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Roula Khalaf, editor of the FT, picks her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.
“This is the most humbling day of my life,” Rupert Murdoch told MPs in 2011 when the horrors of his newspaper’s phone hacking emerged. Fortunately for the media tycoon, his days in the sack did not last.
On Monday, he took his place as one of the select guests at Donald Trump’s inauguration. In the summer, as the UK election approached, both Sir Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak rushed to pay tribute to his summer party. The years in between would not normally be considered rehabilitative. Murdoch has had to pay well over a billion dollars in costs and compensation to victims of crime, industrial intrusion or abuse of his news outlets on both sides of the Atlantic.
On Wednesday, there was a last-minute settlement of a pending phone-hacking lawsuit against his company in Britain, a case involving one victim who had the means and standing to insist on his day in court. prince harry pushed him to the brink, but he too settled, reportedly for huge compensation, an unprecedented apology and an admission of historic wrongdoing by private investigators working for The Sun – though no admission of guilt by senior executives.
Murdochova News Group Newspapersaffiliate of News UK, has used its financial power to keep at least 1,300 cases out of court, sparing damaging revelations or questions. UK civil courts exist to deliver redress, not to reveal information. The rules encourage settlement by placing potential costs on the winning plaintiff if it goes to trial and provide no more than the settlement offered up front. Those who want to fight on face impossible risks. Last year the actor Hugh Grant he reluctantly settled, saying he could face millions in legal fees if he didn’t.
For the Duke of Sussex – and his co-prosecutor, former Labor deputy leader Lord Tom Watson – it wasn’t really about the money. They hoped the trial would expose them Murdoch executives to new revelations about the illegal use of private investigators and the company’s efforts to contain the scandal. That possibility has now been rejected. The Duke declared a “monumental victory”, but the NGN strategy worked. A lot of money was spent to keep these cases from going to trial. In the end, even he could not defy the financial risks.
Speaking after the settlement, Prince Harry’s lawyer, David Sherborne, said NGN had “deleted more than 30 million emails and made false denials”. They had “more than a billion pounds in payments and expenses”. Sherborne added that prosecutors were “strong-armed into settling without the ability to get to the truth.” NGN’s lawyers strongly dispute suggestions of a cover-up and have always said the deletions were part of a wider maintenance process.
The same modus operandi of paying to avoid the daylight of legal proceedings applies in the US. In 2023 Fox News paid $787 million settle a defamation lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems over the channel’s perpetuation of false claims that it was involved in voter fraud in the 2020 election. At the center of the defamation were fears within Fox that viewers would flock to more conservative channels if they did not support Trump’s claims of fraud . After the deal, Fox hilariously stated, “This settlement reflects Fox’s continued commitment to the highest journalistic standards.”
Not surprisingly, Murdoch is still welcome in Trump’s circles. But he is still courted in the UK. The Tories shelved the promised second part of a public inquiry into media abuse and opposed state regulation of the press. Starmer followed that line and courted Murdoch while in opposition. The Sun backed Starmer in the election – although possibly because his victory seemed inevitable.
Murdoch has since handed official running of his affairs to his eldest son Lachlan and sold his stake in Sky TV. Rebekah Brooks, acquitted of phone hacking charges but a former editor of the Sun and News of the World — and the company’s chief executive when the scandal broke — is now chief executive of its British parent, News UK.
There are many who despise Murdoch for his politics and his influence, although few can dispute his brilliance as both a businessman and a newspaper man. But what’s important here is that the settlements have muted uncomfortable questions about the company’s actions. Nick Davies, the journalist who uncovered the scandal, detailed the issues arising from the memominutes, e-mails and documents submitted to the court before the now resolved casespointing out that they are only one side of the story.
Murdoch’s companies spent a fortune to avoid further public scrutiny. They are betting that the maximum danger has passed and that this latest fury will die down. Now the only hope for full transparency is for the police to reopen questions of accountability at the top of the company raised in new documents by Sherborne and others, including former prime minister Gordon Brown. The police did not stand out in the initial investigations and there are issues that need to be resolved. Only if a new investigation is secured can it truly be called a victory.
Otherwise, there can only be one conclusion. Like Buchanan from The Great Gatsby, Murdoch’s companies have managed to destroy lives and retreat into their money. He and his handlers remain steadfast; insulted and licked each other. The warrior prince had won more than most, but in the end even he could not pay the full price of justice.
