Deconstructing The Power Of The Press And Other Book Deals

Michael Hedges May 31, 2012 - Follow on Twitter

For the news media to speak truth to power assumptions are that power – and the powerful – are not coagulated with those speaking, lest confusion reign. Power may be the ultimate social force, bigger than money and often more fun. But confusion is a force unto itself when sown carefully into the fabric.

A not insignificant portion of the UK’s well-connected and powerful have given evidence to the on-going Leveson Inquiry, a special public investigation into “the role of the press and police in the phone-hacking scandal,” orchestrated by PM Cameron when NOTW closed and the toxic fallout began causing the well-connected and powerful to glow a ugly color. The Leveson Inquiry has now entered its third phase, questioning past and present politicians about the proper relationship with the news media, in general, and their dealings with News Corporation, in specific. Previous “modules” have allowed celebrities and media people to unload. The concluding module will explore dimensions between press freedom and press regulation.

Last week and this, the Leveson Inquiry turned away, slightly, from phone hacking and peered into the murky circle of top British politicians and media people, from reporters to editors to owners. There was no “Faustian” deal between Rupert Murdoch and the Labour Party governments of Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, said former Business Secretary under both, Lord Peter Mandelson (May 21), “involving commercial concessions to him in return for support from his newspapers.” The following day (May 22), current Labour Party MP Tom Watson observed that “the personal relations between politicians and the people at (News International) were fibrous and close so they couldn't divorce their objective thinking. And I think they were frightened.” Mr. Watson is a member of the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, which conducted its own inquiry into phone hacking, including interviews with Rupert and James Murdoch. Mr. Watson’s views on the Murdoch clan are well known, recounted in his book Dial M For Murdoch: News Corporation and the Corruption of Britain. From the volumes of Leveson Inquiry testimony and that of other related investigations more books will be written, followed by movies and maybe an opera.

Police in London detained UK tabloid News Of The World’s former editor Andy Coulson “on suspicion of committing perjury,” reported Scottish news portal svt.tv (May 30). Authorities questioned Mr. Coulson about witness statements given at the 2010 perjury trial of Scottish Socialist Party leader Tommy Sheridan, who was convicted of giving false testimony in the civil action he brought against News Of The World (NOTW) in 2006 for defamation. Mr. Sheridan won the lawsuit against NOTW but didn’t collect the £200,000 awarded because he went to jail.

News Of The World was closed last summer by publisher News International, owned by News Corporation, as revelations piled high of editorial complicity in hacking phones and, ultimately, allegations of improper relations with authorities. Mr. Sheridan accused NOTW of hiring a private detective to hack his mobile phone in search of juicy dirt. That private detective - Glenn Mulcaire - and NOWT reporter Clive Goodman did jail time for a separate bit of phone hacking.

During his testimony in the Sheridan trial, Mr. Coulson said he didn’t “accept there was a culture of phone hacking at the News of the World.” Mr. Coulson had, by then, stepped down as NOTW editor and was head of communications (read: spin doctor) for Prime Minister David Cameron. He’d come highly recommended by News International CEO and Cameron neighbor Rebekah Brooks, who subsequently resigned when that good job became untenable as more arrests made unlikely the company spin that phone hacking was carried out by a lone “rogue reporter.” Two weeks ago (May 15) Mrs Brooks was formally charged with “conspiracy to pervert the course of justice” in the police investigation of phone hacking. Late in the day Wednesday (May 30) Scottish formally arrested and charged Mr. Coulson with perjury.

As the police were questioning Mr. Coulson Wednesday (May 30), Leveson Inquiry council was grilling UK Business Secretary Vince Cable, who observed that News Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch has had a “disproportionate influence” over British politics. Dr. Cable gave “context” to his infamous “declared war on Murdoch” comment, recorded by Daily Telegraph reporters posing as constituents, giving cause for PM Cameron to take the brief on the proposed BSkyB takeover by News Corporation from Dr. Cable and hand it to Culture, Media and Sport Secretary Jeremy Hunt. News Corporation eventually dropped its BSkyB bid as certain clarity arose from the tempo of police and Parliamentary investigations, separate from the Leveson Inquiry, and froth from media attention. Dr. Cable is a Liberal Democrat Party member in the coalition government with the Conservative Party of David Cameron.

Why did the Daily Telegraph “come after” Cable and his Liberal Democrat MP colleagues, asked Lord Justice Leveson? “I don't think that's difficult to understand,” said Dr. Cable, referring to the Daily Telegraph owners, the staunchly Conservative Party supporting Barclay brothers.

Indeed, not much of this saga is difficult to understand. Secretary Hunt, self-described ‘cheerleader’ for the News Corporation BSkyB bid, professed having an independent mind toward the bid process in his Leveson Inquiry evidence (May 31) but nonetheless expressed, “You don't appoint a quasi-judicial role with your brain wiped clean.” What has not been wiped clean are reams (digital, naturally) of email and text messages, provided in part by News Corporation, among various actors and players communicating the ins and outs of a government and a media company struggling to manage a public relations and, ultimately, a political nightmare. Secretary Hunt’s special on-staff advisor was forced to resign after Leveson Inquiry council read through dozens of email exchanges with a senior News Corporation lobbyist.

More, revelatory or not, will see the light of day before the Leveson Inquiry adjourns at the end of June. What is certainly extraordinary is that the Leveson Inquiry exists at all. However painful, it is a testament to a functioning democracy, including its Fourth Estate.

“Politics makes strange bedfellows” Charles Dudley Warner 1870

“Toute nation a le gouvernement qu’elle mérite.” (Every country has the government it deserves) Joseph de Maistre 1811

See also in ftm Knowledge

Rupert Murdoch and News Corporation

News Corporation is a highly competitive media giant a global, multi-media footprint. From paywalls and pay-TV to tabloid troubles and new ventures the media industry watches Rupert Murdoch. Update includes family ties, succession plans and other News Of The World. 210 pages PDF (September 2012)

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