fortnight earlier, they would only have whispered.

Webcast of Rebekah Brooks, Rupert Murdoch, James Murdoch testifying in front of UK Parliament Committee on Tue 19 July 0730MST/0930EST

FYI. Assuming Canada hasn’t been geo-blocked for viewing by UK Parliament (which I think shouldn’t and I hope wouldn’t). [HT Jeff]

UK Parliament HOC CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT COMMITTEE Tuesday 19 July - Meeting starts on Tuesday 19 July at 2.30pm [7:30am MST , 9:30am EST]

“Phone-hacking Witnesses:

Rebekah Brooks, Chief Executive Officer, News International Ltd, Rupert Murdoch, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, News Corporation, and James Murdoch, Deputy Chief Operating Officer and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, International News Corporation”

Richard Sambrook, Global Leader of Edelman Crisis and Issues Management, former BBC’s Director of Global News confirms zero involvement in Rupert Murdoch PR file

Since Edelman was hired to handle Rupert Murdoch‘s phone hacking scandals, news media like Guardian and I had openly wondered if news insiders like former BBC’s Director of Global News Richard Sambrook, Global Leader of Edelman Crisis and Issues Management (link), has been involved in the Murdoch file.

Today Richard kindly confirmed in response to my earlier tweets,

“@tom_peters will see if the global contagion can be halted by PR firm Edelman w brains like @richardwedelman @sambrook #fail #disgust #world“

“PR: Rupert Murdoch meets with family of murdered schoolgirl. #fail Love to be a fly at Edelman / inside minds of @richardwedelman @sambrook“

with Richard saying in a tweet,

“@kempton sorry to disappoint you but Im not actually working on it!“

I am not disappointed at all that Richard isn’t working on Murdoch‘s phone hacking scandal file. In fact, as someone who used to read Richard‘s blog and respect his opinions, I am actually relieved/happy that Richard is NOT working on Murdoch’s phone hacking scandal PR file!

Of course, as a reporter, I have to wonder why not?

May be Richard has another more important and urgent file that he is working on at Edelman?? But wait, the Murdoch‘s phone hacking scandal is the talk of the whole wide world. Easily the largest “crisis” any corporations have ever seen. A multi-billion dollars deal was killed because of this. Some suspect the scandal has the potential of bringing down or severely weaken Murdoch‘s media empire (a media company without trust or respect is not much if anything). And even capable of bringing down a government (just look at David Cameron’s recent damage control and tell me he is not worried)!

So as Global Leader of Edelman Crisis and Issues Management, yes Global Leader, why is Richard NOT involved in this most important and high profile Edelman file? I hate to put Richard on the spot because I used to admire him a lot and hope I can still admire him (but, what can I say, he is a “PR man” now). Will Richard be involved in the Murdoch‘s phone hacking scandal later, just not now? Or is Richard NOT involved by choice, quoting his own words when he joined Edelman,

“I don’t expect to check my values in at the door…“

The creditability of a man, especially a newsman, takes a lifetime to earn. I hope Richard‘s creditability and reputation can remain intact after the Rupert Murdoch‘s phone hacking scandals have passed with whatever outcome it will result in.

I want to close with Jeff Jarvis’s point, which I still think is right on, “Murdoch hires Edelman PR. This ain’t a PR problem, folks. It’s a moral problem.“

*******

11:48am Update: I added the following comment in a CBC News Facebook poll “Murdoch apology: Is it enough? – Your Community” asking,

“No, we shouldn’t let the handy advice by global PR firm Edelman fool us so easily. Saying sorry in every single UK newspaper for ONE DAY can’t compensate for the news media culture established *personally* by Rupert Murdoch for close to *60 YEARS* since 1953.“

12:24pm, 16 July 2011 update: Here is a video interview with President & CEO of Edelman, Richard Edelman. Have a watch of what he thinks as he is the man leading the PR firm that is advising Murdoch on his handling of the phone hacking scandals.

