Murdoch's World (56 page)

Page 194
Gordon Brown declared:
“Gordon Brown Attacks News International Tactics,”
BBCNews.com
, July 12, 2011; “Gordon Brown Condemns NI ‘Lawbreakers,'”
Independent
, July 13, 2011.

Page 194
the Saudi prince Al Waleed bin Talal:
“News Corp Major Shareholder Has No Plans to Sell Stake,” BBC News, July 14, 2011.

Page 194
seepage to the States:
David Collins and Tom McTague, “She's My No. 1,”
Daily Mirror
, July 11, 2011.

Page 195
King wrote to FBI director:
“King Demands Investigation into Claims of Hacking of 9/11 Victims,” press release, July 13, 2011.

Page 195
lawyers for News Corp:
Two News Corp officials and two lawyers familiar with the case, interview by author.

Page 196
Ted Kennedy inserted language . . . the
Herald
retaliated:
Former
Boston Herald
publisher Ken Chandler and two former Kennedy aides, interview by author.

Page 196
the FCC gave Murdoch yet another waiver:
David Andelman, “FCC Poised to Let Murdoch Buy Ch. 9,”
New York Daily News
, July 21, 2001; Andrew Jay Schwartzman, interview by author.

Page 196
the possibility of prosecution:
This passage is informed by the insight on the Federal Corrupt Practices Act gained by author's interviews with John Coffee, director of Columbia University law school's Center on Corporate Governance; Alexandra Wrage, president of corporate compliance firm Trace; and Charles Elson, director of the University of Delaware's Center for Corporate Governance, among others.

Page 197
an already planned stock buy-back program:
“News Corporation Announces Stock Repurchase Program of $5 Billion,” News Corp press release, July 12, 2011.

Page 197
MPs . . . were angered again:
Video of John Whittingdale MP statement to reporters, as reproduced at “John Whittingdale: ‘Rupert Murdoch Has Been Summoned,'”
Telegraph.co.uk
, July 14, 2011.

Page 198
Brooks and Hinton resigned:
“A Message from Rebekah Brooks on Her Departure from News International,” News Corp press release, July 15, 2011; “A Message from James Murdoch on Issues at News International,” News Corp press release, July 15, 2011; “Les Hinton, Chief Executive Officer of Dow Jones & Company and Publisher of the
Wall Street Journal
, Resigns from Company,” News Corp press release, July 15, 2011; “A Note from Rupert Murdoch Regarding the Resignation of Les Hinton,” News Corp press release, July 15, 2011.

Page 198
“a joke within News Corp”:
Former News Corp executive, interview by author.

Chapter 16

Page 200
Police arrested Rebekah Brooks:
“Rebekah Brooks Arrested by Hacking Police,” BBC News, July 17, 2011; Helen Lewis, “The Intriguing Timing of Rebekah Brooks' Arrest,”
New Statesman
, July 17, 2011.

Page 200
a confrontation between Charlie Brooks and security guards:
Amelia Hill, “Police Examine Bag in Bin Found Near Rebekah Brooks' Home,”
Guardian
, July 18, 2011; Sam Greenhill, “Brooks and Mystery of Dumped Bag,”
Daily Mail
, July 19, 2011; Paul Sonne, “Brooks' Husband's Laptop Found in Garage,”
Wall Street Journal
, July 19, 2011; Martin Evans, “Phone Hacking: Brooks' Husband Denies Cover Up After Bag Found Near Flat,”
Telegraph
, July 20, 2011.

Page 201
Rupert Murdoch had personally called Klein:
Joel Klein, interview by author; David Folkenflik, “News Corp Education Tablet: For the Love of Learning?”
Morning Edition
, March 18, 2013.

Page 201
His compensation was worth:
Klein's compensation taken from News Corp filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Form 10-Q (Quarterly Report), filed May 5, 2011.

Page 202
he needed to salvage his career:
Two former News Corp executives and former
Sunday Times
editor and Sky executive Andrew Neil, interviews by author.

Page 202
James Murdoch first attempted:
Rupert Murdoch and James Murdoch, testimony, House of Commons Select Committee on Culture, Media, and Sport, July 19, 2011. Video:
www.parliamentlive.tv/Main/Player.aspx?meetingId=8910&st=14:35:25
.
All subsequent quotations from the two Murdochs and the MPs questioning them at that hearing contained in this chapter can be found there as well.

Page 203
new team of crisis management experts:
Ian Burrell, “Team Murdoch: The Men Coaching Rupert for his Date with MPs,”
Independent
, July 18, 2011; Paul Thomasch, “Murdoch Turns to PR Elite for Crisis Control,” Reuters, July 19, 2011.

Page 204
Louise Mensch was someone:
Louise Mensch MP, interview by author.

Page 204
who came up in the Murdoch tabloids:
David Folkenflik, “CNN's Morgan Under Pressure Amid Hacking Scandal,”
All Things Considered
, August 5, 2011.

Page 205
Tom Watson emerged:
Tom Watson MP, interview by author; Jon Bernstein, “The Politics Interview: Tom Watson,”
New Statesman
, September 28, 2011.

