How News Corp Will Fight Back
Rupert Murdoch and his son James may have emerged from their televised inquisition largely unscathed (thanks in part to the moronic efforts of one Jonnie Marbles, “anarchist”). But they don’t get to breathe easy; no fewer than 10 investigations are under way in Britain into alleged wrongdoing by News Corp. employees. “An optimist might think that with so much smoke surely a barbecue is in the offing,” muses D.D. Guttenplan in The Nation. But collaring the guilty and bringing them to justice will be no easy feat, because, as he observes, News Corp. “is no ordinary business enterprise.” It’s a massive empire with global reach and staggering resources, able (and as we’ve seen, willing) to buy cooperation or silence as needed. Moreover, thanks to its worldwide army of hacks and private detectives, the company probably has the goods on many an actual or potential foe, and certainly the ability to go after enemies in a very public way via its news outlets. This probably explains why, until recently, the Guardian newspaper was alone in digging into this story, and why, still, we await anything approaching a clear picture of who knew what, when. “Really getting to the bottom of News Corporation would require a global effort, with global focus,” writes Guttenplan, “and far more determination than anything shown” by investigators up to this point.
• ‘The Murdochs: Power Without Responsibility’ [D.D. Guttenplan, The Nation]