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Murdoch Picks Fight With Newser Founder

By Caroline Miller, Newser Staff

Posted Oct 23, 2008 1:53 PM CDT

(Newser) – It won't surprise anyone that Rupert Murdoch managed to get his hands on an advance copy of Michael Wolff's upcoming biography of him, despite a strict embargo, or that he complained to the publisher over some of the contents. Murdoch gave Wolff more than 50 hours of interviews and access to everyone from his top execs to his 99-year-old mother, and he told them to be candid. The New York Times chronicles the ensuing brouhaha.

Wolff expresses confidence in his reporting—“It’s all from the horse’s mouth. And it’s all on tape." And he ventures to say that Murdoch's complaints had more to do with soothing the bruised egos of two of his execs—Wolff wrote some unflattering things about Murdoch's relationship with Fox News CEO Roger Ailes and Peter Chernin, the News Corp. president—than inaccuracies. The Vanity Fair columnist and Newser founder counters with his own complaint: “In essence News Corp. is holding stolen goods.”

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News Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch addresses a press conference during the launch of Dow Jones India Titans 30 in Mumbai, India, Monday, Aug. 4, 2008. (AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade)

News Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch gestures during the launch of Dow Jones India Titans 30 in Mumbai, India, Monday, Aug. 4, 2008. (AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade)

Rupert Murdoch speaks at a news conference in New York in this file photo of Oct. 20, 2006. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, FILE)

Michael Wolff

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I think everybody around Rupert will see this and say, 'This is Rupert.' - Michael Wolff

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