Page 205
a “Sun on Sunday” had been under consideration:
Lara O'Reilly, “Sun on Sunday Set for Launch Following NOTW Closure,”
Marketing Week
, July 8, 2011.

Page 206
separate secret settlement:
Nick Davies and Rob Evans, “Max Clifford Drops News of the World Phone Hacking Action in £1 Million Deal,”
Guardian
, March 9, 2010.

Page 207
middle school instructor:
David Eimer, “Meet the Man Who Taught Wendi Deng the ‘Spike' That Saved Husband Rupert Murdoch from a Foam Pie,”
Telegraph
, July 23, 2011.

Page 207
Deng Wen Ge (her given name):
Eric Ellis, “Wendi Deng Murdoch,”
The Monthly
(Australia), June 2007.

Page 207
twenty-six-year-old stand-up comic:
Mimi Turner, “Murdoch Pie Man Convicted: ‘Most Humble Day of My Life,'”
Hollywood Reporter, July
29, 2011.

Page 208
News Corp moved swiftly:
Patricia Hurtado and Tom Schoenberg, “News Corp Independent Directors Hire Debevoise Law Firm,” Bloomberg News, July 19, 2011; “Management and Standards Committee Publishes Terms of Reference,” News Corp press release, July 21, 2011.

Page 208
“pretty much assembled a dream team”:
John Coffee, interview by author.

Page 208
Colin Myler, had seethed:
Michael Rundle, “Watch: News of the World Editor Colin Myler Leads Out Staff After Final Edition Published,” Huffington Post, July 9, 2011.

Page 209
along with Tom Crone, Myler decided to make a public break:
Lisa O'Carroll and Patrick Wintour, “James Murdoch Misled MPs, Say Former NOTW Editor and Lawyer,”
Guardian
, July 21, 2011.

Chapter 17

Chapters 17
–
18
, which describe events that took place within the
Wall Street Journal
, are based on interviews conducted by the author with more than two dozen current and former
Journal
(and Dow Jones) executives, editors, and reporters as well as several people at competing newspapers. Many of those who chose to speak with me did so on condition that I not name them directly. A smaller number were interviewed on the record by name. Many who worked at the
Journal
said they could not speak by name because the
Journal
had not authorized them to do so. Others who now work elsewhere said they might have to work at the
Journal
or Dow Jones again in the future and did not want to poison relations with the
Journal's
leadership. Their widely shared concern was a testament to their concern over retribution and their belief that, whatever their misgivings, Murdoch's News Corp has provided a haven for reporters amid tumultuous financial times for the industry.

Richard Tofel's
Restless Genius
provides invaluable insight into the paper's storied past, while Sarah Ellison's
War at the Wall Street Journal
offers a compelling account of the courtship that led to Murdoch's acquisition of the paper. Wolff's
Man Who Owns the News
is a particularly entertaining and revealing earlier look at the family and its dynamics by an author who had exceptional access to the Murdochs and their inner circle in the lead-up to the purchase of Dow Jones.

Page 210
Murdoch did not much like the
Journal
itself:
Three former
Journal
editors and two current
Journal
editors, interview by author.

Page 210
Murdoch's first editor . . . Marcus Brauchli:
This account of Brauchli and his tenure at the newspaper is based on the author's interviews with seven current and former
Wall Street Journal
editors and two former
Journal
executives.

Page 211
an innovation of the legendary Barney Kilgore:
Tofel,
Restless Genius
, pp. 119–120; Barry Newman, “What Is an A-Hed?”
Wall Street Journal
, November 3, 2010.

Page 211
had little tolerance for the “paywall”:
Senior
Wall Street Journal
editor; former
Wall Street Journal
editor, interview by author; Eric Pooley, “Exclusive: Rupert Murdoch Speaks,”
Time
, June 28, 2007.

Page 211
“as few words as possible”:
Ellison,
War
, p. 188.

Page 212
“gestational period of a llama”:
A senior
Journal
editor and a former
Journal
reporter, interview by author.

Page 212
Thomson saw . . . the
Journal
staff as complacent:
This account of Thomson's views on the newspaper is based on the author's interviews with seven current and former
Journal
editors who worked for the newspaper during all or part of his tenure as managing editor.

Page 212
Thomson . . . showed verve as a rookie reporter:
This characterization of Thomson's background and career, up to and including the
Journal
, draws on interviews with three colleagues who worked closely with him at the
Journal
and the
Times of London
. Physical description of Thomson is informed by author's personal observation. Also Mark Baker, “Rupert Has Got a Crush on You,”
The Age
, March 23, 2013.

Page 213
He called the deal a Faustian bargain:
Ian Johnson, interview by author.

Page 213
campaigned with a small group of reporters:
Richard Perez-Peña, “Murdoch's Arrival Worries Journal Employees,”
New York Times
, July 19, 2007; two
Wall Street Journal
reporters, interview by author.

Page 213
the Special Committee . . . was to be constituted:
Thomas Bray, interview by author.

Page 213
“Murdoch clearly has no intention”:
E.S. Browning, interview by author.

Page 214
“felt like a cynical joke”:
Former
Journal
reporter, interview by author.