Rupert Murdoch and the Corruption of the British Media

[John Dolva]

Could be either imo but I tend to lean towards the former as an hypothesis.

Of course this has a basis in my political outlook, but is it that unusual for gate keepers to take calculates risks, particularly if a bit of dosh comes with the deal? But perhaps more importantly, do you see the consequences if the status quo accepts a standard like they are asked to here? Where does the buck stop? Really, think about it.

I think the tortuous prolonged events leading to what is, and has been for decades, obvious is part of a systemic damage control and what will follow will be precicely that. This is politics and it's right to invoke Bob Dylans words about the ladder of the law goes up too. What we'll continue to see unfold is already stagemanaged. (imo) .

I think it will be important to maintain a focus as a defence of Tom Watson and people like him.

[Douglas Caddy]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2138865/Former-Met-officer-unit-protects-Royal-Family-arrested-illegal-payments-police.html

[Douglas Caddy]

Senator likely to be rebuffed in News Corp inquiry

Fri, May 4 2012

By Mark Hosenball

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The British judicial inquiry investigating questionable reporting practices by Rupert Murdoch's media properties is unlikely to cooperate with a prominent senator's request for evidence of misconduct in the United States, three people familiar with the inquiry said.

The sources said that the judicial inquiry, created by British Prime Minister David Cameron and chaired by Sir Brian Leveson, a senior English judge, is not authorized to provide legal assistance or evidence to other bodies or organizations, including foreign government agencies or components. Nor is the inquiry investigating matters outside Britain.

Jay Rockefeller, chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, on Wednesday sent a letter to Leveson asking if his inquiry has uncovered any misconduct on the part of Murdoch's News Corp that occurred in the United States or violated American laws.

Murdoch and his global media empire have been embroiled in a "phone hacking" and bribery scandal since last summer when evidence emerged that Murdoch's now-shuttered News of the World tabloid hacked into voicemails of a missing British schoolgirl.

U.S. critics of Murdoch have been trying to instigate official investigations into whether similar questionable practices were pursued by Murdoch journalists in the United States, but so far U.S. probes have been limited.

Murdoch's properties in the United States include Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Post.

Rockefeller's request came after a British parliamentary committee issued a report on Monday that found Murdoch "not a fit person" to run a major international company, asserting that he was ultimately responsible for illegal phone hacking. [iD:nL5E8G1B3E] News Corp denounced the report's analysis as "unjustified and highly partisan."

Rockefeller directed his request to the independent Leveson inquiry, which is conducting an in-depth investigation into journalism practices used by British media owned by Murdoch and other proprietors.

However, there is no mechanism by which it would be within Leveson's purview to provide official assistance to Rockefeller or his committee, said the people familiar with the inquiry.

"Not in a month of blue Sundays" would Leveson agree to pass on evidence to Rockefeller's committee or any similar U.S. body, one source said.

A spokesman for Rockefeller said he did not have a comment beyond the five-page letter sent to Leveson.

A spokesman for Leveson confirmed that the inquiry had received Rockfeller's letter requesting assistance, but declined any further comment.

U.S. CONNECTIONS

News Corp and its 81-year-old chief are the subject of multiple British inquiries.

The company initially tried to contain the scandal by claiming phone hacking was limited to a single "rogue" reporter. But the controversy mushroomed, and more than 40 people, most of them journalists, have since been arrested on suspicion of bribery, phone hacking or other illegal activity. No charges have yet been filed.

The FBI last summer opened an investigation into possible phone hacking or other illegal reporting activities in the United States. To date, however, the FBI inquiry has found no evidence such practices were employed by journalists in the United States, a law enforcement source said.

Lawyers for British celebrities and other individuals have said there is evidence that Murdoch journalists may have engaged in questionable surveillance when the targets were physically on U.S. soil.

The lawyers have suggested that this could lead to the filing of civil lawsuits in U.S. courts alleging illegal practices by Murdoch operatives, although no such lawsuits have been filed and there may be jurisdictional limitations.

For example, actor Jude Law chose to go through the British courts, and not U.S. courts, in his phone-hacking case against Murdoch's News International, despite claims that News of the World hacked phones or voice mails when Law and his assistant were at New York's JFK Airport in 2003.

News International admitted "unconditionally" in British court documents earlier this year that it was liable for all Law's claims. News Corp had no further comment.

A person familiar with legal issues surrounding such cases said that jurisdictional issues could be murky even when a target such as Law may have been physically present in the United States when the hacking occurred.

The person said U.S. legal exposure may be limited because Law is British, and the journalists or operatives who were targeting him were also likely British or based in Britain. Also, while his phone may have physically been in the United States at the time of hacking, the server that held his voice mail messages may well have been located in Britain, too.

A U.S. law enforcement source confirmed that the FBI was still conducting a criminal investigation into possible violations by Murdoch journalists or operatives of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which bars bribes to officials of foreign governments.

But the source also said that this investigation was a long way from generating criminal charges against anyone.

U.S. officials and legal experts have said that the most likely outcome of any Foreign Corrupt Practices Act investigation directed at Murdoch properties would be a large civil settlement rather than criminal charges under U.S. law.

(Reporting By Mark Hosenball; Editing by Gary Hill)

[Steve Knight]

http://www.independe...rp-7717644.html

IoS exclusive: Revealed - Cameron's secret summit with News Corp

Murdoch lobbyist dismissed as a 'fantasist' set up talks between the PM and the News Corp board

Jane Merrick , James Hanning Sunday 06 May 2012

David Cameron agreed to a meeting with one of Rupert Murdoch's senior executives that was arranged by the lobbyist now at the centre of the Jeremy Hunt scandal, The Independent on Sunday has learnt.

Frédéric Michel, whose numerous emails to Mr Hunt's special adviser have put pressure on the Culture Secretary to resign, set up the secret talks between Mr Cameron and Jose Maria Aznar, the former prime minister of Spain and a member of Mr Murdoch's News Corporation board.

The involvement of Mr Michel, the head of public affairs for News Corp, in such a top-level meeting severely undermines his portrayal by Mr Hunt and the Prime Minister as simply a lobbyist and "Walter Mitty" fantasist.

The previously undisclosed meeting in November 2009 also shows how Mr Cameron was being assiduously courted by News Corp executives beyond the Murdoch family, as the company was gearing up for its bid to take over BSkyB.

George Osborne and William Hague were also present at the talks, The IoS understands.

The Prime Minister is under increasing pressure over the Leveson inquiry ahead of the appearances this week of the former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks and Mr Cameron's ex-communications chief, Andy Coulson.

