Authors: David Folkenflik
Murdoch's World (57 page)
Page 215
wanted to run the nation's leading general interest newspaper:
Five current and former
Wall Street Journal
editors, interview by author; Eric Pooley, “Excusive: Rupert Murdoch Speaks,”
Time
, June 28, 2007.
Page 215
the top-read story on the paper's website:
Senior
Wall Street Journal
news executive and public relations official for the newspaper, interviews by author.
Page 215
“The pace of news changed”: Wall Street Journal
deputy editor in chief Rebecca Blumenstein, interview by author.
Page 215
the day after the Fort Hood shootings:
Former
Wall Street Journal
executive, interview by author.
Page 215
“reflect Murdoch's intentions”:
Former
Journal
senior news executive William Grueskin, interview by author.
Page 216
“They don't try to take you inside boardrooms”:
Former senior
Journal
news executive, interview by author.
Page 216
“more good and less excellent”:
Former
Wall Street Journal
executive, interview by author.
Page 216
began to ease up a bit:
This description of Thomson and Murdoch's shifts relies on author's interviews with four
Journal
editors at the time.
Page 216
The biggest mistake one can make: Journal
editor, interview by author.
Page 217
So, too, did Murdoch abandon plans to scrap the paywall:
David Carr, “For Murdoch, It's Try, Try Again,”
New York Times
, August 9, 2009.
Page 217
“Barack Hussein Obama”:
Former senior
Wall Street Journal
editor, interview by author.
Page 218
Baker was British, charming, literate:
Author's observations supplemented by characterizations made by several senior
Journal
editors.
Page 218
his praise for Sarah Palin:
Gerard Baker, “Go West, Towards the Future of Conservatism,”
Times of London
, September 5, 2008.
Page 218
believed the
Journal
was populated by liberals and leftists:
Twelve current and former editors and reporters, including five to whom Thomson and Baker directly conveyed their thinking, interviews by author.
Page 219
that didn't make it into the article:
Former
Journal
reporter involved with that article, interview by author; Elizabeth Williamson et al., “Stimulus Confusion Frustrates Business,”
Wall Street Journal
, April 20, 2009.
Page 219
Times
media critic David Carr cited concerns:
David Carr, “Under Murdoch, Tilting Rightward at the Journal,”
New York Times
, December 13, 2009.
Page 219
“yet more evidence that the
New York Times
”:
John Koblin, “Robert Thomson Takes Swing at David Carr, Bill Keller,”
Observer
, December 14, 2009.
Page 220
sexually ambiguous facial features:
Jena Pincott, “Why Women Don't Want Masculine Men,”
Wall Street Journal
, March 27, 2010; Michael Wolff, “Murdoch to Sulzberger: You Are a Girlie Man,”
VanityFair.com
, March 27, 2010; three senior
Wall Street Journal
journalists, interviews by author.
Page 220
Sulzberger complained about it directly:
John Koblin, “Battle of the Barons!”
Observer
, April 14, 2010.
Page 220
“We've been vilified, unjustly so”:
Scott Heekin-Canedy, interview by author.
Page 220
“a paper willing to do President Obama's bidding”:
Rupert Murdoch, remarks on the
Kalb Report
at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, April 6, 2010.
Page 220
skepticism . . . heightened rather than abated:
This section is based on the author's interviews with seven current and former reporters and editors for the
Journal
.
Page 221
“Robert just wants people”:
Senior
Journal
editor, interview by author.
Page 221
“The
Journal
was nudged rightward”:
Former
Journal
editor, interview by author.
Page 221
In a front-page story on February 23, 2011:
Neil King Jr., “It's Crunch Time for Organized Labor,”
Wall Street Journal
, February 23, 2011.
Page 222
“Six right-to-work states”:
Reporter who covered related matters for the
Journal
at the time, interview by author.
Page 222
From another piece, a day later:
Thomas M. Burton, Amy Merrick, and Douglas Belkin, “GOP Retreats on Indiana Labor Law,”
Wall Street Journal
, February 24, 2011; critique drawn from author's interviews with several reporters for the newspaper.
Page 222
“It was often difficult to read between the lines”:
Former
Wall Street Journal
reporter, interview by author.
Page 223
“âGerry would want to rework the story like this'”:
A
Wall Street Journal
reporter who often covered politics, interview by author.
Page 223
Those polls aren't reliably reflecting:
Account of Baker's exchanges with editors derived from author's interview with two
Journal
editors and one reporter.
Page 224
Thomson took exception to a story:
A reporter with contemporaneous knowledge about the story, interview by author.
Page 224
This completely leaves out the part:
Three current or former reporters aware of episode contemporaneously, interviews by author.
Page 225
There was a lot of money at stake:
Rachel Monahan, “Rupert Murdoch Given $27 Million No-Bid Contract From State Department of Education,”
New York Daily News
, July 31, 2011.
