Authors: David Folkenflik
Murdoch's World (60 page)
Page 279
“newspaper business is like an ice cube”:
Don Yacktman, interview by author.
Page 279
The Daily
as a $35 million experiment:
“Murdoch Debuts Daily iPad Paper,”
All Things Considered
, February 2, 2011.
Page 279
Now the
Wall Street Journal
would be responsible:
Senior
Wall Street Journal
executive, interview by author.
Page 279
“ShitCo” and “GoodCo”:
Former
Wall Street Journal
executives, interviews by author.
Chapter 22
Page 280
the geography of his holdings and the psychology of his children:
The account of Rupert Murdoch's motivations and Lachlan's reactions in this passage are derived from author's interviews with current and former News Corp executives and friends of Lachlan Murdoch.
Page 280
it paid $2.2 billion:
Elysse Morgan, “Packer Agrees to Consolidated Media Sale,” ABC News (Australia), September 7, 2012.
Page 282
If you don't have that belief:
Friend of Lachlan Murdoch, interview by author.
Page 282
Rupert Murdoch still wanted them all:
News Corp executive and former News Corp executive, interview by author.
Page 282
“a massive pain in the ass”:
This quotation from Elisabeth Murdoch and others in this section are taken from her address at the James MacTaggart Memorial Lecture, Edinburgh Television Festival, 2012.
Page 283
“the nastiest people besmirching”:
Dennis Potter, James MacTaggart Memorial Lecture, August 27, 1993.
Page 283
“the pollution of what was already a fairly polluted press”:
Dennis Potter, interview by Melvyn Bragg, BBC Channel 4, April 5, 1994.
Page 285
the show's editor killed the story:
Dan Sabbagh and Josh Halliday, “Jimmy Savile: Newsnight Staff Were Furious After Abuse Report Dropped,”
Guardian
, October 1, 2012.
Page 285
ITV broadcast a documentary:
“The Other Side of Jimmy Savile,” ITV
Exposure
, October 3, 2012.
Page 285
Murdoch's old antagonist Chris (now Lord) Patten:
Lord Patten, testimony to Commons Select Committee for Culture, Media, and Sport, November 27, 2012.
Page 285
could damage the
New York Times:
David Folkenflik, “Mark Thompson Takes Over at New York Times Co.,”
Morning Edition
, November 15, 2012.
Page 285
“Saville [sic]-BBC story long way to run”:
Rupert Murdoch, Twitter feed, October 14, 2012.
Page 286
if they pushed the matter too hard:
News Corp editor, interview by author.
Page 286
invited in Hugh Grant, Charlotte Church:
“Charlotte Church's Media Regulation Hope After David Cameron Meeting,” BBC News, October 9, 2012.
Page 286
“Cameron receiving scumbag celebrities”:
Rupert Murdoch, Twitter feed, October 13, 2012.
Page 286
his liaison with a prostitute:
John Hiscock, “Hugh Grant on Prostitution Charge,”
Telegraph
, June 28, 1995.
Page 286
wrongly claiming Grant had played no role:
Lara Gould and Ben Ellery, “About a Boy! Hugh Grant Has Second Child with âFab Mum' Tinglan Hong,”
Mail on Sunday
, February 17, 2013.
Page 286
Murdoch apologized . . . but was otherwise unrepentant:
Cahal Milmo, “Murdoch Says Sorry to Grant over âLove Child' Remark,”
Independent
, October 19, 2012.
Page 286
Leveson's report dismantled layers of rationalizations: Report of the Leveson Inquiry into Culture, Practices, and Ethics of the Press
, November 29, 2012.
Page 287
A blogger could base his website in the West Indies:
Paul Staines, “Bring On the Press Police,” Wall Street Journal Online, November 27, 2012.
Page 288
Cameron expressed doubts:
Michael Holden and Kate Holton, “Britain's Cameron Rejects Press Law After Hacking Scandal,” Reuters, November 29, 2012.
Page 288
Cameron pushed a plan with a royal charter:
Fraser Nelson, “Why the Spectator said âNo' to David Cameron's Royal Charter for Regulation of the Press,”
Spectator
, March 19, 2013; Alan Rusbridger, “We Need Reform AND a Free Press. This Will Require Both Time and Openness,”
Guardian
, March 25, 2013; “UK Urged to Reconsider Post-Leveson Media Proposals,” letter to Prime Minister David Cameron from the Committee to Protect Journalists, April 2, 2013.
Page 289
as media analyst Claire Enders argued:
Claire Enders/Enders Analysis, submission to Leveson Inquiry, July 17, 2012; also Annex 1 and Annex 2 to Enders's submission.
Page 289
Ed Miliband advocated that path:
Dan Sabbagh, Lisa O'Carroll, and John Plunkett, “Murdoch's Share of the Newspaper Market Is Too Big, Says Miliband,”
Guardian
, June 12, 2012.
Page 289
story about a possible cover-up:
A series of stories about Bo Xilai by Jeremy Page of the
Wall Street Journal
is nicely captured in “Bo Xilai: Inside the Scandal: A WSJ Documentary,” WSJ Digital Network, June 29, 2012.
Page 289
“It involved a certain amount of risk”:
Rebecca Blumenstein, interview by author.
Page 289
the
Times
website was shut down:
Author's interviews with Lawrence Ingrassia, assistant managing editor of the
New York Times
, and Richard Bejtlich, chief security officer for the Mandiant consulting firm.
Page 290
the Pulitzers were once again punishing:
Two
Wall Street Journal
editors, interview by author.
Page 290
“proven to be unfounded”:
William Grueskin, interview by author.