At the same time, Mr Cameron is struggling to contain open revolt among Conservative MPs over the direction of his party, including pressure from some figures to sideline George Osborne as election strategist, following Boris Johnson's securing of a second term as London Mayor. Mr Johnson's double victory exposes Mr Cameron's weakness as a leader who never crossed the finishing line, say some MPs.

After weeks of post-Budget turmoil culminating in the Tories' and Liberal Democrats' dismal performance in the local elections, Mr Cameron will try to restart his premiership this week with a businesslike Queen's Speech and a renewed statement with Nick Clegg of the aims and priorities of the coalition. Mr Cameron is also finalising plans for a major cabinet reshuffle to refresh his top team.

But the relaunch will be overshadowed by the appearances of Mr Coulson and Mrs Brooks, two of the people connected to News International who became closest to Mr Cameron and have the capacity to cause maximum damage to the PM under questioning from Lord Justice Leveson and Robert Jay, QC for the inquiry.

The meeting between Mr Cameron and Mr Aznar was in early November 2009, just weeks after The Sun ended its support for Labour and backed the Conservative Party. At the time, News Corp was preparing to announce its bid to take over BSkyB. It is not known whether the future of the digital broadcaster was discussed at the meeting, but it is likely that the commercial interests of News Corp arose. The Conservatives never announced that the meeting had taken place. A Spanish news agency later reported details of the talks, but this was not picked up in the British press. Mr Cameron had also recently met James Murdoch at the George Club in London to discuss The Sun's support for the Tories.

The secret meeting shows the extent to which Mr Cameron was engaging with News Corp executives, as well as the media tycoon himself, his son, James, and Mrs Brooks.

The meeting brought together Mr Aznar, a centre-right elder statesman in Europe inside the Murdoch circle, with a British prime minister-in-waiting who had just won the seal of approval from the media tycoon. At the time, Mr Cameron was struggling to convince his centre-right counterparts in Europe, including Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy, that he had made the right decision in leaving the mainstream European People's Party and creating a new grouping which involved hard-right parties from Poland and the Czech Republic. The Tory leader would have been eager to impress Mr Aznar.

The Government has made strenuous efforts to distance Mr Hunt and Mr Cameron from Mr Michel after emails revealed at the inquiry showed how he and Adam Smith, the Culture Secretary's special adviser, were in close contact while the minister had responsibility for the BSkyB takeover decision.

During questions to Mr Hunt in the Commons last month, a Tory MP described Mr Michel as a "Walter Mitty" figure, a comment which the Culture Secretary failed to dismiss, even though he had met the lobbyist on several occasions.

No 10 has also distanced Mr Cameron from Mr Michel. Mr Smith was forced to resign over the Michel emails, but Mr Hunt has clung on to his job.

In a sign of the panic over the Leveson hearings this week, Mr Cameron and Mr Osborne sent a government lawyer to appeal last Friday for the pair and other senior ministers to have advance sight of Mr Coulson's and Mrs Brooks's written submissions. Mr Cameron, Mr Osborne and six other senior cabinet ministers will have privileged advance access to inquiry documents.

Downing Street refused to respond to specific questions about what was discussed at the Aznar meeting, such as whether they talked about News Corp's commercial interests, including the company's plans for BSkyB, and whether Mr Cameron spoke to Mr Michel at the summit.

A No 10 spokesman said: "All contact with News International and News Corp has been declared in the correct way. The Prime Minister has had no inappropriate discussions about the BSkyB bid, either as Prime Minister or before. He deliberately excluded himself from the process."

News Corp declined to comment.

Mr Aznar, who was prime minister of Spain from 1996 to 2004, was appointed as a non-executive director of the News Corp board in 2006.

As well as in the UK and the US, News Corp has made inroads into Spanish media, including the launch of Fox España in 2002.

Mr Aznar accompanied Mr Murdoch when he flew into London last June ahead of Mr Hunt's decision on whether to grant approval for the BSkyB takeover – which was pulled weeks later when it emerged that the News of the World had hacked Milly Dowler's phone.

Gaga gig tickets for PM's top team

Two members of David Cameron's inner circle enjoyed News International's hospitality at a Lady Gaga concert just days before the Prime Minister discussed the BSkyB bid with James Murdoch.

No 10's chief of staff, Ed Llewellyn, and his deputy, Kate Fall, were in the NI box at the 02 Arena on 17 December 2010.

Four days later, the Business Secretary, Vince Cable, was removed from deciding whether to grant approval for Rupert Murdoch's bid to take over BSkyB after telling undercover reporters how he wanted to "declare war" on Mr Murdoch.

Two days after this, on 23 December, Mr Cameron went to a Christmas party hosted by NI's then chief executive, Rebekah Brooks, where he discussed the BSkyB bid with James Murdoch.

Ms Fall and Mr Llewellyn have declared on the Downing Street website that they received concert tickets from NI, within the rules. It has not been revealed until now that they saw Lady Gaga, right, who was performing the London leg of her Monster Ball tour.

The pair were among the 20,000 fans watching Lady Gaga perform hit songs "Just Dance", "Paparazzi" and "Bad Romance", after declaring: "Tonight we're gonna be super freaks!"

Jane Merrick and Charles Engwell

This article originally wrongly attributed a reference to Mr Michel as a 'Walter Mitty character' to Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude, which has since been removed.

EDIT : Tidying the formatting/layout of paragraphs.

Edited May 7, 2012 by Steve Knight

[Steve Knight]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/cable-i-feel-vindicated-for-declaring-war-on-murdoch-over-bskyb-7718676.html

Cable: I feel vindicated for declaring war on Murdoch over BSkyB

Business Secretary's announcement piles pressure on Cameron over links to News Corp

Rob Hastings Monday 07 May 2012

Business Secretary Vince Cable feels "vindicated" over his dealings with Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, as links between the global media giant and the Conservative Party come under more intense scrutiny.

The Liberal Democrat big-hitter was stripped of overseeing New Corp's bid to buy out BSkyB after telling undercover reporters he had "declared war" on Murdoch's empire. But he said he had been "independent and objective" and handled the bid in a "proper and fair way".

His comments appear to further undermine Prime Minister David Cameron and Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who are under fire for being too close to News Corp. Mr Cable said he tried to keep News Corp at "arm's length".

He declined to discuss Mr Hunt's conduct when he was pressed during a TV interview yesterday, saying that the Culture Secretary would give his own defence to the Leveson Inquiry in due course.

However, with former News of the World editors Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson due to give evidence under oath to the ongoing inquiry into press ethics later this week, the Government is likely to come in for more criticism before Mr Hunt has the opportunity to testify.

