August 29, 2011
A new twist today in the phone hacking scandal that led to the closure of one of Rupert Murdoch’s British tabloids. Glenn Mulcaire, a private detective who was jailed in 2007 for illegally intercepting voice mails on behalf of a News Corp journalist, has given lawyers the names of the people he says ordered him to carry out the hacks. The request for names came from legal representatives of Steve Coogan, the British actor who believes his voicemail was hacked.
Until recently, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation had maintained that the phone hacking was the work of a single rogue reporter. There’s no word yet on how many names Mulcaire listed, but they may be released next week if his lawyer can’t block their publication.
Meanwhile, representatives of the Labour Party are seeking an emergency change in UK law to block News Corporation from renewing its bid to take full ownership of BSkyB, Britain’s largest satellite broadcasting company. The proposed law would require a “public interest test” that would allow government ministers to examine media barons and potentially prevent them from large-scale acquisitions “based on their conduct.”
