The endless stream of revelations about the alleged criminal conspiracies at the heart of Rupert Murdoch’s British tabloid empire continued throughout the day on Monday, as his News International company came under relentless attack from British politicians for breaking into voicemails and paying off police officers. News Corp’s proposed $10 billion+ purchase of the BSkyB satellite company is now in doubt as regulators question the company’s moral integrity.
Here are some of the biggest revelations — and signs that the scandal could reach America, where Murdoch lords over a media kingdom that includes Fox News and The Wall Street Journal:
– The now-defunct News of the World tabloid reportedly broke into the voicemails of Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, and a wide range of other News Corp. newspapers — including The Sun and the more upscale Sunday Times — obtained the private medical records and tax files of former Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s family, including his young son with cystic fibrosis.
– The scandal is now bleeding into the American courts, as institutional shareholders of Murdoch’s News Corp. are suing in Delaware to put a stop to his acquisition of his daughter’s production company because, they argue, it’s clear that the News Corp. board has no idea how to do its job.
– The Daily Mirror, a rival tabloid, reports that a New York City private investigator was contacted a few years ago by journalists from News of the World and asked to hack into the phones of 9/11 victims. He declined.