Yesterday's development came as details emerged of a meeting between Jose Maria Aznar – a member of News Corp's board – and Mr Cameron, George Osborne and William Hague only weeks after Mr Murdoch's Sun newspaper ditched its support for Labour to back the Tories.

The meeting, revealed by The Independent on Sunday, was in November 2009 when Mr Cameron was seeking media backing in the run-up to the 2010 general election which led to him becoming Prime Minister.

Significantly, it was arranged by News Corp lobbyist Frédéric Michel, whose emails with Mr Hunt's private adviser, Adam Smith, led to calls for Mr Hunt's to quit when they were published by the Leveson Inquiry.

Mr Smith has resigned but Mr Hunt refuses to quit, saying that his evidence to Leveson will prove he is innocent of wrongdoing. A photo of Mr Cameron meeting Mr Aznar, a former Spanish Prime Minister, emerged last night.

Mr Michel, whose emails to ex-BSkyB chairman James Murdoch implied that Mr Hunt was privately supportive of News Corp's controversial bid, has been dismissed by some Conservatives as a "fantasist". But the fact he was able to arrange such a meeting with the future Prime Minister shows he held some sway.

Mr Aznar, a non-executive director at BSkyB, has a powerful position in its hierarchy. Last June he joined Mr Murdoch when he came to London in advance of Mr Hunt's scheduled announcement on whether News Corp's takeover would be approved – only for the decision to be put on ice as details of the phone-hacking scandal emerged.

A Downing Street spokesman said all contact with the media company had been declared correctly.

"The Prime Minister has had no inappropriate discussions about the BSkyB bid, either as Prime Minister or before. He deliberately excluded himself from the process," he said.

[Steve Knight]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/ios-exclusive-coulson-owned-news-corp-shares-while-at-no-10-7717645.html

IoS exclusive: Coulson owned News Corp shares while at No 10

Revelation raises key questions for inquiry: did Cameron know, and, if not, why not?

Jane Merrick , James Hanning Sunday 06 May 2012

Andy Coulson held shares in News Corporation while he was David Cameron's head of communications at Downing Street, at a time when the Government was deciding whether to approve the company's takeover of BSkyB, it is revealed today.

Mr Coulson, who faces a tough time when he gives evidence to the Leveson inquiry this Thursday, was awarded the blue-chip shares as part of his pay-off when he resigned as editor of the News of the World over the phone-hacking scandal in 2007.

The revelation raises difficult questions for the Prime Minister over whether he knew about Mr Coulson's financial interests.

Crucially, Mr Coulson was in possession of the shares when he was among those advising Mr Cameron over the PM's decision to hand responsibility for News Corp's bid to take over BSkyB to Jeremy Hunt in December 2010, The Independent on Sunday has learnt.

Mr Coulson's shareholding means that he stood to gain financially from News Corp's planned takeover of the digital broadcaster, because Rupert Murdoch's company would have seen its stock soar. In the end, Mr Murdoch withdrew the bid in July 2011 when the company was grappling with the fallout from the revelation that the News of the World had hacked Milly Dowler's phone.

It is not known whether Mr Coulson declared the potential conflict of interest to the then Cabinet Secretary, Gus O'Donnell, or whether the matter arose when he was appointed communications chief, first by the Conservative Party in 2007, and in May 2010 when he started work at No 10.

Mr Cameron and George Osborne, who was central to the hiring of Mr Coulson, have already been criticised for failing to carry out sufficient checks on what the former editor knew about hacking.

But the fresh disclosure about Mr Coulson's shares will put further pressure on Mr Cameron over whether he carried out "due diligence" in appointing Mr Coulson in May 2007. Questions for the Prime Minister include whether he, as a former executive for Carlton, a major media company, should have asked Mr Coulson whether he had been given any shares as part of his severance package from News International. Mr Coulson's pay-off from the media company also included severance payments which were staggered over time and continued when he began working for Mr Cameron. News International sources indicated the compensation package was "generous".

Mr Coulson was subject to a type of vetting before starting work for the Tories and again before he entered No 10, but this would not have picked up on financial interests. Mr Coulson resigned as Mr Cameron's director of communications in January 2011.

The shareholding could be picked up by Lord Leveson this Thursday.

All special advisers are classed as civil servants under the Civil Service code, which states that conflicts of interest must be declared to senior management. Civil servants must declare "to their department or agency any business interests... shares or other securities which they or members of their immediate family [hold]... which they would be able to further as a result of their official position".

No comment was available from No 10 or Mr Coulson.

[Douglas Caddy]

The Cozy Compliance of the News Corp. Board

The New York Times

May 6, 2012

By DAVID CARR

If you sat on the board of a company that was raked over the coals by a British parliamentary committee in a 121-page document, accused of a pattern of corporate misconduct that included widespread phone hacking and an ensuing cover-up by senior officials, you might want to pause for a moment and consider all the implications.

But there was little reflection last week by the board of News Corporation, which met quickly the day after the committee’s report and announced “its full confidence in Rupert Murdoch’s fitness and support for his continuing to lead News Corporation into the future as its chairman and C.E.O.” before the ink was even dry on the report. (While the board expressed unanimous support for Mr. Murdoch, it’s worth noting there were no such words for his son James.)

There are many reasons Rupert Murdoch has avoided any serious consequences from the scandal despite hundreds of British citizens having had their phones hacked, dozens or more being bribed in law enforcement and several dozen more of his employees having been arrested.

The market, of course, has no conscience. News Corporation’s share price has risen about 30 percent in the last nine scandal-ridden months and investors might have decided that the bad news from the print division in Britain was really good news for those who believe the company should abandon newspapers altogether.

Further, Mr. Murdoch runs a large, multinational company with some 50,000 employees, so he has a certain plausible deniability, even though several of his most trusted lieutenants were accused by the committee of playing a central role in the growing scandal and cover-up.

Mr. Murdoch also remains mostly unscathed because much of News Corporation’s business and most of its profits lie here in the United States, where the scandal is viewed as something happening on a distant island.

There have been reports of corporate misdeeds in America, including computer hacking at its News America Marketing division, but other than some faint rumbles in Washington about further investigations, it’s been mostly smoke, no fire.

“Ask anyone’s mother here who Rupert Murdoch is and you will get blank stares,” said Rich Greenfield, an analyst at BTIG, adding that other News Corporation assets seem unaffected by the scandal. At parties for the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner last weekend, many reporters remarked on how the hacking scandal had very little traction or traffic among readers.

But the primary reason Mr. Murdoch has not been held to account is that the board of News Corporation has no independence, little influence and no stomach for confronting its chairman.

