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“This is the most humbling day of my life,” Rupert Murdoch announced to members of Parliament in 2011 as the full telethon scare emerged in the press. Happily, his sleazy days didn't last long.
On Monday he took his seat as one of the chosen guests at Donald Trump's inauguration. In the summer, as the UK election approached, both Sir Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak rushed to pay their respects. his summer party. Middle age cannot be considered a normal rehabilitation. Murdoch had to pay well over 1bn in costs and damages to victims of his media organisations' crimes, industrial intrusions or wrongdoing on both sides of the Atlantic.
Wednesday saw the last-minute settlement of a high-profile phone hacking case against his company in Britain, a case involving one victim and a position to force his day in court. Prince Harry it took him to shore but he was also stable, it was said that there was a lot of damage, an unprecedented peace and the admission of the illegal act of history by the private investigators working for the Sun – although not the admission of guilt by the top management.
Murdoch's A group of newspaperssubsidiary of News UK, has used its financial power to keep at least 1,300 cases out of court, to avoid damaging revelations or inquiries. UK civil courts exist to provide redress and not to disclose information. The laws encourage settlement by offloading the potential costs to the successful plaintiff if he goes to court and does not defend more than a pre-arranged payment. Those who wish to fight face impossible risks. Last year the player Hugh Grant he hesitated, saying that not doing so could leave him facing millions in legal fees.
For the Duke of Sussex – and his co-defendant, former deputy Labor leader Lord Tom Watson – it wasn't really about the money. They hoped that the crime would be exposed Murdoch regulators on new revelations about the illegal use of private investigators and the company's efforts to contain the scandal. That cannot happen now. The king claimed a “great victory” but the NGN strategy had worked. A lot of money is spent to keep these cases from being litigated. Finally he could not resist the financial risks.
Speaking after the deposition Prince Harry's agent, David Sherborne, said NGN had “deleted over 30mn emails and made false denials”. They incurred “more than £1bn in fees and expenses”. Sherborne added that the plaintiffs were “strongly armed to settle without finding out the truth”. NGN's lawyers strongly dispute the cover-up proposals and often say that the deletion was part of a wider housekeeping process.
The same modus operandi of paying to avoid the light of day in a court case is used in the US. In 2023, Fox News paid $787mn to settle a defamation lawsuit against Dominion Voting Systems over the channel's promotion of false claims it was involved in fraud in the 2020 election. Central to the libel was fear within Fox that a failure to back up Trump's corruption claims would see viewers leave the channel even further. After the deal, Fox happily announced: “This settlement demonstrates Fox's continued commitment to the highest standards of journalism.”
That Murdoch is still welcome in Trump circles is not surprising. But he still lives in the UK. The Tories shelved a promised second part of the public inquiry into media misconduct and opposition to national control of the press. Starmer followed this line and met Murdoch during his opposition. The Sun backed Starmer in the election – although perhaps because his victory seemed inevitable.
Murdoch has passed the legal leadership of his businesses to his eldest son Lachlan and sold his stake in Sky TV. Rebecca Brooks, acquitted of phone hacking but former editor of the Sun and News of the World – and chief executive of the company when the scandal broke – is now CEO of the UK's parent company, News UK.
There are many who despise Murdoch for his politics and influence, although few would dispute his wisdom as a businessman and newspaperman. But what's important here is that the settlement has distracted from uncomfortable questions about the company's actions. Nick Davies, the journalist who broke the scandal, has detailed issues from the memos.minutes, emails and documents released in court before the cases are now settledwhile emphasizing only one side of the story.
Murdoch's businesses have spent a fortune to avoid further public scrutiny. Their bet is that the great danger has passed and this latest furore will subside. Now the only hope for full transparency is for the police to reopen the issues of accountability at the top of the company raised in new documents with Sherborne and others, including former prime minister Gordon Brown. The police did not separate themselves from the initial questions and there are questions that need to be resolved. Only if the new research is safe can it really be called a victory.
Otherwise there can only be one ending. Like the Buchanans of The great Gatsby, Murdoch's businesses were able to destroy lives and return to their money. He and his superiors remained undaunted; he smiled and was touched. The warrior prince won more than most but, in the end, he could not pay the full price of justice.