"I was really surprised when my customer told me it was Mr Murdoch. He seemed like such a nice man."
—London newsagent Daxa Solanki, whose shop was visited earlier this year by News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch. Murdoch toured several different newsstands because he "wanted to know what was happening on the ground." @11:10 AM 5
'News Of The World' Wants Your Phone @11:41 AM
It's Day Two of the News of the World phone-hacking scandal. While the Metropolitan Police have declined to open a criminal inquiry, prosecutors are reviewing files from the previous case against the paper. As celebrities whose privacy was invaded line up to sue, the Labour party is chortling with glee that there's finally a big news event that doesn't center around the government's incompetence. The Guardian, which broke the story, is again all over it, even going so far as to grade the coverage. Meanwhile, the News of the World itself is prominently displaying this promotion. It's for the environment! 0
Rupe's Troops' Illegal Scoops @9:44 AM
There is a gigantic scandal going on in the British press—specifically, that part of it owned by Rupert Murdoch. The Guardian reports that his "News Group Newspapers has paid out more than £1m to settle legal cases that threatened to reveal evidence of his journalists' repeated involvement in the use of criminal methods to get stories." Is there more? You bet there is! READ MORE 5
The Wall Street Journal's New Rent @11:52 AM
The Wall Street Journal is moving into five floors at 1211 Sixth Ave., home of Fox News and the New York Post. That building's floors are about 40,000 square feet, so, if they were paying a full $80 a square foot, the rent comes to a nice $1.3 million a month! Now, being a big tenant of the building, Rupert Murdoch is probably paying less. However, they're also renting out additional space (WHY?) at 1185 Sixth Ave., because apparently 200,000 square feet isn't enough, so perhaps they are paying more. Also, random math indicates that electric and the like for five floors should be something like $600,000 for the year. 5
Is Berlusconi In Trouble? @11:43 AM
One of the more entertaining subplots in this week's elections for the European parliament is what the Italian results will say about the country's continuing tolerance for Silvio Berlusconi, whose latest in an interminable line of scandals involves allegations that he had an affair with a busty teenage model. (As is usually the case, Berlusconi is blaming the media—in this instance, Rupert Murdoch— for fanning the flames.) READ MORE 9
When corrections are not necessary. @9:43 AM
The Guardian flags this line, from Thursday: "In further proof of why old people should not be allowed to run media conglomerates, media magnate Rupert Murdoch has announced that News Corporation's newspaper websites will begin charging for access within a year". The tag? "Naked ageism." Perhaps, but is it necessarily incorrect? Also, now we're picturing Rupert Murdoch naked, which is more cause for an apology than the line itself, we think. 5
This Looks Like A Linkdump But It Is More My Own Craziness @3:56 PM
The problem with having a website where you only write about things that interest you is that a lot of things will not be of interest to you. For instance, today I am completely uninterested in reading or writing about: Miss California, Ayelet Waldman, Michael Savage, Jimmy Fallon winning a Webby, Webbys in general, Jimmy Fallon in general, whether Obama threatened recalcitrant Chrysler bondholders (but if he did, you know, good for him), and still Jimmy Fallon. Just not interested. READ MORE 22
The Shadow Editors: Who Is Michael Wolff Smarter Than Today? @2:32 PM
Tom Scocca: Great. Now Michael Wolff is smarter than David Carr.
Choire Sicha: Says who???
Tom Scocca: Says Michael Wolff's daily spam: Who Is Michael Wolff Smarter Than Today? Previous winners have included Rupert Murdoch, Barack Obama, and the Pope. READ MORE 4
