Murdoch's Empire on Increasingly Shaky Ground

Rebekah Brooks, Former Chief Executive of News International and Editor of News of the World

John Yates, Former Assistant Commissioner of Scotland Yard

Rupert Murdoch's global organization, News Corp, continues to capture headlines in its UK division News International.  Rebekah Brooks, the former chief of News International, has been arrested on suspicion of phone hacking and bribing police to obtain  protected information that would titillate readers and increase sales  Paul Stephenson, the head of Scotland Yard, stepped down Sunday night, saying his ability to do his job had been compromised by the media frenzy.  Hours later, John Yates, Assistant Commissioner of Scotland Yard, announced he was resigning as well. 

Andy Coulson, who took over for Brooks as editor of the News of the World, resigned in  2007 and opposition leader David Cameron, now Prime Minister, appointed Coulson as his communications chief later that year. Coulson was arrested on July 8 on suspicion of phone-hacking and corruption and released on bail.  Prime Minister David Cameron has come under attack for his close relationships with Brooks and Coulson and has some explaining to do.  Ham on Wry wonders who will be left to turn out the lights, in the aftermath of a scandal that might now spread to the News Corp's headquarter in the US.

Employees of News Corp have alleged that Murdoch treats his business like a family enterprise, rather than a Fortune 500 company.  He is purported to have used public funds rather than funds donated to a PAC to support Republican governors.  Hmmm.  Is this a case of retribution or "where there's smoke, there's fire?"  Accusations of hacking into 9/11 victims' phone and e-mail accounts have also surfaced, with some members of Congress calling for the Justice Department to investigate those claims.  With the growing outcry against his media conglomerate, the time has come to examine the effect of one person  controlling a behemoth that belches innuendo masking as news in a variety of forums.  Ham on Wry admits it finds Murdoch's Fox News an irritant and wouldn't mind at all if that part of Fox TV disappeared.