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“This is the most humbling day of my life,” Rupert Murdoch declared to MPs in 2011, as the full horrors of the phone-hacking of his newspapers came to light. Fortunately for the media mogul, his days did not last.
On Monday, he sat as one of the selected guests at Donald Trump's inauguration. In the summer, with the UK elections approaching, both Sir Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak were quick to pay tribute His summer party. The intervening years are not usually considered rehabilitation. Murdoch had to pay more than $1 billion in costs and damages to victims of his news organizations' crimes, industrial interference or malpractice on both sides of the Atlantic.
Wednesday saw the last-minute settlement of a phone-hacking lawsuit pending against his company in Britain, a case involving a single victim who had the capacity and standing to insist on being brought to court. Prince Harry It came to the brink, but he also agreed, claiming massive damages, to an unprecedented apology and admission of historical illegal activity by private investigators working for The Sun – despite senior executives not accepting guilt.
Murdoch News Group Newspapersa subsidiary of News UK, used its financial muscle to keep at least 1,300 cases out of court, avoiding damaging disclosure or questions. The UK civil courts are there to provide relief, not disclose information. The rules incentivize settlement by placing potential costs on the victorious plaintiff if he goes to trial and does not secure more than the settlement offered upfront. Those who wish to fight face impossible risks. Actor last year Hugh Grant He reluctantly settled, saying failure to do so could leave him facing millions of dollars in legal costs.
For the Duke of Sussex – and his co-plaintiff, former Labor deputy leader Lord Tom Watson – it wasn't really about the money. They hoped the trial would reveal Murdoch Executives pointed to new revelations about the illegal use of private investigators and the company's efforts to contain the scandal. This possibility is now rejected. The Duke claimed a “tremendous victory” but NGN's strategy worked. A lot of money has been spent preventing these cases from going to trial. In the end, even he was unable to challenge the financial risks.
Speaking after the settlement, Prince Harry's lawyer, David Sherborne, stated that NGN had “deleted more than 30 million emails and made false denials”. They incurred “more than £1 billion in payments and costs”. Sherborne added that the claimants were “strong-armed into settling without being able to get to the truth”. NGN's lawyers strongly oppose suggestions of a cover-up and have always said the deletions were part of a broader internal management process.
The same method of pleading to avoid daylight is applied in a court case in the United States. In 2023, Fox News paid $787 million To settle a defamation lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems over the channel's continued false claims that it engaged in voter fraud in the 2020 election. Central to the defamation were concerns within Fox that failure to stand up for Trump's fraud claims would lead viewers to leave for more conservative channels. After the deal, Fox sarcastically announced: “This settlement reflects Fox's continued commitment to the highest journalistic standards.”
Unsurprisingly, Murdoch remains welcome in Trump's circles. But he also remains on trial in the UK. The Conservatives halted a promised second part of the public inquiry into media misconduct and opposed state regulation of the press. Starmer followed this line and courted Murdoch while in opposition. The Sun supported Starmer in the election, even though his victory seemed inevitable.
Murdoch has since passed formal leadership of his business to his eldest son Lachlan and sold his stake in Sky TV. Rebecca Brooks, who was acquitted of phone hacking but was a former editor of the Sun and News of the World – and chief executive of the company when the scandal broke – is now chief executive of its UK parent, News UK.
There are many who despise Murdoch for his policies and influence, although few can doubt his brilliance as a businessman and journalist. But what matters here is that the settlements concealed embarrassing questions about the company's actions. Nick Davies, the reporter who uncovered the scandal, has detailed the issues that arise from the memoirsMinutes, emails and documents that were delivered to the court prior to cases that have now been settledEmphasizing that it is only one side of the story.
Murdoch's companies spent a fortune to avoid further public scrutiny. Their bet is that the maximum danger has passed and that this latest buzz will subside. Now, the only hope for full transparency is for police to reopen the accountability issues at the top of the company raised in the new documents and raised by Sherborne and others, including former Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Police did not distinguish themselves in the original investigations and there are questions to be resolved. Only if a new investigation is secured can it truly be considered a victory.
Otherwise there can only be one outcome. Like Buchanan great Gatsby, Murdoch's companies have managed to ruin people's lives and take away their money. He and his executives remain undaunted; Celebrate and flatter him. The Warrior Prince won more than most, but in the end he was unable to pay the full price of justice.