Like many media companies (including the one I work for), News Corporation has a two-tiered stock setup that gives the family control of the voting shares. The current board includes family members and several senior executives; the independent slots are filled by a host of familiars.

Viet Dinh, a former Bush administration official, is godfather to Lachlan K. Murdoch’s son. Roderick Eddington was deputy chairman of a division of the company in the late 1990s. Andrew S. B. Knight and Arthur M. Siskind are both former senior executives, and John L. Thornton, the former Goldman Sachs president, served as an adviser to News Corporation on several major deals.

The board also includes Natalie Bancroft, a trained opera singer who made a great deal of money when her family sold Dow Jones, which included The Wall Street Journal, to Mr. Murdoch in 2007, and José Maria Aznar, a former prime minister of Spain, who is a friend of Mr. Murdoch’s.

Being a board member of News Corporation is not a bad gig; it pays over $200,000 a year and requires lifting nothing heavier than a rubber stamp. The directors apparently haven’t asked why the company maintained its “rogue reporter” defense after it became clear that “rogue enterprise” was a more apt description. They appeared to sit silently by while Mr. Murdoch and his son James waited for law enforcement officials to finally ferret out employees of the company’s British newspaper division who were accused of engaging in criminal conduct.

Still, the board may regret being quite so quick to throw its full support behind Mr. Murdoch and the current management. The parliamentary report, as scathing as it was, is only the first of many dominoes expected to fall in the next few weeks and months. Ofcom, the British broadcasting regulator, is assessing whether News Corporation should be allowed to continue to hold its stake in British Sky Broadcasting. For its part, BSkyB was quick to get out the 10-foot pole, reminding everyone that the two companies are separate even though News Corporation owns a 39 percent stake.

Next week, Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson will appear before the Leveson Inquiry in Parliament, offering another peek under unseemly blankets. The British Supreme Court will soon hear a case that could decide whether Glenn Mulcaire, the private investigator who pleaded guilty to charges that he had hacked phones for The News of the World, is to be freed from a confidentiality agreement he made in return for payment of legal fees.

He reportedly has 11,000 pages documenting his work for News Corporation. Three separate police investigation are under way — into phone hacking, computer hacking and bribes — and the results of Operation Weeting, the phone hacking inquiry, will be disclosed in the next few months. Soon enough, there could be a parade of criminal trials that could produce new evidence that those accused of misdeeds were hardly rogues but rather following a corporate culture formed to win at all costs.

It was never going to be one single thing that would loosen Mr. Murdoch’s grip, but rather the steady accretion of damage from a ticktock of criminal, civil and governmental inquiries that will go on for months and years.

At some point, the artfully crafted statements from the company and expressions of support from a board in lock step will begin to sound silly.

“We wonder how many more of these issues have to surface before the board takes a more assertive oversight role over the activities of News Corporation management,” Anne Sheehan, director of corporate governance at the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, which owns 5.9 million shares of nonvoting stock in News Corporation, said in a statement the day the parliamentary report came out.

Nothing will stop News Corporation’s remarkable run as a successful enterprise, because a great deal comes from lucrative cable and broadcast properties that are not at risk in the current scandal. But the Rupert Murdoch that we have known — untouchable and evasive — has become a man falling down stairs, slowly but surely. Continued profits and a compliant board can check the fall, but they can’t stop it.

E-mail: carr@nytimes.com;

[Douglas Caddy]

Steering Murdoch in Scandal, Klein Put School Goals Aside

The New York Times

May 7, 2012

By AMY CHOZICK

Last week, after a British parliamentary report declared that Rupert Murdoch was “not a fit person” to lead a major corporation, several senior News Corporation executives huddled in tense discussion on the eighth floor of the company’s New York headquarters.

Some initially wanted to take off the gloves and issue an equally damning condemnation of the report’s criticism of their chairman and chief executive.

Joel I. Klein, the former New York City schools chancellor who has become Mr. Murdoch’s trusted adviser, was more restrained, arguing that the company’s statement needed a balanced tone, according to a person close to the company who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The executives eventually agreed.

The response, drafted by Mr. Klein and the company’s general counsel, Gerson A. Zweifach, dismissed the personal jabs at Mr. Murdoch as “unjustified and highly partisan,” but also acknowledged that the company’s response to wrongdoing in Britain had been “too slow and too defensive.”

The statement reflected the measure and care of a man who has spent decades in politics.

“Joel likes to fight, but he’s also incredibly politically astute,” said a person close to Mr. Klein.

Mr. Klein’s political instincts may have helped News Corporation, but his involvement has delayed his own ambitions within the company. He was hired by Mr. Murdoch to lead his company’s aggressive push into the education market. But just over six months into his tenure, the news broke that the company’s News of the World tabloid in Britain had hacked into the phone of a murdered 13-year-old, Milly Dowler, and suddenly, Mr. Klein became Mr. Murdoch’s legal compass in the ensuing British firestorm.

Mr. Klein, who declined to comment for this article, has slowly returned his attention to parts of his education portfolio, but prospects for success may have been damaged by the investigation. In 2010, News Corporation paid $360 million for a 90 percent stake in Wireless Generation, a company based in Brooklyn that specializes in education software, data systems and assessment tools to help teachers analyze student performance and customize lessons.

Last year, New York State rejected a $27 million contract with Wireless Generation, citing “the significant ongoing investigations and continuing revelations with respect to News Corporation.”

More recently, there has been criticism of Mr. Klein’s seemingly contradictory roles within News Corporation, both investigating wrongdoing inside the company and advising Mr. Murdoch on handling public relations and his appearances before the British Parliament.

While Mr. Klein still worked for Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Mr. Murdoch and Mr. Klein became close friends. They talked frequently about the state of public schools and Mr. Klein was lured to News Corporation with the promise that he could use the company’s deep coffers to put in place his vision of revolutionizing K-12 education. Mr. Murdoch has said he would be “thrilled” if education were to account for 10 percent of News Corporation’s $34 billion in annual revenue in the next five years.

“Joel has a huge amount of respect and admiration for Mr. Murdoch and what he’s accomplished in his life,” said Merryl H. Tisch, chancellor of the Board of Regents, which oversees New York State’s Education Department.

Mr. Klein’s résumé — he previously served as head of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, helped the Clinton White House respond to the Whitewater inquiries and prepared Ruth Bader Ginsburg for her Supreme Court nomination hearings — made him an obvious candidate to help Mr. Murdoch through the phone-hacking scandal. He agreed, with the hope that News Corporation would provide him with the resources to realize his longtime goal of getting technology into schools, according to people close to both men.

