UK Royalty's Phone Hacking: Courtesy of Media Mogul Rupert Murdoch

A shining 70-year career in the media world, filled with multiple acquisitions, several founded outlets, allegations, and ooh… scandals. Many, many scandals! Well, you can never use the word too many times when it comes to the 92-year-old Rupert Murdoch. Let's call him RM.

The life story of RM, founder and ex-chairman of Fox Corporation and News Corporation (stylised as News Corp), is very similar to a blockbuster Bollywood movie. It's all…

The publications under RM's owned newspapers were more tabloids than factual news filled with "sex", "controversies", and "entertainment." Inside sources even admit RM gave the direction to fill the newspapers with these three flavours to attract the public's eye. Regardless, whatever tactics this media mogul used worked wonderfully well, which is clear from his standing in the business world. As of 2023, he is the 97th richest person in the USA with a net worth of $17.5 billion (about ₹1,45,477.6 crore).

This dude owns over 100 local, national, and international publishing outlets worldwide, including the UK, USA, and Australia. Names like Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, Harper Collins, the New York Post, and many more fall under his mega empire. News Corp and Fox Corporation are the two legacies of Rupert Murdoch, immortalising him in the media world for generations to come.

With so much power and influence, Murdoch has caused many ripples, whether in politics or the entertainment industry. The news channel “Fox News” is also said to follow “right-wing” propaganda.

Today, we will discuss one of the biggest scandals associated with Rupert's name, the phone hacking of Britain's Royalty. Well, what could possibly be bigger than monarchy in the UK, right? 😮‍💨

So, let’s dive into the juicy details, shall we?

News of the World’s Beginning

Keith Murdoch, Rupert's father, left his son with "The News of Adelaide", a southern Australian newspaper, in 1952. RM took this newspaper with a circulation of 75,000 and soon became a media mogul in Australia and the United Kingdom. He entered the UK media market in 1969 by acquiring The News of the World and The Sun.  

News Corp, established as a holding company in the 1980s, acquired several popular newspapers and launched new media outlets. Rupert hatched the perfect plan of adopting scandalous language with attention-grabbing titles, often considered vulgar and slanderous.

News Corp has faced and is still awaiting trials for defamation, unethical behaviour, spreading lies, and millions of other charges. Among the people being hacked, both ordinary and influential personalities were involved.

Phone Hacking of Royalty in 2005

Once upon a time (between 2005-2010), the higher-ups in the News of the World were habitual of peeking into people's personal lives. By then, hacking into people's voicemail accounts and computers was a norm for the News of the World. And at the eye of this corrupt storm was our RM's son, James Murdoch, who was then the executive chairman of the newspaper.
 
Not satisfied with hacking the daily lives of accident victims and film stars, News of the World started setting their sights on the big fish. It published a few articles in November 2005 on how Prince William, heir apparent to the British throne, planned to borrow an editing suite and treat a knee injury.

The leaking of the secret discussion between Prince William and TV Correspondent Tom Bradby led to RM's UK newspaper's downfall as the British Royalty took offence.

The Metropolitan Police initiated investigations, and News of the World's offices were raided. About 11,000 handwritten notes were found, including lists of nearly 4,000 celebrities, politicians, sports stars, police officials and crime victims whose phones may have been hacked. Tape recordings and phone numbers were also found for about 8 royal members.

Reporter and editor Glenn Mulclaire and Clive Goodman, respectively, were arrested, to which they pleaded guilty and spent half a year in jail. News of the World barely surfaced during this crisis, but the whispers of the allegations remained.

The Guardian’s Unveiling: News of the World’s End

The phone hacking case by the employees of the News of the World reopened between 2009 and 2010 due to complaints by multiple victims. British daily, The Guardian started investigating earnestly based on the victims' complaints. By 2010, News Group Newspapers (NGN) had spent over €2 million (around ₹17.62 crore) to settle the many phone hacking cases.

Reporters working under the News of the World were aware of millions of phone lines being tapped, but instead of doing their job, they were busy hiding the evidence. Alas! Truth has the habit of making its presence known, just like Bollywood's police arriving on a crime scene. Both take their sweet time to do the honours.

So, The Guardian kept releasing articles about the truth behind News of the World's nosy habits. By then, big identities like Hugh Grant, Prince Harry, sports player Gordon Taylor, and many others were also involved in the fight against RM’s news publications in the UK.

Public outrage and the other media outlets following The Guardian's footprints brought News of the World to its knees. As an extension of Rupert Murdoch, News International published an apology, accepting failure in holding themselves accountable for mistakes. And then, the last publication in 168 years, News of the World, was released with a "Goodbye" note.

The Bottom Line

In this way, RM’s news outlet caused havoc in the United Kingdom, but the controversy was not only limited to Britain. RM’s companies have been accused of influencing the 2020 US Presidential elections, during which Donald Trump won.

Murdoch stated in an interview regarding his retirement that he might die first before retiring. Now, he has finally chosen his eldest son among his six children, Lachlan Murdoch, as the successor for both his companies.

I would conclude the article with the thought that RM’s eldest son has BIG shoes to fill. Will he sail through the cutthroat media world or make Rupert rethink his succession plans? Nevertheless, this transition of power is going to be entertaining! 😌