[HT John]

Here is an interesting official Edelmon London video of Richard Edelman talking about trust, especially interesting in light of Edelman‘s role in Murdoch‘s scandals. And it is unfortunate that I come across a claim of a quote that Richard Edelman said in a media training session, “Sometimes, you just have to stand up there and lie.“ (See AdAge 2008 Feb, “Blog Wars: Gawker vs. Edelman – Blog Suggests PR People Lie; PR Chief Takes Umbrage”)

***

For the record, Feb 2010 press release “BBC’S RICHARD SAMBROOK JOINS EDELMAN” (emphasis added),

“Richard Sambrook, the BBC’s Director of Global News and a member of the BBC’s Management Board for the last ten years, will be joining Edelman, the world’s largest independent PR firm, as Global Vice Chairman and Chief Content Officer in May.

The Beginning of The End of Rupert Murdoch? – Rebekah Brooks resigns over phone-hacking scandal

Given the business smart of Rupert Murdoch and the firepower one can buy from hiring Edelman, the largest global PR firm, it may still be too early to say this is the “Beginning of The End of” of Murdoch. But at least it is easier to say this may be the beginning of the end of Rebekah Brooks.

Guardian, “Rebekah Brooks resigns over phone-hacking scandal – News International chief stops short of full apology, saying she no longer wants to be ‘focal point of the debate’“

Guardian, “Rebekah Brooks resignation: the key quotes – We look at today’s key quotes on phone hacking and Brooks’ resignation as chief executive of News International“

Guardian, “Rebekah Brooks: where it all went wrong – News International chief executive resigns after criticism from second largest shareholder and Rupert Murdoch’s daughter“

BBC, “Phone hacking: News International chief Brooks quits“

BBC, “Profile: News International chief Rebekah Brooks“

Rupert Murdoch hires PR firm Edelman – PR problem or Moral problem?

July 16th update: “Richard Sambrook, Global Leader of Edelman Crisis and Issues Management, former BBC’s Director of Global News confirms zero involvement in Rupert Murdoch PR file“

***

From Guardian, “Phone hacking: Rupert Murdoch calls in PR firm Edelman - PR company will report directly to general manager of News International“

Jeff Jarvis has a point in saying, “Murdoch hires Edelman PR. This ain’t a PR problem, folks. It’s a moral problem.“

In case you care, Edelman’s Global CEO and President Richard Edelman blogs here.

On a personal note, I started paying attention to global PR firm Edelman probably around the time Richard Sambrook (former BBC’s Director of Global News & member of the BBC’s Management Board) joined Edelman in Feb 2010.

As you can see in my 2010 Feb comment left in Richard Sambrook’s blog entry, while I congratulated Richard on his move, I expressed my serious concerns and reservations of seeing a respected newsman joining a PR company. While we don’t know if Mr. Sambrook is involved in this engagement personally according to Guardian,

“Edelman last year hired the BBC’s former director of news, Richard Sambrook, to head up its “crisis and issues practice”. It is unclear whether he will be part of the firm’s News Corp team.“

I will not be surprised if his insights have a very strong influence in the Murdoch file. This is why big bucks are paid to hire Edelman to have access to people like Mr. Sambrook.

More excerpt from “Rupert Murdoch calls in PR firm Edelman” (emphasis added),

Smart or Stupid: Murdoch defies U.K. parliament in hacking probe – Breaking: Rupert & James Murdoch will appear before Commons committee on Tuesday

11:0 am MST update: see breaking news update:

Guardian, “Phone hacking: Rupert and James Murdoch make Commons U-turn – Murdochs will join Rebekah Brooks in being questioned by MPs on the Commons culture select committee“

***

I don’t know enough about the rules of UK parliamentary committee hearings or US’s Foreign Corrupt Practices Act but I think “Murdoch defies U.K. parliament in hacking probe” may be neither smart nor stupid, and simply legal moves to keep the old man and the company out of more trouble. While I don’t think Murdoch is going onto the same path as Lord Black (yet), I am openly wondering whether it would get to that one day?