“It wasn’t just ‘Oh, by the way, let’s get into schools.’ This is something that’s very important to Murdoch, or Joel wouldn’t have done it,” said a longtime friend of Mr. Klein’s, Barbara Walters. She said the scandal in Britain had “sidetracked” Mr. Klein.

He emerged as one of Mr. Murdoch’s most trusted advisers, along with Chase Carey, president and chief operating officer of News Corporation; and David F. DeVoe, the chief financial officer. Mr. Murdoch put Mr. Klein in charge of the internal investigation into the hacking case, reporting to Viet D. Dinh, an independent director on News Corporation’s board. But Mr. Klein also advised on handling the scandal, sitting behind Mr. Murdoch during his first testimony before a parliamentary panel in summer 2011 and spending hours in London helping Mr. Murdoch prepare for a second round of questions last month.

Shareholder groups have expressed concerns about Mr. Klein’s independence in leading the investigation. His compensation package at News Corporation was more than $4.5 million last year, according to company filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

“His salary was a huge bump, so he’s clearly beholden to Murdoch and should not be running an internal investigation,” said Michael Pryce-Jones, a spokesman for the CtW Investment Group, a shareholder advocacy group based in Washington that works with pension funds for large labor unions. (British investigators have said they believe the internal review led by Mr. Klein was independent.)

In December, Mr. Klein championed the hiring of Mr. Zweifach, a Washington lawyer from Williams & Connolly, as News Corporation’s new general counsel. The hiring of Mr. Zweifach, who has represented The Star tabloid in a libel lawsuit filed by the parents of JonBenet Ramsey, and The National Enquirer in an invasion of privacy lawsuit filed by Clint Eastwood, has helped Mr. Klein return his focus almost entirely to education, something friends said he had been impatient to do.

He now spends about two-thirds of his time on education and the rest on issues related to the fallout in Britain, according to people with knowledge of Mr. Klein’s schedule.

Mr. Klein’s education unit is now one of the few areas within the company that is currently growing, both through investment in Wireless Generation and potential acquisitions. The company is looking at several small education-related companies, though no deals are imminent, according to a person knowledgeable about News Corporation’s preliminary strategy.

Wireless Generation had come under fire before the dropped New York bid. The company had been a key Education Department partner on two efforts that Mr. Klein had championed as chancellor. The timing of News Corporation’s acquisition, two weeks after Mr. Klein said he would join the company, prompted accusations that he had violated the city’s conflict-of-interest rules. At the time, a News Corporation spokeswoman said the deal had been developing for several months and Mr. Klein had no involvement in it. A spokeswoman for the Education Department said Mr. Klein recused himself from all business between the city and Wireless Generation as soon as he knew News Corporation had acquired it.

Unions representing teachers remain steadfastly opposed to News Corporation’s move into education. Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, who has clashed with Mr. Klein in the past, called the company’s education push in the midst of the hacking scandal “the definition of chutzpah.”

Michael Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of Teachers, which represents New York City teachers, asked, “What parent would want personal information about themselves and their children in the hands of Rupert Murdoch, given the current circumstances?”

Wireless Generation said more than 2,500 United States school districts, 200,000 teachers and three million schoolchildren currently use its products, and many of those contracts were won after the rejected New York bid.

“Joel is a big thinker,” said John White, superintendent of Louisiana’s Education Department, who was deputy chancellor in New York under Mr. Klein. “Among those of us in the field, we’re anxiously awaiting what News Corporation will offer.”

Mr. Klein has hired some of the biggest names in education. Kristen Kane, a former chief operating officer for New York City’s Department of Education; Peter Gorman, former superintendent at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools in North Carolina; and Diana Rhoten, co-founder of the nonprofit Startl, which helps develop digital learning tools, have all joined News Corporation.

They’ll most likely carry out Mr. Klein’s vision without his full attention as long as News Corporation remains caught up in the hacking scandal. Mr. Klein’s office is just down the hall from Mr. Murdoch’s on News Corporation’s executive floor, and the two men occasionally have lunch together on weekends at an Italian restaurant near their homes on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.

“We’ve had our history of battles,” Ms. Weingarten said of Mr. Klein. “But he’s always had a reputation for integrity, and I can’t imagine the last several months of being mired in this scandal have been fun for him.”

[Steve Knight]

http://politicsuk-newsheadline.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/leveson-probe-sham-says-singer.html

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Tuesday, 8 May 2012

Leveson probe 'sham', says singer

Singer George Michael has claimed he was asked to speak to the Leveson Inquiry into press standards but declined, dismissing it as a sham.

As part of a series of tweets posted on Twitter, the star said: "I was asked to talk to the Leveson inquiry, but I declined. It's all bulls**t.

"It has been several years since two hacking journalists were sent to prison for bugging the royal family. They remain the only people who have been tried in the criminal courts.

"After all these years, and all the crimes committed by journos, editors, the police force and MPs the best can do is 'enquiry' after inquiry, and no actual criminal prosecutions?

"Why on earth are the rights of the royal family more important than those of Milly Dowler's parents, or of any of the hundreds of people whose lives have been violated by the press?

"Shame on our political system for it's refusal to take this further. The day they make this sham real and start genuinely prosecuting people I would more than happy to help. ....till then, what's the point."

During the 15-tweet rant Michael also attacked the Daily Mail, as well as calling Prime Minister David Cameron the "most cowardly PM we've seen for decades".

But a spokesman for the Leveson Inquiry said George Michael had never been asked to give evidence.

The star's comments come just days before former News International executive Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson are expected to make embarrassing revelations about British politicians' attempts to woo Rupert Murdoch's newspapers.

Mr Coulson, David Cameron's former communications director, will appear before the inquiry on Thursday followed by Mrs Brooks on Friday, and their potentially explosive evidence could overshadow David Cameron's efforts to relaunch the coalition's programme after bruising local election results for the Conservatives and Lib Dems.

©Press Association

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lol. He does make a point....but since when does British justice run on "Guilty until proven innocent"?

And can anyone take anything of value from inquiry after inquiry after inquiry that never seem to get anywhere...?

Would a half-arsed prosecution in a court be any better?

Edit : Format buggered up again :\

Edited May 8, 2012 by Steve Knight

[John Simkin]

David Cameron texted Rebekah Brooks before she quit NI, claims biography.

http://www.guardian....-rebekah-brooks

David Cameron texted Rebekah Brooks in the week she quit as News International's chief executive over the phone-hacking scandal to tell her to keep her head up, it has been claimed in an updated biography of the prime minister.

