Rupert Murdoch Is a 'Gangster'

Rupert Murdoch is painted as a “gangster” in a scathing Guardian piece by Henry Porter. The head of News Corp., under fire for the phone-hacking scandal his News of the World is embroiled in, “is a problem for British society,” Porter writes, “as menacing in his own special way to democracy and conduct of politics as many other threats our society faces.” Porter takes an in-depth look at the Murdoch machine, which “regards itself as above the law of the land.”

He accuses Murdoch of “paying the police for stories,” “hobbling due process,” and using his influence to distort politics—for example, “shaping the agenda on the Iraq war.” He adds, “No British political party has succeeded at an election in the last 30 years without Murdoch's blessing”—indeed, Tony Blair’s communications director “called Murdoch the 24th member of the cabinet.” Click here for the complete article, which includes a second piece calling for government to step in.