British versus Murdoch

The all-powerful Rupert Murdoch didn't even need to say that yesterday was the most humiliating day of his life. On the streets, Londoners had already hurled words like "disgusting" and expressions like "what a shame." An understandable reaction after the series of revelations about illegal activities committed by the News of the World newspaper, run by the media mogul. If princes, artists, and athletes were frequently wiretapped by the tabloid, how could they ensure that ordinary citizens were protected from illegal eavesdropping? Of course, "phone hacking" became a major topic of conversation among the British, with a unanimous tone of disapproval.

Dozens of English people without any royal or mainstream credentials were also targeted by illegal wiretapping, according to one of the most notorious victims of the practice. After having his sexual fantasies published on the cover of the News of the World, former FIA (International Automobile Federation) president Max Mosley began financially assisting people who couldn't afford to sue the newspaper for invasion of privacy. He even funded lawsuits of up to three million pounds. A warning to all of England that no one was immune to the Murdoch-style scheme.

UK lawmakers already consider the "phone hacking" crisis the biggest scandal in British politics in the last 75 years. After all, relations between the government and Murdoch's conglomerate have been quite close since the 80s, when Margaret Thatcher opened the doors of her office to the magnate. Scotland Yard's delay in investigating countless allegations of illegal wiretapping also points to a scenario in which power and money were the driving forces behind "journalistic investigation" in the News of the World newsroom.

The British are not convinced by Murdoch's testimony to Parliament. "I didn't know anything, but the people I trusted did," the baron declared. His loyal confidante and editor of the newspaper, which closed ten days ago, Rebekah Brooks, also refuses to take responsibility. She said she was shocked to learn that Milly Dowler's cell phone had been tapped in 2002 and messages deleted. Ironically, the BBC calls Rupert Murdoch, James (his son, also heard by Parliament on Tuesday) and Rebekah "the three musketeers".

The crisis in the Murdoch empire and the British government is already underway. Rebekah, who was arrested this week and released on bail, is a friend and neighbor of the current Prime Minister, David Cameron. Although she denied yesterday having "inappropriate" conversations with the Prime Minister, parliamentarians want to hear from him about this relationship and about the hiring of a former editor of the News Of The World as his communications manager.

Cameron cut short his stay in Africa and rushed back to the UK to participate in a new debate on the phone hacking scandal this Wednesday in Parliament. In a plot with (almost) pies in the face, mysterious death, power and money, the climax of the Three Musketeers story is yet to come.