In a sign of his closeness to some of the most controversial News International chiefs Cameron told Brooks that she would get through her difficulties, just days before she stood down.

It has also emerged that he agreed to met her at a point-to-point horse race so long as they were not seen together, and that he also pressed the Metropolitan police to review the Madeleine McCann case in May last year following pressure from Brooks.

The prime minister then sent an intermediary to Brooks to explain why contacts had to be brought to an abrupt halt after she resigned. The authors say the gist of that message was 'Sorry I couldn't have been as loyal to you as you have been to me, but Ed Miliband had me on the run'."

The revelation comes in the week that Cameron's closeness to Brooks will come under intense scrutiny when she gives evidence to the Leveson inquiry on Friday. It is not known whether precise details of her text exchanges will be published by the inquiry, but it is thought that at certain points she was in repeated daily text contact.

[Douglas Caddy]

Rupert Murdoch's big backer sounds News Corp warning

News Corporation's second-biggest shareholder says phone-hacking scandal is damaging company's name

By Christian Sylt and Caroline Reid

guardian.co.uk,

Tuesday 8 May 2012 19.16 BST

Prince Alwaleed bin Talal has been one of Rupert Murdoch's staunchest supporters. Photograph: Yasser Al-Zayyat/AFP/Getty Images

Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, the second biggest shareholder in Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, has revealed his frustration with the fallout from the News of the World phone-hacking scandal and admitted that it is harming the reputation of the company overall, not just its publishing interests.

Alwaleed is a nephew of Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah, and, according to Forbes magazine, is the 29th wealthiest person in the world, with a fortune of $18bn (£11bn). He owns large stakes in Citigroup, Apple, Canary Wharf and London's Savoy hotel as well as 7% of the voting shares in News Corp, which on Wednesday announces its results for the three months to the end of March. Analysts expect profits to rise around 19% from the same quarter last year.

Alwaleed said that although News Corp was "very diversified," with interests covering books, magazines, newspapers, television and film, the phone-hacking scandal was having a company-wide effect. "I really hope that this is behind us because really it is not helping the name of the company," he said. "We hope that this page is folded and put behind us because really it is not something to be proud of."

News Corp investors have voiced concerns about the phone-hacking scandal since it erupted last year and, at the company's AGM in October, several shareholders, including powerful pension fund CalPERS, called for the appointment of an independent chairman. Murdoch currently holds the position of chairman alongside that of chief executive. Alwaleed is one of Murdoch's staunchest supporters and had never before spoken publicly about the wider impact of the scandal.

His most public previous involvement was to suggest the resignation of Rebekah Brooks as chief executive of News Corp's UK newspaper division, News International. Brooks was editor of the News of the World when its journalists hacked the phone of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler and in July last year Alwaleed told the BBC's Newsnight: "If the indications are for her [brooks's] involvement in this matter is explicit, for sure she has to go, you bet she has to go … Ethics to me is very important." Brooks resigned the following day.

News Corp holds a significant stake in Alwaleed's Saudi Arabian film, TV and music business Rotana Media Group and he said: "We have a strategic alliance with Rupert Murdoch for sure and I have been with him for the last 15 or 20 years. My backing of Rupert Murdoch is definitely unwavering."

Alwaleed said that although the scandal had had an impact on News Corp's reputation, its financial results had not been damaged. "The share price is really separating from what is happening in the UK," he said. "We see the price is hovering around $20 and the results are very good."

News Corp shrugged off the hacking scandal in its second-quarter results as net income increased 65%, despite it having to pay $87m during the period as a result of the ongoing investigations that led to the closure of the News of the World. Net income rose to $1.06bn for the quarter, compared with $642m a year before, driven by growth in its cable networks and movie studio divisions.

Alwaleed expects this trend to continue despite the ongoing scandal and he said: "I believe that once this page is flipped over, News Corp can withstand the heat of what is happening there."

[Douglas Caddy]

Rebekah Brooks tells Leveson of more meetings with David Cameron

• Ex-NoW editor got texts from PM during 2010 election

• Cameron was at dinner where BSkyB bid was discussed

• Brooks recalls updating PM about phone-hacking inquiry

By Dan Sabbagh

guardian.co.uk,

Friday 11 May 2012 09.59 EDT

After a morning of Leveson inquiry testimony from Rebekah Brooks, No 10's worst fears over what the former News International boss might reveal about their relationship have not been realised. But Brooks did disclose a number of details about their communication and meetings that will embarrass the prime minister and lead to further questions about the appropriateness of their relationship.

These included Brooks telling Lord Justice Leveson on Friday morning that she exchanged up to two texts per week with David Cameron during the 2010 general election campaign. He signed off texts with "DC" or sometimes "LOL" – until she explained that the latter phrase meant "laugh out loud", not "lots of love". However, Brooks dismissed as "ludicrous" reports that they exchanged texts up to 12 times a week.

Brooks also confirmed for the first time that she was at a Boxing Day party with Cameron in December 2010. This came three days after she entertained the prime minister at her Oxfordshire home, with a dinner during which News Corporation's £8bn bid for BSkyB was discussed.

She said she could recall a conversation in 2010 with Cameron on the subject of phone hacking , in which the NI chief executive updated him about developments in the growing number of civil cases.

Brooks told the inquiry Cameron was one of a number of politicians, including George Osborne and Tony Blair, who sent her messages of support – indirectly, in the prime minister's case – after she resigned at the height of the News of the World phone-hacking scandal in July 2011.

Around this time there had also been a single email message from Cameron to her BlackBerry, but it was "compressed" and therefore "there's no content in it", Brooks said.

Brooks disclosed she was at a "mulled wine, mince pie" party at which Cameron was presenton Boxing Day 2010 at "my sister-in-law's". But she was unsure if she spoke to Cameron or his wife Samantha at the event, although "my sister-in-law tells me they were definitely there".

She also said Cameron was told over dinner three days earlier that News Corp hoped the company's £8bn bid for BSkyB would be judged fairly in the aftermath of Vince Cable being stripped of the power to adjudicate on the takeover.

The prime minister was at the social event at Brooks's Oxfordshire home on 23 December 2010, which came at a crucial point in the bid approval process and two days after Cable, the business secretary, had been replaced by the culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, as the minister responsible for the BSkyB bid.

James Murdoch, News Corp's deputy chief operating officer – and at the time News International chairman –was also present at the 23 December dinner. Murdoch had previously told the inquiry he had a brief conversation there with the prime minister about the bid.

Brooks told the Leveson inquiry that the bid came up at the dinner, but was not widely discussed. "It was mentioned because it was in the news, because obviously Dr Cable had resigned from that role," she said, referring to the fact that the business secretary had been stripped of responsibility to approve the bid after being covertly recorded saying he had "declared war on Murdoch".

