Shit v Shite - Murdoch v $cientology

It looks like Rupert Murdoch is  not well disposed to $cientology

According to the Guardian (and plenty of other news sources) Murdoch has been tweeting his views on Hubard's scam:

Scientology back in news.Very weird cult, but big, big money involved with Tom Cruise either number two or three in hiearchy. — Rupert Murdoch(@rupertmurdoch)

Watch Katie Holmes and Scientology story develop. Something creepy, maybe even evil, about these people. — Rupert Murdoch(@rupertmurdoch)

Mormons on the other hand are okay (fair enough). "Mormonism a mystery to me, but Mormons certainly not evil."


So a despicable megalomaniac one of whose papers hacked the phone of a dead girl, is going against a lunatic and highly litigious money making cult. May the battle be bloody and both sides lose.

Oh dear!

Never lrt it be said that Fox does not tackle the issues... even if they make a total bollocks of it - conflating hackers and hackees to make Newscopr seem like victims, I ask you!

Rebekah Brooks quits

The Guardian has reported that Rebekah Brooks has finally bowed to the inevitable and resigned from her position as Chief Executive of News International (Newscorp's UK subsidiary). Her resignation statement is below

As chief executive of the company, I feel a deep sense of responsibility for the people we have hurt and I want to reiterate how sorry I am for what we now know to have taken place.
I have believed that the right and responsible action has been to lead us through the heat of the crisis. However my desire to remain on the bridge has made me a focal point of the debate.
This is now detracting attention from all our honest endeavours to fix the problems of the past.
Therefore I have given Rupert and James Murdoch my resignation. While it has been a subject of discussion, this time my resignation has been accepted.
Rupert's wisdom, kindness and incisive advice has guided me throughout my career and James is an inspirational leader who has shown me great loyalty and friendship.
I would like to thank them both for their support.

 Well there you have it. Clearly Brooks has outlived her usefulness to the Murdochs I wit to see whether they sling the dirt at her no. On the other hand she will know where a lot of bodies are buried.

This could get very interesting!

It gets even worse for the Murdochs

The phone hacking (okay I know phreaking is probably more correct) revelations of the last 11 days will have given the Murdochs and other NresCorp/News International executives a fair few sleepless nights. In their bid to fight the storm of priotest they have (at least temporarily) shelved their plans to take full control of BSkyB and have killed off the best selling Sunday paper in Britain.

But all of this may be just small beer: The press is now reporting that the FBI has commenced an investigation into allegations that NOTW journalists tried to hack the phones of 9/11 victims.

There may be nothing to these allegations but the news that an investigation is underway must come as a huge blow to the Murdochs. Newscorp has enormous holdings in the US. If the scandal extends further in the US the consequences for the company will be far greater than those here in the UK.

Now it seems that Riupert Murdoch's touch is turning gold into shit his days at the top could be numbered - shareholders do not like this sort of thing (an understatement). The prospect of another Murdoch easing into the top role must also be in doubt.

Interesting times!

GOTCHA!

In the last half hour or so it has been announced that NewsCorp is withdrawing its bid to take full control of BskyB.

The move comes just before a parliamentary debate on the Murdoch bid for the satellite company. The Murdoch empire still retains a 39% stake and thus has effective control, with James Murdoch as chairman. The recent revelations may well focus attention on James Murdoch's fitness to continue in this role

It's been a crappy year or so for the Murdochs: It has been already been pilloried for massively overpaying for Dow Jones and the Wall Street Journal and selling off Myspace at an enormous loss... and then there is the small matter of paying hundreds of millions for Elizabeth Murdoch's production company.

All in all it looks like the Dirty Digger has lost his Midas touch and replaced it with a Sadim one. While it would not bother me if everything else he touches continues to turn to shit, Newscorp shareholders may well take a different view.

I wonder if we will her of Rupert's "retirement" in the not too distant future. That said another one of the clan will probably take his place... Hiho



It is also facing legal action