Murdoch's World (55 page)
Authors: David Folkenflik
Page 172
real money never changed hands:
Roy Greenslade, interview by author.
Page 173
After a review of the past inquiry:
Statement by Assistant Commissioner John Yates, July 9, 2009.
Page 173
Andy Hayman chimed in with supportive columns:
Andrew Hayman, “News of the World Investigation Was No Half-Hearted Affair,”
Times of London
, July 12, 2009; Hayman's column also ran in
News of the World
.
Page 173
Prescott had been repeatedly told:
“John Prescott on News of the World Phone Hacking Payout,”
Hull Daily Mail
, January 19, 2012.
Page 174
Yates clung to the justification:
Nick Davies, “Phone Hacking: Met Police Put on Spot by Ignored Leads and Discreet Omissions,”
Guardian
, September 5, 2010.
Page 174
repeatedly dined with editors:
Nick McDermott and Michael Seamark, “Time to Call In Those Bottles of Champagne,”
Daily Mail
, March 1, 2012.
Page 174
The
News of the World
felt it had an inside line:
Lucy Panton, witness statement, Leveson Inquiry, April 3, 2012.
Page 175
“Bit of advice, plse”:
“Investigation into the Involvement and Actions of Assistant Commissioner John Yates in the Recruitment Process of the Daughter of Neil Wallis,” Independent Police Complaints Commission, April 12, 2012.
Page 175
“stories that came from police force employees”:
Paul McMullan, interview by author.
Page 176
the
Sun
's black tie affair at the five-star Savoy Hotel:
Jenna Sloan, “PM Told Me He Was Busy. I Said, âDo You Have to Shoot Off?'”
Sun
, July 9, 2011.
Page 176
Andy Coulson . . . was arrested on charges:
Sandra Laville, “Andy Coulson Arrested over Phone Hacking Allegations,”
Guardian
, July 8, 2011.
Page 176
a luxury spa and retreat:
Nick McDermott and Michael Seamark, “Time to Call In Those Bottles of Champagne,”
Daily Mail
, March 1, 2012.
Chapter 14
The history of the
News of the World
and the
Sun
under Murdoch set forth in this section is greatly informed by interviews with such former Murdoch editors as Ken Chandler, Roy Greenslade, Andrew Jaspan, Simon Jenkins, Kelvin MacKenzie, and Andrew Neil; by Leveson testimony from various past
Murdoch editors; by statements by Rupert Murdoch in documentaries and other settings; and by such books as Shawcross,
Murdoch;
Wolff,
The Man Who Owns the News;
and Chippindale and Horrie,
Stick It Up Your Punter!
Page 177
“David was in great form”:
Leveson Inquiry, exhibit FM 13.
Page 177
Cameron saw Rupert Murdoch twice more:
Leveson Inquiry, exhibit KRM 27.
Page 177
Rebekah Brooks had emailed Michel:
Leveson Inquiry, exhibit FM 6.
Page 178
Michel was puffing up his role:
An entire exhibit of evidence compared emails Michel sent quoting statements supposedly from culture minister Jeremy Hunt that had been conveyed in emails and text messages by his special adviser, Adam Smith. Leveson Inquiry, exhibit FM 1.
Page 178
Michel texted Hunt:
Leveson Inquiry, exhibit FM 8.
Page 178
companies withdrew their ads:
Laura Smith-Spark, “Firms Reconsider Ad Deals over Newspaper Hacking Scandal,”
CNN.com
, July 7, 2011; “Ad Pressure Eases as NOTW Calls It a Day,”
Grocer
, July 9, 2011.
Page 178
memo assuring staffers:
“Full Text of Rebekah Brooks' Email to News International Staff,”
New Statesman
, July 5, 2011.
Page 179
Cameron told MPs in the House of Commons:
House of Commons, Oral Answers to Questions (Commonly called Prime Minister's Questions), July 6, 2011.
Page 180
Tory MP Zac Goldsmith said:
House of Commons Official Report, House of Commons debates, July 6, 2011.
Page 180
a dissonant vote of support:
“Statement from Rupert Murdoch, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, News Corporation,” press release, July 6, 2011.
Page 180
“These were not the actions of a ârogue'”:
Edward Miliband, in House of Commons, Oral Answers to Questions, July 6, 2011.
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Both Bertin and Michel ended their texts:
Leveson Inquiry, exhibit FM 14, for this and subsequent texts between Fred Michel and Gabby Bertin.
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“Hey buddy. Are you guys still on for dinner”:
Leveson Inquiry, exhibit FM 13, for this and subsequent texts between Fred Michel and Craig Oliver.
Page 181
“They've used their power”:
Simon Kelner, interview by author.
Page 182
The
Telegraph
reported that the tabloid had hacked:
Duncan Gardham, “News of the World: Bereaved Relatives of 7/7 Victims Had Phones Hacked,”
Telegraph
, July 5, 2011.
Page 182
he picked up a woman who had become a prostitute:
Johnson,
Hack
, Kindle edition, Locations 2532â2771.
Page 183
his exposés largely created the scandals he revealed:
Mahmood,
Confessions of a Fake Sheik
.
