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Murdoch Scandal Grows: How Will News Corp. Cover It?NEW YORK, Jul 15, 2011 (WPIX-TV - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Five days after the News Of The World printed it's final editions, two of the biggest pillars in the foundation of Rubert Murdoch's empire resigned. Rebekah Brooks, Chief Executive of British Newspapers, stepped down in the morning; by the afternoon Les Hinton, Publisher of The Wall Street Journa,l had submitted his resignation as well. The sudden departures come in the midst of a hacking controversy that now has potential ties to victims and families of 9/11 allegedly getting their phones hacked to secure information for a Murdoch fish wrapper exclusive. "People trying to make money off of people who died -- I think it's horrible that someone would do something like that and hack into the phones of 9/11 families to get their last messages that were from their loved ones," said Jim Riches, Chairman for the 9/11 Parents and Families of Firefighters. The retired deputy FDNY chief lost his son on 9/11 in the north tower of the World Trade Center. Riches believes illegally capturing those last conversations -- some from those who are now dead -- is indefensible. "For someone to stoop that low to do that is horrible, and all the 9/11 families I've spoken to are outraged." Long Island Congressman Peter King agrees with Riches. The GOP Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee has requested an FBI investigation into Murdoch's News Corp. "If that is true, it is absolutely a disgraceful crime," said Congressman King in an exclusive interview with PIX 11 after landing at LaGuardia. For King, the latest investigation into the possible phone hacking of 9/11 victims was a surprise. "To me this was a British issue, fortunately or unfortunately this type of thing has been going on in Britain for quite a while. We didn't know the extent of it, but to find out that it could possibly be going on in the United States is quite shocking." Shocking on one hand, but also intriguing on the other. Now, many are asking, "how does someone hack a cell phone?" "It's not an easy chore," said Bill Golodner, a retired detective from the NYPD. The private investigator was part of several investigations following 9/11. The years of experience allows him to shed light on the intricacies of hacking into a personal cell, "It takes a certain level of sophistication and it takes a certain ability. They have to be to some degree trained and practiced in that," said Golodner. Murdoch's companies have a proven track record of getting the big story. Now comes the question as to how well they will handle becoming one of the biggest stories in this country -- and how News Corp. will cover it. To see more of WPIX-TV, go to http://www.wpix.com/. Copyright (c) 2011, WPIX-TV, New York Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. |