Rupert Murdoch: ‘Not fit’ to lead News Corp.

What a black eye for Rupert Murdoch, said Katherine Rushton in The Daily Telegraph (U.K.). The parliamentary committee investigating wrongdoing at Murdoch’s News Corp. has found that the aging Australian tycoon is “not a fit person” to run a major media empire because of his “willful blindness” to the misdeeds of his underlings. His son James, meanwhile, once the company’s heir apparent, was deemed to have practiced “willful ignorance” regarding widespread illegal hacking of cellphones by reporters at News Corp. newspapers. The committee blamed both men for encouraging a corporate culture that rewarded those who dug up sleaze, no matter how they got it. That phrase “not fit” is no accident: Under the “fit and proper” test, media regulators can take away the broadcasting license of any outfit whose directors are deemed unsuitable. That means Murdoch could lose BSkyB, the satellite station he founded and sought to fully control. And it’s not over yet: Parliament “hasn’t even got started on the allegations of police bribery and computer hacking.”

So much for Murdoch’s “bravura performance,” said James Hanning in The Independent. Over two days of tough questioning, he seemed to be doing so well. His personas “ranged from doddery amnesiac, when seeking to avoid awkward questions, to Mafia godfather, as he dished out ice-cold revenge on his enemies.” Somehow he managed to accept responsibility and express contrition—saying “I failed” and “I am very sorry about it”—while simultaneously conveying the impression that everyone was to blame but him. He let fly withering criticisms of many of his former editors and not a few prime ministers. Once “the casualties were counted,” though, Murdoch was the loser. Many observers felt that the emails between a Murdoch lobbyist and a culture ministry aide discussing the upcoming BSkyB bid were clear evidence that Murdoch’s company was involved in political corruption.

What a ridiculous “conspiracy theory,” said Philip Collins in The Times. Journalists and politicians love to believe that the other side has a dastardly master plan. In this case, the parliamentary inquiry cast Murdoch as a puppeteer, controlling British politics through his partisan newspapers. This is insulting not only to the journalists who work for Murdoch papers like this one, but also to the public, who are assumed to be dupes mindlessly parroting the papers’ views. In truth, “quite a lot of people just read the football.” Don’t try to tell us Murdoch is not interested in politics, said Peter Jukes in The Independent. Every year he “siphons off hundreds of millions of dollars to subsidize” loss-making papers such as The Times, The Australian, the New York Post, and The Wall Street Journal. And for what? “These papers act as mouthpieces for his views or to gain him respect and credibility from the political classes.”

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That’s all over now, said Michael Wolff in The Guardian. The inquiry has effectively run Murdoch out of the U.K., and he will “retreat to his U.S. stronghold.” So far, the Americans seem to consider the News Corp. scandal a British story that doesn’t affect Murdoch holdings elsewhere. “As long as they can keep the share price stable,” the family will stay on top of News Corp.