Page 290
“We must not take . . . our foot off the gas”:
Nick Leys, “Murdoch Affirms âPapers Here for Years to Come,'”
Australian
, September 24, 2012.
Page 290
a charming jumble:
The history of the State Theatre in Sydney is set out on its website,
www.statetheatre.com.au/HistoryGallery.aspx
.
Page 290
Murdoch's gaze turned westward:
Author's interviews with one News Corp official; two former Tribune Co. officials; and one Tribune Co. official; Meg James, “Rupert Murdoch, Other Potential Buyers Eye L.A. Times,”
Los Angeles Times
, October 19, 2012.
Page 291
“It won't get through”:
Meg James and Nicole Sperling, “Rupert Murdoch Says Los Angeles Times Purchase Not a Sure Thing,”
Los Angeles Times
, January 14, 2013.
Page 291
“a strategy of deciding what you want”:
Andrew Jay Schwartzman, interview by author.
Page 291
in hopes of appeasing investors:
A News Corp executive and a News Corp newspaper editor, interviews by author.
Page 291
Holy shit, Angelo told a friend:
Two of Angelo's associates, interviews by author.
Page 292
Fox Group . . . would assume any costs:
News Corp executive, interview by author.
Page 292
Lachlan Murdoch refused to return:
An associate of Lachlan Murdoch and a former News Corp official, interview by author.
Page 292
“relentless” cost-cutting:
“News Corp Promises âRelentless' Cuts at Newspapers,” Reuters, May 28, 2013.
Page 292
thought Joel Klein was disappointed:
Former News Corp professional, interview by author.
Page 293
legal strategy seemed to have worked:
Lawyer familiar with federal investigation into News Corp's potential Federal Corrupt Practices Act violations, interview by author.
Page 293
Tom Mockridge . . . could not abide:
Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson and Emily Steel, “Murdoch's UK Newspaper Chief Resigns,”
Financial Times
, December 2, 2012; Maisie McCabe, “Liberty Global Hires Tom Mockridge to Run Virgin Media,”
MediaWeek
, May 8, 2013.
Page 293
Rebekah Brooks was set to face trial:
Lisa Carroll, “Rebekah Brooks Trial to Start in September at Old Bailey,”
Guardian
, June 7, 2013.
Page 293
Labour MP Tom Watson wrote a book:
Watson and Hickman,
Dial M for Murdoch
.
Page 293
Louise Mensch resigned her seat:
“Louise Mensch to Quit as an MP, Triggering Corby By-election,” BBC News, August 6, 2012.
Page 293
James Harding . . . left the paper:
Peter Jukes, “Bad Times at The Times: James Harding Steps Down,” Daily Beast, December 13, 2012; Ben Webster, “Harding to Stand Down as Editor of The Times,”
Times of London
, December 13, 2012; “James Harding Named as Director of BBC News,” BBC News, April 16, 2013.
Page 294
Murdoch thought getting beaten was:
Rupert Murdoch, testimony to Leveson Inquiry, April 25, 2012, morning session.
Page 294
Gerard Baker . . . succeeded Thomson:
“Gerard Baker Named Top Editor for Dow Jones, Wall Street Journal,” Dow Jones press release, December 3, 2012.
Page 294
the chairman doused his new editor:
From Twitter feed photo of Kathryn Lurie, an online editor at the
Wall Street Journal
, December 3, 2012.
Page 294
anticipated Baker's tenure . . . a light touch:
Six current
Journal
editors and reporters, interview by author.
Page 294
former
Time
magazine managing editor Walter Isaacson:
Author's email exchange with Walter Isaacson; author's interview with
Wall Street Journal
senior editor.
Page 295
my mum's ninety, Murdoch would say:
Former senior News Corp official, interview by author.
Page 295
mourners packed St. Paul's:
This account is informed by press reports, including Andrew Rule, “An Exceptional Life Celebrated,”
Herald Sun
, December 19, 2012; and Karl Quinn, “A Life of Strong Love and Quiet Generosity,”
The Age
, December 19, 2012.
Page 295
“Today I wish to speak to the extraordinary accomplishments”:
“Dame Elisabeth: A Life Lived Always in Full Bloom,” eulogy by Rupert Murdoch, republished in the Melbourne
Herald Sun
, December 19, 2012. All quotes pulled from transcript and checked against video of the event.
Page 297
an oil painting on a bronze background:
Former senior News Corp newspaper editor, interview by author.
Page 298
Brooks was spotted in Australia:
Amanda Perthen, “The Sun Shines on Rebekah . . . for Now: Ex-tabloid Editor Sips Beer on Sydney Yacht with the Murdochs Ahead of Trial,”
Daily Mail
, April 13, 2013.
Page 298
features desk . . . had taken more time for police to penetrate:
Mark Stephens, interview by author. Stephens is an attorney for many cell phone hacking victims and was, himself, the victim of cell phone hacking.
Page 298
the company agreed to pay $135 million:
News Corporation Derivative Litigation Settlement, April 22, 2013.
Page 299
“do it all over again”:
Darren Davidson, “âChance to Do It All Over Again,' Rupert Murdoch Says of Company's Historic Split,”
Australian
, May 30, 2013.
Page 299
filed for divorce:
Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson, “Rupert Murdoch Files for Divorce,”
Financial Times
, June 13, 2013.
Page 299
he did not care to learn more:
Former News Corp executive, interview by author.
Page 299
an aide to Tony Blair felt compelled to deny:
Stuart Kemp, “Rupert Murdoch Divorce: Tony Blair's Spokesperson Denies Rumors of Affair with Tony Blair,”
Hollywood Reporter
, June 14, 2013.