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BSkyB really was the limit...

“News Corporation  announces that it no longer intends to make an offer for the entire issued and to be issued share capital of British Sky Broadcasting Group not already owned by it.” This according to a press release from Murdoch Towers.

Shelving the BSkyB deal was in the end, the only option for Murdoch and co. After all, they’re going to need all the money they have just keep damage limitation ticking over.

Coulson has been left twisting in the breeze by his old chum Dave. The Tory leader showed some sense of self preservation as he pulled up the ladder and left the hacks to paddle their own canoe.

Cameron in turn has been outmanoeuvred by Miliband and forced to back a Labour motion in parliament once he saw the stormy clouds of public opinion bearing down on his cosy little garden party. He has had to give in to demands for a judge-led inquiry and been forced to admit that his own relationships with these people has been, at best , inappropriate.  

The prolonged public implosion of News Corp continued with the revelation that News International's legal manager Tom Crone has left the company after 26 years on the payroll. It’s still not clear whether he jumped or was pushed.

And Stateside, the mood grows ever more restive.

Senator Jay Rockefeller, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee was happy enough to talk up a fight and push the hot buttons. 
  
"The reported hacking by News Corporation newspapers against a range of individuals - including children - is offensive and a serious breach of journalistic ethics... I am concerned that the admitted phone hacking in London by the News Corp. may have extended to 9/11 victims or other Americans. If they did, the consequences will be severe," he told The Daily Telegraph.

Rockefeller’s pronouncements added to growing pressure on the US Senate and House of Representatives to investigate the parent company of News International and hold “thorough public hearings” on whether the voicemails of Americans had been intercepted.


Here's what we thought about the BSkyB affair back in March 2011. 



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Comments

  1. Bella13 July 2011 at 16:07

    weird, I always thought "restive" meant exactly the opposite! you learn something new every day etc... great stuff Sir xx

    ReplyDelete
  2. Deptford Croppy13 July 2011 at 17:54

    Ta very much hen! Must admit tho', am perhaps enjoying the Digger's dilemma just a little bit too much...

    ReplyDelete

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