The former NI chief executive was asked by Robert Jay QC, counsel to the inquiry, if she was "party to any conversations along the lines that Dr Cable had acted in breach of duty, let's hope the next one, Mr Hunt, does not".

Brooks replied: "Not necessarily, but clearly that was our view. We hoped that … it would be a very fair process and that it would be fair and democratic" now that Hunt had been handed the task. Brooks added it had been disappointing "to find out that perhaps some personal prejudice came into that decision" – referring to Vince Cable – and "at least now the decision would be fair".

The end of 2010 was a critical moment in the BskyB bid process, not just because of the Cable row. Ofcom was due to send a report evaluating whether the bid would raise any concerns about "media plurality" at the very end of the year – a document that was the basis for personal negotiations between Hunt and News Corp over the bid in the first three months of 2011.

Brooks also revealed that she first became aware of the planned BSkyB bid "six [to] eight weeks" before it was disclosed in public in June 2010 – just before the general election in May. She said she had little involvement in the bid. But Leveson queried if her early knowledge would at least be useful to help with "the public presentation, perhaps the way in which the criticisms could be countered".

Brooks told the inquiry she could recall a conversation with Cameron on the subject of phone hacking during 2010, in which she updated him about developments in the growing number of civil cases. She said that the prime minister – who at that point was still employing former News of the World editor Andy Coulson – had asked her for an update as part of a general conversation of which she could only remember part.

"I think it had been on the news that day, and I think I explained the story behind the news. No secret information, no privileged information, just a general update. I'm sorry I can't remember the date, but I just don't have my records," she added.

Jay pressed Brooks to reveal what the PM had said, or how he had responded to what she had told him. The counsel to the inquiry asked if Cameron was having "second thoughts" about hiring Coulson, his then director of communications, but Brooks replied firmly: "No, not in that instance, no."

However, Brooks said she could not remember to which development in the civil cases their conversation could have referred. During 2010, a handful of celebrities were bringing phone-hacking claims against the News of the World, the most high profile of which came from Sienna Miller.

On Thursday, Coulson told the inquiry he had had no conversations with Cameron about the phone-hacking allegations at any time apart from an initial conversation in May 2007, when he was appointed as the Conservative party's director of communications.

Brooks, in her evidence on Friday, repeatedly denied that politicians lived in fear of the Sun or that she was unhealthily close to them. After Jay had pressed her on this point, Leveson invited Brooks to consider the issue again: "Can you understand where [it] might be a matter of public concern, that a very close relationship between journalists and politicians might create subtle pressures on the press, who have the megaphone and on the politicians who have their policy decisions?' Brooks replied "yes", she could see that point.

[Douglas Caddy]

Leveson Inquiry: Jeremy Hunt asked News Corp for advice on phone hacking, new emails show

Jeremy Hunt faces fresh questions over his relationship with News Corporation after an email from its chief lobbyist claimed the Culture Secretary had asked him for “private” advice on the phone-hacking investigation to “guide his and No.10’s positioning”.

By Gordon Rayner, Chief Reporter

The Telegraph

2:49PM BST

11 May 2012

The same email shows that News Corp was given an “extremely helpful” tip-off by Mr Hunt’s office that he would refer to phone-hacking in a statement to Parliament.

It was released to the Leveson Inquiry by Rebekah Brooks, the former chief executive of News International, as part of her witness statement to the Inquiry.

As well as dragging Mr Hunt further into the row which has already claimed the scalp of his special adviser Adam Smith , the email makes uncomfortable reading for David Cameron, as it suggests his response to the phone-hacking scandal was being guided by the owner of the News of the World.

The email was sent by Frederic Michel, the News Corp head of public affairs whose emails to and from Mr Smith, previously released to the Inquiry by Rupert Murdoch, showed that News Corp was being given advance notice of key decisions in the Government’s scrutiny of its bid to take over BSkyB.

Sent at 4.29pm on June 27 last year, it said: “JH is now starting to look into phone-hacking/practices more thoroughly and has asked me to advise him privately in the coming weeks and guide his and No.10’s positioning.”

Mr Michel has claimed he used “JH” as shorthand for Mr Hunt’s office in general, and Mr Hunt has claimed Mr Smith told News Corp far more than he should have done.

At the time the email was sent, the Metropolitan Police was six months into its ongoing investigation into phone-hacking at the News of the World, which later led to the arrest of Mrs Brooks.

In the same email to Mrs Brooks, Mr Michel states: “Hunt will be making references to phone-hacking in his statement on Rubicon [News Corp’s codename for the BSkyB bid] this week.

“He will be repeating the same narrative as the one he gave in Parliament a few weeks ago.

“This is based on his belief that the police is (sic) pursuing things thoroughly and phone-hacking has nothing to do with the media plurality issue [which the Competition Commission had been asked to examine].

“It’s extremely helpful.”

Mrs Brooks replied: “When is the Rubicon statement” and Mr Michel replied “probably Wednesday”.

Mr Hunt did, indeed, make his statement to Parliament on Wednesday, June 30, when he said the bid could go ahead subject to one final brief public consultation.

After the parliamentary statement Mr Michel texted Adam Smith to say “Think we are in a good place, no?” Mr Smith replied: “Very, yes. Jeremy happy.”

Mr Hunt faced calls for his own resignation last month after Rupert Murdoch released dozens of emails showing the extent to which Mr Smith was giving News Corporation prior warning of developments in the Government’s process of scrutinising its proposed takeover of BSkyB.

The email from Mr Michel to Mrs Brooks also discloses Mr Hunt’s thoughts on the workings of a parliamentary committee on privacy, set up earlier that month in the wake of a rash of celebrity super-injunctions.

“On the issue of the Privacy Committee,” it states, “he supports a widening of its remit to the future of the press and evidence from all newspaper groups on the regulatory regime.

“He wants to prevent a public enquiry. For this, the Committee will need to come up with a strong report in the autumn and put enough pressure on the PCC to strengthen itself and take recommendations forward.”

A spokesman for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport said: "Jeremy Hunt will respond to this when he gives his evidence to the Leveson Inquiry in due course. He is confident that his evidence will vindicate the position that he has behaved with integrity on every issue.

“It has already been made clear that when Fred Michel has claimed in emails to be speaking to Jeremy Hunt that was not the case.

“On 11 July 2011 Jeremy Hunt wrote to Ofcom for further advice about the impact of phone hacking on the BSkyB bid.”