Page 225
Murdoch had pegged the possible marketplace:
Calvin Reid, “News Corp's Joel Klein Outlines Plans for Amplify Education Unit,”
Publishers Weekly
, December 5, 2012.
Chapter 18
Page 226
The patriarch telephoned the paper's London bureau chief:
Bruce Orwall, “In Interview, Murdoch Defends News Corp,”
Wall Street Journal
, July 14, 2011; Bruce Orwall et al., “Murdoch Defiant as FBI ActsâU.S. to Probe 9/11 Claim; News Corp CEO to Face U.K. Panel,”
Wall Street Journal
, July 15, 2011.
Page 227
what he called the “Fox-ification” of the
Journal
:
Joe Nocera, “The Journal Becomes Fox-ified,”
New York Times
, July 15, 2011. Nocera's earlier, pro-Murdoch column: “Promises and Desires,”
New York Times
, June 2, 2007.
Page 227
privately considered Nocera's column terribly unfair:
One former editor, two current editors, and one reporter still at the paper, interviews by author.
Page 228
The allegation . . . was particularly nettlesome:
Two senior editors, two former senior editors, and four reporters for the
Journal
, interview by author.
Page 228
“anxious what it might mean”:
Former
Journal
deputy managing editor Alan Murray, interviews by author.
Page 229
reads as though it had been carefully couched:
Les Hinton, answers to questions from House of Commons Select Committee on Culture, Media, and Sports, September 15, 2009.
Page 229
In a blistering editorial:
“News and Its Critics,”
Wall Street Journal
, July 18, 2011.
Page 229
the
Times
had published its own exposé: Guardian
editor Alan Rusbridger and former
New York Times
executive editor Bill Keller, interviews by author.
Page 230
Gigot had also pledged to colleagues:
Two former
Journal
editors, interviews by author.
Page 230
Farhi . . . raised the specter of media bias:
Paul Farhi, “Murdoch, Rivals Alike Face Questions About Coverage of Hacking Scandal,”
Washington Post
, July 17, 2011.
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the
Times of London . . .
struck a tone of remorse:
See, for example, “Tuesday's Test: Rupert and James Murdoch Are Right to Give Evidence to Parliament, for the Press Must Be Accountable,” editorial,
Times of London
, July 15, 2011. The piece begins with the memorable line: “The âDear John' letters sent to Parliament by Rupert and James Murdoch yesterday were a serious mistake.”
Page 230
the committee published a statement:
“What About the Journal? A Report from the Special Committee,”
Wall Street Journal
, July 25, 2011.
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did not reflect life as it was experienced:
This passage is based on the author's interviews with four
Wall Street Journal
staffers.
Page 231
investigative reporter Steve Stecklow uncovered a dissonance:
Steve Stecklow et al., “Tabloid's Pursuit of Missing Girl Led to Its Own Demise Years Later,”
Wall Street Journal
, August 20, 2011.
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thought it was a barn-burner:
This passage on the
Journal
's Milly Dowler voice mail story is based on author's interviews with five current
and former
Wall Street Journal
journalists with knowledge of events as they unfolded.
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Orwall had edited the front-page story:
John Lippman, Leslie Chang, and Robert Frank, “Rupert Murdoch's Wife Wendi Wields Influence at News Corp,”
Wall Street Journal
, November 1, 2000.
Page 232
Orwall could be seen holed up in his office:
One current and one former
Wall Street Journal
journalist, interviews by author.
Page 233
“the process was so painful”: Wall Street Journal
journalist with involvement in these events, interview by author.
Page 233
Stuart Varney gamely and vainly tried:
Rupert Murdoch and Stuart Varney,
Varney & Co.
, July 9, 2009.
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he had been failed by people:
Rupert Murdoch, testimony before Select Committee on Culture, Media, and Sport, July 19, 2011.
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The law firm's presence was triggered by Goodman's complaint:
As reproduced in the
Independent
, “Full Text of Clive Goodman's Letter to News International,” August 16, 2011.
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sleight of hand in the corporation's public reliance:
Paul Sonne, Jeanne Whalen, and Bruce Orwall, “New Issues Emerge for News Corp. in Britain,”
Wall Street Journal
, August 17, 2011.
Page 234
[Ingrassia] recused himself from all coverage:
Author's email exchange with
New York Times
spokeswoman Eileen Murphy.
Chapter 19
Page 236
prepared to take their case public:
Tom Crone, letter to John Whittingdale MP, chairman of the House of Commons Select Committee on Culture, Media, and Sport, August 6, 2011; Colin Myler, letter to Whittingdale, August 10, 2011. Both letters are included in
News International and Phone-Hacking
, April 30, 2012, the Culture, Media, and Sport Committee's eleventh report.