Page 183
he announced the company would kill the paper:
“James Murdoch, Deputy Chief Operating Officer, News Corporation, and Chairman, News International, Statement on News of the World,” press release, July 7, 2011.
Page 183
the
Telegraph
headlined its front-page story:
“Goodbye, Cruel World,”
Telegraph
, July 8, 2011.
Page 184
“We should see this for what it is”:
Hugh Grant,
BBC Question Time
, July 7, 2011.
Page 184
“a straightforward commercial reason”:
Author's interview with Simon Jenkins.
Page 184
News Corp was swimming in debt:
Shawcross,
Murdoch
, p. 360. Australian financial investigative journalist Neil Chenoweth provides a different gloss in his book
Rupert Murdoch
on pp. 83â86. Drawing in part on the work of another Australian newspaper reporter, he makes a strong circumstantial case that the loan Murdoch so coveted was not to cover the company's debts but to pay off Murdoch family debt stemming from a private investment in a newspaper company in Queensland, Australia. If true, the mixture of corporate and personal ends that Chenoweth's account strongly suggests reflects an early episode where the corporation's fate hinged on decisions taken to benefit the family's private interests.
Page 184
the company's executives had to shift strategies:
Author's interviews with Andrew Neil and a former News Corp executive.
Chapter 15
Page 186
Brooks (then Rebekah Wade) was arrested:
“Kemp's Wife Wade Plays Down Row,” BBC News, November 4, 2005.
Page 186
befriended Blair, his wife, Cherie:
Peter Oborne, “The Great Murdoch Conspiracy,”
Telegraph
, July 14, 2011.
Page 186
Rebekah soon took up:
Roy Greenslade, “Rebekah's World: Lunch in Venice, Dinner at Wiltons, Weekends with the Oxfordshire Set,”
Guardian
, June 5, 2009; Andy McSmith, “Behind Murdoch's Throne: The Story of Rebekah Brooks,”
Independent
, July 6, 2011.
Page 187
Cameron flew on the private plane:
Rupert Murdoch, testimony, Leveson Inquiry, April 25, 2012, afternoon session.
Page 187
“fast unpredictable and hard to control”:
Simon Walters, “Cameron's Horseplay Texts with Rebekah Brooks,”
Mail on Sunday
, November 3, 2012.
Page 187
“brilliant speech. I cried twice”:
That and subsequent text message cited read as part of testimony of Rebekah Brooks before the Leveson Inquiry, May 11, 2012, morning session.
Page 187
Colin Myler called in Neville Thurlbeck:
Neville Thurlbeck, letter to John Whittingdale MP, November 11, 2011.
Page 187
no cause for concern . . . good enough for them:
Two former News Corp executives, interview by author.
Page 188
she watched Cameron on a TV monitor:
This scene is drawn from a visit to the
Times of London
newsroom by the author in December 2010.
Page 188
Rupert Murdoch had one overriding concern:
Two people with contemporaneous knowledge of Murdoch's intent, interview by author.
Page 189
a quiet anger:
Three former News Corp officials, interview by author.
Page 189
the
Post
did not engage in the self-reflection:
An associate of Rupert Murdoch, interview by author.
Page 189
multimillion-pound townhouse:
Much of this passage is informed by Greg Farrell et al., “Dinner at Rupert's,” Bloomberg Businessweek, February 9, 2012. It is supplemented by author's interviews with two people having contemporaneous knowledge of the event and the company's legal strategy.
Page 190
“
I am satisfied that Rebekah”:
“James Murdoch, Deputy Chief Operating Officer, News Corporation, and Chairman, News International, Statement on News of the World,” press release, July 7, 2011.
Page 190
“onslaught of attacks”:
“Audio of Brooks Meeting NOTW Staff,” Sky News, July 9, 2011, serves as the source of her remarks, and those of reporters, at that session.
Page 192
Contrition proved the order of the day:
“David Cameron's Statement on Phone Hacking: The Full Text,”
Guardian
, July 8, 2011.
Page 192
eased Brooks from the role:
News Corp executive, interview by author.
Page 192
to destroy millions of emails:
Nick Davies and Amelia Hill, “Phone Hacking: Police Probe Suspected Deletion of Emails by NI Executive,”
Guardian
, July 8, 2011.
Page 192
Rupert Murdoch flew to London:
“Thank You and Goodbye: Last Ever News of the World Goes to Print,”
Daily Mail
, July 10, 2011.
Page 192
“This one,” gesturing with his thumb:
Lisa O'Carroll, “Rebekah Brooks: Where It All Went Wrong,”
Guardian
, July 15, 2011.
Page 193
News Corp . . . pulled its promise:
“News Corporation Withdraws Proposed Undertakings in Lieu of Reference with Respect to Its Proposed Acquisition of BSkyB,” press release, July 11, 2011.
Page 193
Hunt referred the decision:
Hunt's decision as reproduced in Leveson Inquiry, exhibit KRM 17.
Page 193
the Murdochs blinked:
“News Corporation Withdraws Proposed Offer for British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC,” press release, July 13, 2011.
Page 194
“root-and-branch”:
Cameron, addressing House of Commons. As quoted in David Folkenflik, “Murdoch Withdraws Bid for BSkyB,”
All Things Considered
, July 13, 2011.