News references worth reading (including breaking news):

Guardian, “Phone hacking scandal – live coverage“

“[breaking news update] * Rupert Murdoch, James Murdoch and Rebekah Brooks will all appear before the Commons culture, media and sport committee on Tuesday. The Murdochs originally refused to appear, but pressure appears to have forced them to reconsider (see 4.45pm). [...]

2.42pm: Eliot Spitzer, the former governor of New York, who resigned over reports that he was a client of prostitution ring, claims at Slate that it is “unlikely” News Corporation’s “shoddy ethics were limited to Great Britain”. Furthermore, he argues that US law may have been broken on the facts we know already. He refers specifically to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which bars American companies from paying bribes abroad.

So acts in Britain by British citizens working on behalf of News Corp. create liability for News Corp., an American business incorporated in Delaware and listed on American financial exchanges.

Phone hacking scandal: Is this Britain’s Watergate? Is this the beginning of the end for Rupert Murdoch?

Excerpt from UK Independent, “Hacking scandal: is this Britain’s Watergate?“

“David Cameron was forced to cut Rupert Murdoch and his newspaper empire loose from the heart of government yesterday as he tried to deflect public anger about his failure to tackle the phone-hacking scandal.

Mr Cameron turned on Mr Murdoch’s son James, saying there were questions “that need to be answered” about his role during the phone-hacking cover-up, and criticising him for not accepting the resignation of News International’s chief executive Rebekah Brooks.

He also admitted that his desire to win support from the company’s newspapers had led him to turn “a blind eye” as evidence grew of widespread illegality at the News of the World.”

I still won’t bet against Rupert Murdoch yet. But I am asking, “Is this the beginning of the end for Rupert Murdoch?“

* Guardian UK LIVE update report, (warning: this Guardian link is giving me some strange warning in Chrome, I hope it is not hacked!) “News of the World phone-hacking scandal – latest updates – Reaction and developments as Rupert Murdoch is due to arrive in the UK as the phone hacking crisis threatens to turn into a crisis for his global media empire“

* NYT (and yes, New York Times is owned by Murdoch), excerpt from “Phone Scandal Poses Defining Test for a Murdoch Son” (emphasis added),

“On Thursday afternoon, James Murdoch assembled senior executives in the top-floor boardroom in the News Corporation’s London headquarters and told them of a momentous decision: to shutter the 168-year-old tabloid at the center of a deepening phone-hacking scandal and the original heart of the Murdoch media empire in Britain.

Damage Control: Are Rupert Murdoch and David Cameron too late? – News of the World shutdown this Sunday

Breaking news:

BBC, “News of the World to close amid hacking scandal“

Guardian, “News of the World to close on Sunday – live coverage“

UK Telegraph, “News of the World phone hacking: live“

CNN, “News of the World shutting down after Sunday edition“

CBC, “BreakingMurdoch closes News of the World“

Damage Control: Are Rupert Murdoch and David Cameron too late? I hope so. But I don’t want to underestimate Murdoch as it is a dangerous thing to do.

UK Telegraph Oborne: David Cameron is ‘too close’ to News International

[HT Calgary Herald]

Update: Andy Coulson, Ex-communications director or Prime Minister David Cameron and ex-News of the World Editor has been arrested.

* Bloomberg, “Cameron Tainted by Arrest of Former Aide Coulson in Phone-Hacking Scandal“

A Less Open Internet?

Just listened to an insightful podcast segment “A Less Open Internet?” on The Brian Lehrer Show. From the show (emphasis and links added),

“Two news stories today may mean that the internet is getting a little less open. Julia Angwin wrote in the Wall St. Journal today about how the number of volunteer editors on Wikipedia has dropped precipitously over the past year. Then, Jeff Jarvis of Buzzmachine.com discusses reports that Rupert Murdoch is in negotiations with Microsoft to provide content exclusively to Bing, and not Google.”

Rupert Murdoch’s move to charge for news content

Check out this insightful piece from Jeff, “Rupert Murdoch’s move to charge for content opens doors for competitors“.

In my blog entries, I’ve already  avoided linking to paid content, and will avoid linking to content that is “free” for only a day or two. What’s the point of linking to something that is not accessible to my readers after two days?!