Murdoch: We've handled hacking "extremely well"

News Corporation Chief Rupert Murdoch (R) and his son Lachlan are pictured through a car window as they leave Rupert Murdoch's London home, July 14, 2011. / Getty

NEW YORK - News Corp. Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch defended his handling of the tabloid newspaper scandal that threatens his media empire in a story published Thursday and said any speculation that he may sell off the rest of the company's British newspapers is "pure rubbish."

In comments published on the News Corp.-owned Wall Street Journal's website, the 80-year-old executive said he and others in management had handled the crisis "extremely well in every way possible" with just a few "minor mistakes."

On Friday, the scandal claimed its highest ranking member of Murdoch's staff to date, as Rebekah Brooks, CEO of the U.K. arm of News Corp., resigned.

The company's shares are down about 15 percent since early last week, when new allegations emerged that News Corp. journalists intercepted phone messages of politicians, celebrities, and sports figures and bribed police in the U.K. In the political firestorm that ensued, the company closed the 168-year-old tabloid News of the World at the center of the scandal, and withdrew its $12 billion bid for the 61 percent of British Sky Broadcasting that it doesn't already own.

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The damage done to the company is "nothing that will not be recovered," he said. "We have a reputation of great good works in this country."

Asked if he was bothered by the deluge of negative headlines in recent days, Murdoch said he was "just getting annoyed. I'll get over it. I'm tired."

Responding to Murdoch's comments, the leader of Britain's opposition Labour party, Ed Miliband, suggested the media magnate "still doesn't get it".

Murdoch's comments came on the same day that a law enforcement official said the FBI had opened an investigation into News Corp. over reports that its tabloid reporters attempted to hack into the phone records of Sept. 11, 2001 terror attack victims.

Analysts have suggested that the phone-hacking crisis should make Murdoch reconsider the value of owning other News Corp. newspapers in Britain, including the Sun, the Times of London and the Sunday Times.

Newspapers contributed less than 3 percent of the company's operating profit in the most recent quarter and the business is troubled as advertisers shift spending to the Internet.

But Murdoch, a devout admirer of the newspaper business, called the reports "pure rubbish. Pure and total rubbish ... give it the strongest denial you can give."

Murdoch reiterated plans announced earlier for the company to establish a special committee within the company to investigate charges of improper conduct.

[noloyalisti]

Murdoch, you right wing fascist scum, you might as well say that Hitler handled the Jewish problem very well. Shut down Murdoch and Foax Propaganda Channel, they have caused enough death and destruction.

[aintfakin]

I dont watch Fox "rubbish"
are those guardians of the fourth estate still mum on this?

[ibsteve2u]

You have to include the possibility that an entity such as NewsCorp's definition of "handled extremely well" might very well include - or be limited to - an excellent job of destroying the electronic and paper evidence trail. Such business entities may initially be naive about the methods of evidence destruction, but if they are caught once, they develop...protocols.

A well and thoroughly corrupt business entity is almost as efficient at destroying compromising material as, say, the office of a CIA station chief in one of our embassies in a less-than-friendly country.

I would opine that NewsCorp has been caught enough that one might safely conclude that both the behavior that necessitates the ability to conceal the truth from the authorities and public and that ability is...in their blood.

[samXXkiley]

coucou,

""""the rest of the company's British newspapers is "pure rubbish.""""
==================
inutile de vous justifiez, vous avez terni l'image des m?dias

..........
useless to you justify, you have tarnished the image of the media
what you have done is against ethics

"au revoir"

[unclebernies]

Murdoch is a liar and nothing that comes out of his mouth is factual. He made a living from being deceptive

[Rodeo_Joe]

Unlike NBC, or CBS, or CNN, with their hacking scandals of victims.

FOX NEWS doesn't like Media Matters - I wonder why?

[skyviewperspective]

Murdoch has always just stated what he wants people to believe and then people have lived in fear of him so they believed it. He's trying the same rubbish in this situation.

When you are so removed from the hurts of the world and the people who you have been impacted from those hurts, then you think you can take advantage of that and just walk away. Not this time, even with hints that the Brits were cow towing to Murdoch, they are running in political scramble to make sure that they are now distanced from him. And the only way to do that is to take action against him.

But if you look at his face, it screams of smugness and him basically saying "I have you in my backpocket". So there will probably be some collateral damage as well from this. The interesting thing is, now they are investigating him in the U.S. for the possibility of the same thing during events here. Which means if it was happening on "this side of the pond" as well, then he had to have known it was going on.

No problem Rup....I think Bernie Madoff would like a cellmate.

[stinger35773]

He makes Mr. Burns look like Santa Claus.

[Ajer12]

This is not the only scandal to hit the UK since the MP's expenses scandal, where most MP's got away with fiddling their expenses by throwing a few minor MP's to the lions to protect their credibility. The whole British establishment has since Blair took office 14 years ago become rife with corruption, a corruption that has found its way into every public service department destroying long held principles of honesty, integrity and service to the nation and its people. Money and power has become the driving force in the UK with little regard for what the electorate want, in fact the electorate, the ordinary people have become surplus to requirements and only of use at election time where even then they are lied to and later ignored. The feeling in the UK now is, its them and us, them being politicians of all parties, the media including Murdoch newspapers and the BBC, the police, big business, overpaid bankers and the judiciary.

One quite often hears talk of revolution now, something unheard of years ago, people are that disillusioned with their leaders and the elite swanning it over them. Democracy has been abused and people are being driven to contemplate the unimaginable, its sad but what else can people do when they are taken for fools by those they put their trust in. A running sore is the UK's membership of the EU, a corrupt organisation which the majority of British people want no part of but their wishes are ignored, in fact totally disregarded.

[stinger35773]

Yep, handled the hacking very well, the cover-up, not so much.