Mr Rupert (actually Mr Keith Rupert) Murdoch, 80 year old Chairman and CEO of News Corporation and his son Mr James Murdoch, 30, Chairman and Chief Operations Officer of News Corporation, Europe and Asia, were the star attractions, having owned the now-defunct News of the World tabloid paper, the newspaper in question.
In my opinion, Messrs Murdoch were dealt very easy questions and I am not the only one. Now I am no ‘legal eagle’ though have 3.25 family members in the legal profession and have ‘employed’ a lawyer now and again. The repetitive answer provided by these two very powerful men was to the tune of: I had no idea that this hacking was going on. Mr Rupert Murdoch confessed today to having 52,000 employees. Where does that buck stop? Surely he has the responsibility of keeping an eye on what is going on by communicating with his people down the ladder who are supervising these 52,000 people. Crikey, can you imagine what the Christmas parties are like and does he send each one of them a Happy Birthday email via the work PCs…..I am guessing no!
Mr Rupert apologised to a certain family for the atrocious behaviour where a private investigator was paid by his newspaper to hack into the voicemail and deleted messages of a young teenager’s mobile phone that had gone missing and was later murdered. Mr Rupert declared he was “shocked, appalled and ashamed” with this information. Rupert, you have a massive media corporation out of control and you are supposed to be the boss. As well, hackers involved with this newspaper were involved with hacking phones of British family members who had lost their loved ones in the 9/11 event in America. Where is the line drawn for investigative journalism Rupert?
According to the media there are in fact around 4000 cases of phone hacking Messrs Murdoch’s newspaper are responsible, allegedly, including the phones of the now Duchess of Cambridge, Hugh Grant, previous British PM Gordon Brown and The Queen no less to mention but a few!!
Whilst sitting watching this broadcast, it was to be interrupted by a certain Mr Marbles who somehow managed to make his way from the public viewing area to the area where Messrs Murdoch were sitting and threw a plate of blue shaving cream into Mr Rupert’s face whilst exclaiming his dislike for Mr Rupert’s wealth and power. But wait this gets better. Whilst this was occurring, the third Mrs Rupert Murdoch, Wendi Deng, 42, managed to leap from behind Mr Rupert and took her right hook to this protestor, pouncing toward her husband, 32 years her senior, like a Ninja. It was a classic!
I recall when the now Mr and Mrs Rupert Murdoch became an item. Ms Deng was an employee of Mr Rupert working in Hong Kong and happened to be at a staff party where Mr Murdoch was in attendance, according to internet information. They married very quickly after Mr Rupert’s divorce from wife number two and have two children together. I certainly hope Mr Rupert has his legal paperwork in order, presuming that his offspring will be handed the reins of his empire because I am getting a feeling of discomfort from the current Mrs Murdoch. Wendi’s right hook may be pumped and in readiness for other situations too so watch out Murdoch children! Hey, I was a Girl Guide once and still live by the motto ‘Be Prepared.’
Geoffrey Robertson QC, UK lawyer and hubby of Australian writer and funny girl Kathy Lette, advised he would hope that Mr Rupert was not left in charge of any superannuation fund, having clearly displayed his alleged non-involvement and ignorance to his newspaper’s phone hacking. Good point Geoffrey. When asked by one of the parliamentary members if he felt he should resign as head of New Corp, naturally Mr Rupert declared that he should not.
A parent is legally responsible for their children up to 18 years of age; a principal of a school is held responsible for their students; so will Rupert be held accountable for his 52,000 family members? These people have helped make him a billionaire. ‘Absolute power corrupts absolutely’ as the saying goes and I think Mr Rupert knows more than he is letting on.
So where does the buck stop Mr Rupert Murdoch? US president Harry S Truman was the man responsible for making the saying ‘the buck stops here’ famous, taking responsibility for the governance of his country. Mr Truman was president of the people of the USA Mr Murdoch, you only have 52,000 under your governance and still won’t take responsibility. Interesting don’t you think?
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