By 2009 James Murdoch is busy running a huge part of his father’s empire and he seems favourite to succeed him. The other person who is doing well isn’t actually a family member – Rebekah Wade is about to be made CEO of News International, in charge of all his UK newspapers. The Rise of the Murdoch Dynasty II: The Rebel Alliance
‘These politicians literally gathered like locusts around Rupert desperate for his patronage, desperate to impress him, desperate for him to like them.’ ibid. Piers Morgan, re: Brooks’ wedding
Max Mosley became one of the very few people to have taken on the News of the World and won. ibid.
On 9th July 2009 the Guardian breaks the story on their front page: ‘Revealed: Murdoch’s £1m bill for hiding dirty tricks’. ibid.
When the police take no action the story goes cold … Above this battle it seems to be business as usual for Rupert Murdoch. ibid.
With Max Mosley’s millions as insurance, more and more people bring cases to court, and more evidence at what had been going on at the News of the World is brought into the public domain. But the Murdoch empire will pay hundreds of millions in damages to settle out of court. ibid.
‘Mr Murdoch, you must be the first Mafia boss in history that didn’t know he was running a criminal enterprise.’ ibid. Tom Watson to James Murdoch
Murdoch’s public shames leads to a public enquiry … Four of Britain’s living prime ministers are called to testify [Leveson Inquiry]. ibid.
Recently, so much of the power and influence he once enjoyed has gone. His reputation damaged by the phone hacking scandal. But Rupert is about to mastermind his comeback … The Rise of the Murdoch Dynasty III: The Comeback
The [Fox] primary [US] debate is the most watched in history … Trump’s candidacy no longer seems so far-fetched. ibid.
Going out with Mick Jagger’s ex-wife brings a new kind of attention. ibid.
He decides to sell almost all of his empire … Disney pays $71 billion for the majority. ibid.
The Royal Family and the tabloid press have a long and complicated relationship. Sometimes they’re friends, sometimes they’re not. This is the inside story of that fascinating relationship. Diana vs The Tabloids, Channel 5 2020
Over a light lunch in Diana’s private quarters she proposed a deal to the assembled press editors: she would feed them stories if in return if they took a more respectful approach to her privacy. ibid.
Charles’s new girlfriend was a tantalising prospect for the tabloids. ibid.
It was very clear that Diana sold, Charles didn’t. ibid.
To the ever watchful tabloid press, the cracks they had always suspected in the royal marriage were beginning to show. Charles was an old-fashioned country gent while Diana was a young cosmopolitan city girl. And it wasn’t long before press rumours were circulating about extra-marital affairs. ibid.
Camilla Tapes: Charles Rocked By Shock Camilla Tape. ibid. People headline
Dubbed Tampongate. ibid.
‘Effectively suggesting he would have liked to have been Camilla’s Tampax is probably the biggest low any member of the Royal Family has ever sunk to. ibid.
Turning against a money machine like the princess can damage sales. ibid.
Over time these acts of defiance became more public. ibid.
Just Di-Light-Ful … Daring Di: She’s All Things Bold & Beautiful … The Mouse That Roared. ibid. Sun headlines
Assange was once feted and courted by some of the largest media organizations in the world, including The New York Times and The Guardian, for the information he possessed. But once his trove of material documenting US war crimes, much of it provided by Chelsea Manning, was published by these media outlets he was pushed aside and demonized. A leaked Pentagon document prepared by the Cyber Counterintelligence Assessments Branch dated March 8, 2008, exposed a black propaganda campaign to discredit WikiLeaks and Assange … to destroy the ‘feeling of trust’ that is WikiLeaks’ ‘center of gravity’ and blacken Assange’s reputation. It largely has worked. Chris Hedges, Crucifying Julian Assange, 2018
The Democratic Party — seeking to blame its election defeat on Russian ‘interference’ rather than the grotesque income inequality, the betrayal of the working class, the loss of civil liberties, the deindustrialization and the corporate coup d’état that the party helped orchestrate — attacks Assange as a traitor, although he is not a US citizen. Nor is he a spy. He is not bound by any law I am aware of to keep US government secrets. He has not committed a crime … ibid.
WikiLeaks and Assange have done more to expose the dark machinations and crimes of the American Empire than any other news organization. Assange, in addition to exposing atrocities and crimes committed by the United States military in our endless wars and revealing the inner workings of the Clinton campaign, made public the hacking tools used by the CIA and the National Security Agency, their surveillance programs and their interference in foreign elections … And WikiLeaks worked swiftly to save Edward Snowden, who exposed the wholesale surveillance of the American public by the government, from extradition to the United States by helping him flee from Hong Kong to Moscow. ibid.
