Guy Rundle, writing from London, for Crikey, in Australia, takes up the situation in which certainly the British arm of News Limited finds itself. How long the Murdochs, personally, can distance themselves from what is the ever-increasing stinking-fish of the newspapers they control, makes for "interesting" speculation.
"News International is in crisis today, with open warfare breaking out between different sections of the British branch of the organisation.
As Rupert Murdoch returns to Britain to deal with the arrest of five more journalists and editors from The Sun, staff throughout the paper and the wider organisation speak of feeling betrayed, and having been sacrificed by News management, in a desperate attempt to limit the damage.
Five journalists and editors were arrested by police last Sunday morning, their homes raided simultaneously in five different counties. Those arrested were all senior staff, including the deputy editor, chief reporter, picture editor and senior foreign correspondent -- in effect the core apparatus of the newspaper.
The arrests bring to 21 the number of people now arrested in the multibranching scandal. Four journalists had been arrested a fortnight ago. The nickings occurred following mass document handovers by NIG to the police.
The arrests demonstrate the degree to which the News scandal has changed, since most of the arrests concern not phone hacking but payments to police by journalists for information.
Though earning less disgust from the public than the hacking of murdered girls' phones, the crimes are more serious, and multiple, since they potentially undermine the legal processes of the state. Potentially drawing in perversion of the course of justice and corruption of public officials, the arrests suggest the possibility of long prison sentences for anyone convicted.
The arrests have sent morale plummeting in The Sun and other newspapers in the News stable, with as many staff on stress leave as arrested, and the paper being put together by casuals and temps.
They've also created a fundamental breach in the organisation, as the arrests have come about following a mass handover of emails to the plod by News Corp -- or more particularly by the Management and Standards Committee (MSG), the CHEKA-style internal terror group established after James Murdoch's disastrous parliamentary committee appearances.
The MSG is designed to deal with the old Watergate problem -- that it's the cover-up, not the crime, that does it for you. But that adage ignores one reason that there are cover-ups in the first place -- to preserve unity among criminals. News's decision to hand over 3 million emails, rather than leave the cops to dig them all out, has essentially handed to the wolves anyone involved in operational corruption.
Since that reaches up to the editorial levels, it's clear that the strategy is designed to shield the Murdoch family and close associates from direct responsibility. Indeed, at its most drastic, the intent is triage: to cut the British operation off altogether, and shield the US wing, with its huge interconnections to Fox, etc.
Such a disconnect is necessary, as the FBI is now investigating News Corp under the foreign corrupt practices act, which would allow for massive fines in the US for activities taking place elsewhere."
"News International is in crisis today, with open warfare breaking out between different sections of the British branch of the organisation.
As Rupert Murdoch returns to Britain to deal with the arrest of five more journalists and editors from The Sun, staff throughout the paper and the wider organisation speak of feeling betrayed, and having been sacrificed by News management, in a desperate attempt to limit the damage.
Five journalists and editors were arrested by police last Sunday morning, their homes raided simultaneously in five different counties. Those arrested were all senior staff, including the deputy editor, chief reporter, picture editor and senior foreign correspondent -- in effect the core apparatus of the newspaper.
The arrests bring to 21 the number of people now arrested in the multibranching scandal. Four journalists had been arrested a fortnight ago. The nickings occurred following mass document handovers by NIG to the police.
The arrests demonstrate the degree to which the News scandal has changed, since most of the arrests concern not phone hacking but payments to police by journalists for information.
Though earning less disgust from the public than the hacking of murdered girls' phones, the crimes are more serious, and multiple, since they potentially undermine the legal processes of the state. Potentially drawing in perversion of the course of justice and corruption of public officials, the arrests suggest the possibility of long prison sentences for anyone convicted.
The arrests have sent morale plummeting in The Sun and other newspapers in the News stable, with as many staff on stress leave as arrested, and the paper being put together by casuals and temps.
They've also created a fundamental breach in the organisation, as the arrests have come about following a mass handover of emails to the plod by News Corp -- or more particularly by the Management and Standards Committee (MSG), the CHEKA-style internal terror group established after James Murdoch's disastrous parliamentary committee appearances.
The MSG is designed to deal with the old Watergate problem -- that it's the cover-up, not the crime, that does it for you. But that adage ignores one reason that there are cover-ups in the first place -- to preserve unity among criminals. News's decision to hand over 3 million emails, rather than leave the cops to dig them all out, has essentially handed to the wolves anyone involved in operational corruption.
Since that reaches up to the editorial levels, it's clear that the strategy is designed to shield the Murdoch family and close associates from direct responsibility. Indeed, at its most drastic, the intent is triage: to cut the British operation off altogether, and shield the US wing, with its huge interconnections to Fox, etc.
Such a disconnect is necessary, as the FBI is now investigating News Corp under the foreign corrupt practices act, which would allow for massive fines in the US for activities taking place elsewhere."
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