Les Hinton is the chief executive of Dow Jones and the publisher of the Wall Street Journal, the most prestigious and valued media holdings of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation media empire. Hinton is implicated as a key player in at least the cover up of illegal break-ins involving hundreds of voice mail accounts belonging to news worthy British citizens high and low. Hinton was chairman of News International, the parent company of Murdoch's London tabloids and newspapers (including the Times of London), at the time of the illegal activities and police investigations. (
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What Happened Under Hinton's Reign?The UK phone jacking scandal started in 2007 when news broke that the News of the World, London's leading tabloid, had been breaking into to voice mail accounts of prominent British citizens:
"In 2006, reporters at the paper used private investigators to illegally gain access to hundreds of mobile phone voicemail accounts held by a variety of people of interest to the newspaper. In 2007 the paper's royal correspondent,
Clive Goodman, pleaded guilty to illegal interception of personal communication and was jailed for four months; the paper's editor, Andy Coulson, had resigned two weeks earlier. In 2009/2010, further revelations emerged on the extent of the phone hacking, and how it was common knowledge within the News of the World and its
News International parent. According to a former reporter at the paper, "Everyone knew. The office cat knew," about the illegal activities used to scoop stories."
WikipediaIt died down due to lackluster investigation by the London Metropolitan Police. But when it was revealed that the electronic spying was focused on crime victims and orphans, the British public had quite enough.
James Murdoch, son of Mr. Murdoch, pulled the plug on the News of World, earlier this week after claims it paid private investigators to illegally intercept the voicemail messages of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler, bereaved military families and relatives of London bombing victims. It is also accused of paying thousands of pounds illegally to corrupt police officers.
Irish Times, July 9Now, Murdoch's highly lucrative deal to take over 61% of broadcasting giant
BSkyB is threatened by this scandal. Prime Minister David Cameron's Culture Minister was expected to approve the acquisition. Quickly, that option may become a political impossibility given British public outrage and Cameron's personal involvement with News Corporation executives, in particular, Rebekah Brooks. Last Friday, July 8,
Cameron announced that government approval of the deal wouldn't be forthcoming until investigations of the handling of the scandal by London police was completed. The day before Cameron's announcement, Labour Party Leader David Miliband called for the House of Commons to block the deal by Murdoch's News corp. The
Financial Times reported that Labour's proposal was attracting Liberal Democratic support.
Cameron had to weigh his close relationships with News Corporation and key executives against the political oblivion of allowing a favorable deal for Murdoch on BSkyB. The much reviled Rebekah Brooks is the former head of the News of the World, shut down just this week as a result of the scandal. Brooks and Cameron appear to be very close. They take
regular horseback rides together in the woods near Brooks' country estate and Cameron attended a Christmas party at the Brooks estate, something he was criticized for in the British press. Of interest, despite broad based demands that Brooks be relieved of her current duties, chief executive of News Corporation's News International,
Murdoch refused to consider letting go of the long time employee.
The UK woes of News Corporation reach across the Atlantic to the United States as Les Hinton's role in the phone hacking/information jacking scandal grows. As the saying goes,
he knew or should have known that this was going on, something he denied.
How much credibility would Mr. Hinton have if asked this question:
Has there been any phone hacking/information jacking by News Corporation publications in the United States?
Who would believe a "No" answer to that question if Hinton's handling of the internal investigation of News of the World hacking/jacking is further discredited? It is a fact that Hinton failed to discover all but one of the hundreds, perhaps thousands, of illegal intrusions into voicemails, etc. that occurred when he conducted
his internal investigation, completed in 2007.
Hints About HintonLes Hinton was and is once again a key player in the investigation.
The Guardian summed up the problems facing Murdoch's prize possession, the WSJ:
As
News Corporation battles to prevent the damage caused by the phone-hacking scandal spilling over into its all-important US holdings, attention is falling on Les Hinton, one of Rupert Murdoch's closest executives in New York, who was deeply involved in the handling of the affair.
Since 2007, Hinton has been chief executive of Dow Jones, publisher of the
Wall Street Journal and one of the most prestigious of Murdoch's possessions. The bastion of US business coverage is seen as the crown jewel of Murdoch's media empire.
Ed Pilkington, The Guardian, July 8Hinton faces major challenges right now. The Guardian reports that he may have misrepresented News Corporation's internal investigations to the British Parliament.
Hinton replied by standing up for Andy Coulson, the News of the World editor who had resigned over the Goodman affair while denying any knowledge of it: "I believe absolutely that Andy did not have knowledge of what was going on." Coulson was arrested on Friday in connection with the phone-hacking investigation.
Guardian, July 8.
Andy Coulson, under arrest in London for his role in this scandal, went on to become communications director for Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative Party from 2007 through Cameron's election.
Hinton will also have to explain, in some detail, why News Corporation paid the man they blamed for this scandal, Andy Goodman, while he was serving time in a British prison.
Questions also remain over Hinton's approval of a payment to Goodman made after the News of the World's royal editor had been jailed in January 2007.
Guardian, July 8This is reminiscent of the secret payments from the Republican Party to the Watergate burglars while they awaited trial in Judge John Sirica's court.
Meantime we shall express our darker purpose. King Lear The questions about Hinton's competence and veracity arising from this spreading scandal lead right back to the credibility of the most prized possession of the Murdoch media empire, the credibility of his entire enterprise, the Wall Street Journal:
Ilyse Hogue, who specialises in News Corporation affairs within the progressive campaign
Media Matters, said: "Given the evidence, Hinton was, at best, supremely neglectful in his investigation or, at worst, he knew about wider wrongdoing and brushed it under the rug. I think Americans are well within their rights to question his role."
Guardian, July 8Ms. Hogue is very diplomatic. Review the Guardian video and testimony transcript at the end of this article. You will see what the Murdoch empire is all about. His key executives reflect the enterprises
darker purpose. Rebekah Brooks, CEO of News International, admits to paying police for news information through 2003. She doesn't seem to think that it is illegal to do so. Les Hinton denies that he found any illegal phone jacking other than the reporter that the Murdoch paper gave up. Apparently he was unaware of the very long list of individuals indicating illegal snooping was a common affair. Hinton is followed by News of the World Editor from 2003 through 2007, Andy Coulson, who was arrested recently and is now in police custody for crimes related to this scandal. Without blushing, Coulson states that he never approved of illegal phone surveillance. If these are Murdoch's best, just imagine his worst.
For decades, Rupert Murdoch has seemed invincible. Now, like a tired Lear, he returns to the United Kingdom reportedly to shore up the empire as a result of the illegal activities targeting many, even crime victims and orphans.
Murdoch's rise to power, position, and wealth has seemed an irresistible force since then Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich, was accused of helping Murdoch acquire United States media deal. Gingrich had just received a
$4.5 million advance for a book from a Murdoch subsidiary.
The overlord of the press seems to want it both ways. His Fox News and tabloids are nothing less than engines for the basest scandal and dysfunction. At the same time, he displays the Times of London, the Wall Street Journal, and Dow Jones as signs of his credibility. Thanks to his over reach with his British tabloid, he is now the object of intense coverage by the British press from the Mirror to the Guardian.
Soon, Murdoch may have something of his own to cover … bail.
(This article may be reproduced entirely or in part with attribution of authorship and a link to this article.)
Rupert Murdoch's own hubris is bringing him to a just ruin.
This will be an epic story.
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