What is happening to Assange should terrify the press … The silence about the treatment of Assange is not only a betrayal of him but a betrayal of the freedom of the press itself. We will pay dearly for this complicity … Assange is on his own. Each day is more difficult for him. This is by design. It is up to us to protest. We are his last hope, and the last hope, I fear, for a free press. ibid.
When he was at his peak, he was one of the most powerful men in Fleet Street. Max Clifford: The Fall of a Tabloid King, Channel 4 2021
Max Clifford has been charged with eleven counts of indecent assault between 1966 and 1985. ibid. television news
I think Max loved power. It made him feel good. It made him feel he’d got somewhere in life. And he really liked being in the centre of things. ibid. Angela Levin, biographer
I learnt earlier on that it was important to have as much control as possible. ibid. Clifford to Levin
On May 2nd 2014 Max Clifford was sentenced to 8 years in prison. On 8th December 2017 Max Clifford collapsed in prison. He died in hospital two days later. ibid. captions
There is more to the story of Princess Diana than meets the eye. The nursery school assistant who became the most famous woman in the world. But who she really was is still disputed. Some see her as a victim. Others cast her as manipulative. But while she may have tried to use the press there is no doubt they hunted her … The princess who changed the world. Diana, ITV 2021
When Diana is six, her parents split up. It is a bitter divorce for which her mother is blamed for. Her father wins custody, and Diana is sent to boarding school the following year. ibid.
Diana has been asking her parents if she could move to London for some time. ibid.
The Royal Family approve of the relationship. But Diana is becoming aware that Charles still has feelings for his ex, Camilla Parker Bowles. ibid.
As a teenager, Diana didn’t get along with her stepmother. And having lived out the fallout of a divorce first-hand, she’s determined that her marriage will be different. ibid.
Charles and Diana go no honeymoon on the royal yacht Britannia, along with over 200 members of Her Majesty’s media. Diana becomes consumed with jealousy about Camilla, and is dismayed to discover that Charles has taken a photo of him with her. The couple begin to argue. Diana’s weight loss becomes ever more apparent. And Charles is becoming concerned. ibid.
Diana is suffering from post-natal depression. ibid.
She is becoming the biggest star in the world. ibid.
Diana arrived unannounced in the Bullring near Waterloo Station to meet the homeless who lived there. She spent the evening listening to stories of the men and women of cardboard city. ibid.
Rumours began to circulate that a tell-all book was about to be published. As the publication date nears, Diana is asked by the Palace if she has had any hand in the book. She strongly denies her involvement. The book is a huge scandal. The Queen and Prince Philip hold crisis talks with the couple and urge them to save their marriage. ibid.
Diana starts to become involved in an ever-more elaborate game with the press. As the paparazzi chase her, she briefs journalists and has dinner with editors. ibid.
Diana nicknames her boyfriend [Dr Hasnat Khan] Mr Wonderful. She is extremely careful to keep him a secret from the world’s press. And then she takes a big step to introducing him to William and Harry. ibid.
I’m with you on the free press. It’s the newspapers I can’t stand. Tom Stoppard, Night and Day, 1978
‘It was poor. It was orthodox. It was Jewish. We were very poor.’ Inside Story: Maxwell: The Downfall, BBC 1996
Lonely, burdened by debts and facing exposure as a fraudulent bankrupt, Robert Maxwell retreated during his last days into memories of his childhood and origins. ibid.
His bid for the News of the World was defeated by Rupert Murdoch. ibid.
During his sale of Pergamon his financial accounts were found to be fraudulent and he was condemned by government inspectors as unfit to manage a publicly owned company. ibid.
Then he bought the Daily Mirror. Maxwell became a multi-millionaire overnight. Hailed as a saviour, he sought his revenge against Rupert Murdoch. ibid.
The reality was a man unable to repay his debts. The empire was tottering on the edge of bankruptcy. ibid.
Maxwell styled himself as an emperor spending money he could not afford. ibid.
Desperate for more money to repay his debts, Maxwell’s targets were the pension funds of his companies. ibid.
Maxwell sold 49% of the Mirror Group. ibid.
He bought the Daily News. Overnight he was an American star. ibid.
Robert Maxwell went overboard into the sea. ibid.