Rupert Murdoch, the founder, chairman, and CEO of News Corporation (second largest media conglomerate in the world), is talking to his British staff today after staff revolts, U.K. police investigations, and misconduct by his journalists. In Britain, he owns the Times, the Sun, and the Sunday Times. Last week, five of his senior staff members were arrested for bribing police officials and defense workers for information. Ten have been arrested in total, but none of them have been charged as of yet.
In addition to the bribes, Murdoch's companies are admist a phone-hacking scandal from July by his News of the World staff. They routinely eavesdropped on private conversations of celebrities, sports figures, politicians and other well-known people. News of the World was immediately closed down, and sixty victims of the phone-tapping have sued. Many citizens and staff members of The Sun are concerned that Murdoch will close down the tabloid (the most popular paper in the U.K.), which would cost many jobs and remove a popular source of news.
The police investigation has continued since July, and will continue. Many are criticizing the police for unfairly targeting the media. Because of the scandal, famous executives, journalists, and police officers have been arrested.
Hopefully the scandal will wrap up soon, because I think that too much time is being spent dwelling on the subject, even though it is a serious offense. Murdoch certainly shouldn't close down the Sun, because I feel as if many would become uninformed quite easily. The scandal helps bring up the question of whether the press is overextending its freedoms and where the line is drawn on personal freedoms.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/rupert-murdoch-arrives-in-uk-to-address-staff-amid-ongoing-police-investigation-into-tabloids/2012/02/16/gIQAdmzOIR_story.html
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