It was a huge day for Parliament and for TV-watching Brits, indeed, TV watchers around the world yesterday, but the day did not go as many expected. Rather than roughing up Rupert Murdoch, MPs went easy on the head of News Corp.
However he might have brought disgrace upon Britain’s government through the transgressions of his newspapers, he was still Rupert Murdoch, a man used to being in charge.
And in the end, Murdoch remained in charge, if not charming the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee, achieving several key objectives in his testimony.
In effect, Murdoch had it both ways; he asserted that he was very much in charge of News Corp. and yet in no way responsible for the transgressions of certain reporters and editors at one paper, News of the World, which he pointed out represented just 1 percent of News Corp.’s holdings.
The latter point was for the benefit of Parliament and investigators; the former point was for the real audience for which his remarks were intended, the investment community.
At 80, Murdoch looked frail, especially sitting next to son James, who is 38, and his chief worry has been the increasing talk that he had grown out of touch and that it was time for him to step down.
He needed to show investors that he was still capable of steering News Corp out of this current mess. The reaction on Wall Street was that he succeeded in that aim; News Corp. stock saw an uptick following his testimony.
Murdoch appears to have achieved a second, related aim as well: confining the scandal to the UK, keeping it from spreading to other News Corp holdings around the world, most importantly the U.S.
As he deftly explained to yesterday’s panel, it was a UK problem, quite simply; he was let down by people in whom he had invested a great deal of trust, and they in turn were let down by people in whom they had invested trust. It represented a series of unfortunate stumbles in one small part of a huge and otherwise well-managed media empire.
No, he explained, he would not resign over the scandal, as if anyone really expected he would, and that in fact he intended to be the person to clean up the mess.
All this is not to say that it was a good or even decent public speaking performance. He appeared feeble and doddering at times. But Murdoch's only concern was pleasing investors, and he was not at all worried about winning over the general public. He did not.
Criticism of the octogenarian was ferocious on Twitter, on television and in virtually any publication not owned by News Corp. following the testimony.
Meanwhile, here are the latest developments in the scandal:
* This morning Prime Minister David Cameron took his turn in front of Parliament, defending his hiring of former News of the World editor Andy Coulson despite what were apparently several warnings about his involvement in wrongdoing. Cameron did say that in hindsight, he would not have hired Coulson as his director of communications.
* Cameron also promised to widen the hacking probe to include broadcast and social media.
* CNN host Piers Morgan finally began to address the hacking scandal. The former NOTW editor, who also served as editor of the Daily Mail, was incensed when Parliament member Louise Mensch claimed Morgan's 2005 biography outlined widespread use of hacking in British tabloids. "At no stage in my book or indeed outside of my book have I ever boasted of using phone hacking for any stories," Morgan said on CNN's "The Situation Room" last night.
* Rupert Murdoch sent a memo to all News Corp. employees following his testimony announcing the formation of an "independent Management & Standards Committee, to determine new standards that will be clearly communicated and consistently enforced." He also pledged to fully cooperate with future investigations into News Corp. wrongdoings.
* Mark Kleinman, the city editor of Sky News, tweeted this morning that the new committee met this morning and "decided to terminate payment of Glenn Mulcaire legal fees." Mulcaire is the controversial private investigator linked to the NOTW hacking.
* Rep. Mary Bono Mack (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade, sent out a questionnaire to a number of trade organizations, including the National Cable & Telecommunications Association and Consumer Electronics Association, asking if there are sufficient safeguards in the U.S. to prevent a similar phone hacking scandal.
* Wendi Deng became a cult hero for literally leaping to her husband's defense from the pie-thrower during yesterday's Parliament session. Her name was trending on Twitter shortly after the incident, and Deng fan pages have popped up on Facebook.
