On Tue, Jul 19, 2011 at 9:28 AM, PGage <[email protected]> wrote: > > It is really hard to believe that these guys run a 54 Billion Dollar > corporation. At the hearing they look like Corrado and AJ Soprano. > > SkyNews identified the pie-thrower as Johnnie Marbles, who they said was a > comedian of some kind in the UK. > > Interesting at the end was questioning by the Chick-Lit gal Louise Mensch, > who I have read about but never seen or heard. Looks like she will be > playing herself in the movie.**
I respond to myself to post a link to this ap story on Mensch and CNN's Piers Morgan (who I have never watched, but learned during the hearing from Mensch also used to be one of Rupert's Editors at a different Tabloid): http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110719/ap_en_tv/us_phone_hacking_piers_morgan Two items here of note: 1. Mensch mentioned repeatedly this morning that Morgan had written in his 2005 autobiography that he got scoops by hacking phones when he edited British tabloids. She said it at least three times, to set up her point that while hacking is bad, we can't blame Rupert because everyone on Fleet Street does it. Morgan tweeted at the time: "Ms. Mensch is completely and utterly wrong. She clearly hasn't read my book. Can someone please give her a copy?" The AP story says that " Mensch appeared to confuse her source... Morgan does not boast of hacking phones, but writes of being suspicious that he, himself, was hacked." Morgan and Mensch were both on "The Situation Room" later today, and he confronted her, but she refused to comment (apparently afraid he would sue her for libel if she repeated her charge without the protection of speaking in Parliament. Doesn't that suggest that she knew she was wrong, even when she made the comment in the first place?). 2. Morgan has been as quiet/supportive of Murdoch as any Fox employee. He tweeted after today's hearing: "Strong finish by Rupert. Love him or hate him, does anyone genuinely think he's a crook or condoned crime? Because I don't." Yes, I do. Morgan is quoted in the article as saying that when he worked for Murdoch they only talked 15 minutes a week, and Murdoch never got into the methods of gathering news. I have heard several similar defenses of Murdoch today, and of course that is basically what he said in defense of himself a the hearing. It might even be plausible, if this was the first hearing into recent hacking charges. But this has been going on for years, there has been a long, formal inquiry into it, and the idea that Rupert was too busy or too demented to ask any questions, or get any answers, does not pass any kind of smell test. -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
