"Rupert Murdoch's righthand man Les Hinton has resigned in the latest shock development of a saga still threatening to engulf the newspaper and TV mogul's empire." The Guardian reports today.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011...och?intcmp=239
Hinton has worked for Murdoch for 52 years, most recently as head of Dow Jones that owns the Wall Street Journal (and is owned in turn by Murdoch's News Corp). He has grown gray in The Rupert's shadow and now he outta there. The Guardian, in the UK, has got its teeth in this story and its stories are lined with links to other Murdoch scandal stories, like this one:
"Les Hinton sacrificed, but the worst is yet to come for News Corp
Every time Murdoch ditches a key executive, the flames of scandal flick ever closer to him, writes Matt Wells
No relationship is safe, no loyal bond strong enough for Rupert Murdoch who – looking more than the sum of his 80 years – is mounting a final battle to save the company he built from nothing.
His decision to throw Les Hinton to the wolves is his most dramatic move yet "
"Now, in a desperate effort to save News Corporation's most valuable assets – its 27 US broadcast licences and the 20th Century Fox movie studio – Murdoch is prepared to sacrifice one of his closest allies.
The problem for Murdoch is that every time he ditches a key executive, the flames of scandal flick ever closer to him."
"The inevitable next move for Murdoch is prolicide. His son James, appointed in 2007 as chairman and chief executive of News Corporation's operations in Europe and Asia, based at News International's headquarters in Wapping, east London, clings on – but only for now."
Prolicide! I've never seen that word before but the meaning is obvious - destroying your own children by throwing them, for example, off the wagon hoping the pursuing pack of hounds will break off the chase for lunch.
Then there is this story:
"Phone hacking: Murdoch paid US anti-bribery law lobbyists
$1m donation to US Chamber of Commerce in spotlight amid calls for prosecution of News Corp in America, where it is based"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011...sts?intcmp=239
Another Guardian story about Murdoch funded effort by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to pull the teeth of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which the Murdochian's appear to have violated.
"Eliot Spitzer, the former New York governor, is among American political voices calling for Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation to be prosecuted in the US for bribery in the News of the World scandal. Photograph: Charles Ommanney/Getty Images"
Eliot, as we all know, is one of us. Even extending to a preference for BBFS. If I had his email address I would tell him about Tri-Mix so he need no longer fear the condom, but that is another story. This one remains pretty good - real drama with potential real consequences like maybe an interruption in the flow of disinformation from Fox News to gullible American voters.