[Douglas Caddy]

IoS exclusive: Revealed - how Coulson called Cameron's bluff

New book exposes desperation of the Tory leader to woo Murdoch

The Independent

By Jane Merrick, Matthew Bell

Sunday, 13 May 2012

David Cameron was so anxious to secure the services of Andy Coulson as his director of communications that the Tory leader backed down on one of his key demands, it is revealed today.

In a sign of how Mr Coulson was in the driving seat over his controversial appointment, the former News of the World editor called the bluff of the Tory leader and George Osborne by refusing to sign a confidentiality clause as part of his appointment.

The move reveals for the first time the desperation of Mr Cameron, then Leader of the Opposition, and Mr Osborne, to win over the Murdoch empire as they manoeuvred to secure a general election victory.

As the Leveson inquiry prepares to hear more evidence this week about the relations between News International and the Tories, The Independent on Sunday has learnt that Rebekah Brooks and her husband spent a weekend at Dorneywood, the Chancellor's official residence, during a key period in the bid by News Corp to take over BSkyB.

The previously undisclosed "pyjama party", in 2010, which also featured Mr Coulson and his wife, Eloise, will add fuel to demands for the Chancellor to be called to give evidence to Leveson in person.

Mr Osborne is among eight cabinet ministers to be granted "core participant" status, allowing them privileged access to documents put before the inquiry, but he is the only minister of the group not scheduled to give evidence. Last night an aide to Mr Osborne said that the Chancellor had listed on the Treasury website a "social" engagement with Mrs Brooks in September 2010, even though full details of the Dorneywood weekend were not given. The aide said that Mr Osborne had been "absolutely transparent" in his dealings with News International figures.

A new edition of a biography of David Cameron, Practically a Conservative, reveals that in 2007, at the time of Mr Coulson's appointment, the Tory leader was concerned that the ex-NOTW editor would write a memoir about working for him.

The book, by James Hanning, deputy editor of The Independent on Sunday, and Francis Elliott of The Times, reveals that "Cameron wanted a clause inserted in Coulson's contract guaranteeing that he would not write a memoir, but Coulson refused. Tellingly, Osborne, tasked with brokering the hire, didn't feel they could insist and backed down."

The authors write that there was a "cursory check" into whether there were any outstanding court cases or industrial tribunals that might throw up further details. "We wanted to be sure there were no outstanding legal cases," said one of those involved.

Last week Mr Coulson told the inquiry that he was asked only once by Mr Cameron about phone-hacking, which triggered his resignation from the Murdoch-owned newspaper. But, according to Practically a Conservative, to be serialised in The Independent on Sunday next week, Mr Cameron's concern at hiring Mr Coulson was less to do with the circumstances of his resignation earlier that year than the result of his wariness of journalists as a breed.

Mr Cameron was worried that Mr Coulson might follow the behaviour of Amanda Platell, another former editor turned press secretary who worked for William Hague. She went home each night during the 2001 election campaign to record a video diary, later seen on national television.

But Mr Cameron and Mr Osborne, in particular, were desperate to emulate Tony Blair and acquire for the Tories their "own Alastair Campbell". When Mr Coulson refused to sign a confidentiality clause, Mr Osborne backed down. The revelation also sheds further light on the central role played by the then Shadow Chancellor in pursuing the Blair strategy. Mr Coulson's appointment is expected to come under scrutiny at Leveson tomorrow when the former cabinet secretary, Lord O'Donnell, gives evidence. Lord O'Donnell oversaw the vetting process for civil servants, including advisers such as Mr Coulson, who was subjected to a lower level of security clearance when he became director of communications at Downing Street in May 2010.

Uncertainty remains over aspects of Mrs Brooks's evidence to the inquiry on Friday. In July last year, The IoS revealed that Mrs Brooks and Mr Cameron met at a drinks party in an Oxfordshire manor on Boxing Day 2010. A week later, sources close to the Prime Minister confirmed that they had met at that party at the house of Mrs Brooks's sister-in-law, Annabel Brooks. It came only three days after Mr Cameron and Mrs Brooks had dinner with James Murdoch on 23 December. On Friday, when Mrs Brooks was asked whether she had met the Prime Minister on Boxing Day, and whether she had had a conversation with him, she said she might have seen him across the room, but that "No, I don't think there was a conversation". However, a fellow guest at the party has confirmed to The IoS that the two definitely spoke to each other on at least two occasions that evening.

The position of the Culture Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, remained in the balance last night after an email revealed by Mrs Brooks on Friday suggested he had asked for News International to guide No 10 and his own department about phone hacking.

Yesterday the Labour leader, Ed Miliband, stepped up pressure on Mr Hunt to resign. In a speech to the Progress Conference, he said: "One of the reasons so many people hate politics so much right now is that they think politicians stand up for the wrong people, not the right people. This is a clear example of that – Jeremy Hunt was standing up for Rupert Murdoch, not for the public interest. Out of touch with the many. Too close to the few. Jeremy Hunt should go."

[Douglas Caddy]

Former News of the World reporter claims journalists made up stories

Sunday tabloid was driven by culture of fear and unethical practices were rife, BBC told

By Cass Jones

guardian.co.uk,

Saturday 12 May 2012 18.36 BST

A former News of the World reporter has claimed that journalists at the now defunct newspaper regularly made up stories and unethical practices were rife because of a "culture of fear" at the tabloid.

Graham Johnson, who worked at the newspaper between 1995 and 1997, said many employees carried out illegal operations and fabricated articles due to pressures from the top.

He told the BBC: "You can't get through the day on a tabloid newspaper if you don't lie, if you don't deceive, if you're not prepared to use forms of blackmail or extortion or lean on people, you know, make people's lives a misery. You just have to deliver the story on time and on budget, and if you didn't then you'd get told off.

"The News of the World culture was driven by fear, because it's a hierarchy, it's a military operation, it's a seamless operation."

In the wake of the phone hacking scandal, News International insisted illegal activities at the Sunday tabloid were only carried out by a few rogue reporters.

However, Johnson claims that many employees regularly obtained information for stories through the use of unethical practices and journalists would make up stories.

"Almost all stories that you worked on involved the use of private detectives and accessing various records, which were either illegal or confidential," said Johnson. "So for instance, medical records, bank accounts, telephone records – this kind of data. It was all a phone call away. Within a few days of working at the News of the World I was given several numbers for private detectives.

"I fabricated stories about drug dealers, neo-Nazis, people who were selling guns, people who were selling fake documents."

Johnson told the BBC that he could not justify his actions but that the culture at the News of the World was partly to blame.

When approached by the BBC, News International would not comment on the allegations