Observer » Les Hinton

Rupert Murdoch ‘Not Fit’ to Run News Corp., Says British Government

Kat Stoeffel — Tue, 01 May 2012 09:30:11 -0400

When it comes to effigies and puppetry, we still have much to learn from the mother country. (image via Getty)

A report published by the House of Commons' select committee today concluded that Rupert Murdoch is "not a fit person" to run a major international corporation, according to The Guardian. The Observer reached a similar conclusion while reading Mr. Murdoch's batty Twitter feed.

The report also found James Murdoch willfully ignorant of phone hacking at News International, demonstrating a "lack of curiosity" during the first round of phone hacking settlements in 2009 and 2010.

Unsurprisingly, the committee was perfectly split on the decision, with the five Labour MPs and sole Liberal Democrat voting together against the five Conservative MPs to add criticism of Rupert and James Murdoch. The whole committee agreed, however, that News of the World editor Colin Myler and the paper's legal counsel Tom Crone withheld information and misled Parliament in a cover-up in which former News International executive Les Hinton was complicit.

The report is said to have spared Rebekah Brooks.

Internal Memo: Les Hinton

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 03:34:56 -0400

I have little recollection of my time as head of News International. I simply do not know or do not remember the circumstances relating to the hacking of various voice-mail accounts of sundry royals, officials and celebrities that occurred four years ago, which is quite a long time. At the same time, I do not recall experiencing amnesia, either solitary or collective.

In the absence of such memories, I have no reason to believe that any knowledge was ever possibly in my possession or even there to be possessed at all. I believe that no one knew anything of these hacking practices, except the reporter and investigator convicted of hacking, and those two just barely. We find ourselves in an epistemological quagmire. Such is the life of the journalist.

I do not know the PIN code to Prince William's voice mail. I do not recall the PIN code to Elle MacPherson's voice mail, nor the PIN codes of any PR agents, ministers of Parliament, football executives or sports agents. I do not know the PIN code to Bill Keller's voice mail nor that of Arthur Sulzberger Jr.'s voice mail. Would I be interested in obtaining the PIN codes of those last two men? Yes, feel free to text them to me.

I have been called Rupert Murdoch's "special envoy on earth." It is true that I have worked for him for 50 years. It has been said that his installing me as CEO of Dow Jones was part of an ongoing campaign to "dumb down" journalism in the English-speaking world. I do not recall dumbing anything down throughout my entire career. Our aims are to obliterate our rivals, the dour Gray Lady and the digital vampire known as Google. By what means shall we smite these giants? You'll have to guess the PIN code to my voice mail.

Robert Thomson and Les Hinton Introduce ‘Greater New York’ at the Plaza

John Koblin — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 17:27:33 -0400

"We are a national newspaper with a New York heart," said Les Hinton, the publisher of The Wall Street Journal, in his British accent. "We are, after all, named after a famous Manhattan street."

It was just after 9am on Monday morning, and Mr. Hinton was providing opening remarks at the Journal's launch breakfast for its Greater New York section. The event was held in the Grand Ballroom at the Plaza. Lox, cream cheese and bagels, along with yogurt and quiche, was served. Mostly advertisers and reporters filled the room.

Outside the hotel, the evidence of a broadsheet war was evident, with New York Times street hawkers positioned at every corner of the hotel, offering $2 copies of The Times. The paper put a Michael Bloomberg investigation on its front page. An hour before the press conference, Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger and CEO Janet Robinson sent out a memo that was widely circulated to the press that listed demographics--and some dry jokes--at why Times readers are so loyal and loving.

By time Journal editor Robert Thomson presented to the audience this morning it took him a mere 58 seconds to land a punch at The Times.

"There is no doubt there is demand for a competitor in this market," he said. "Over the past decade, the New York Times circulation, in this region, has fallen by 40 percent. It has been a decade of decline. And that is not just because of the upheaval in the newspaper industry. Readers have voted with their purses, wallets and credit cards."

That's been Mr. Thomson's pitch since we chatted with him two weeks ago. New Yorkers want a new newspaper to read. Mr. Thomson believes it'll be the Journal (particularly readers who--ahem!--carry purses, the women readership being a key part of their fight).

The first 20 minutes of the presentation were led by Murdoch lieutenants with funny accents (Mr. Hinton is British, Mr. Thomson, an Australian). Then chief revenue offier and self-described native New Yorker Michael Rooney took the stage with the salutation, "How ya doin'?," finally showing that this wasn't an entirely alien operation.

The boys on the stage were on good behavior when it came to the Times-bashing. There were little pokes here and there, but for the most part, they stayed quiet.

"It's appropriate to have competition and you get a little bit of the argy-bargy that goes with competition," said Mr. Thomson, when a reporter tried to bait him to say something nasty about the Times. ("Argy-bargy": Now there's a term you don't often hear in greater New York!)

Instead, Mr. Thomson emphasized that the New York section's war doesn't just include Mr. Sulzberger's newspaper.

"We're not just competing with the old print media set," said Mr. Thomson.

He referred to the second newspaper as "anachronistic," adding that they're competing with whatever number of news sources you read on your BlackBerry.

"We have to be extremely flexible with who we think our competitors are, not just in the nature of content itself, but in the way people receive it," he said.

Most of them stayed on message, and seemed to review their talking points memo carefully. Both Mr. Hinton and Mr. Rooney kept discussing how the New York section makes the Journal a "complete paper;" Mr. Thomson and section editor John Seeley, both said the New York section will provide a "wide canvas" of coverage.

If there's one point that doesn't seem to have the clearest of messages quite yet it involves WSJ.com.

Two weeks ago, Mr. Thomson told us that "nothing, virtually nothing" would be available for free. If you click on wsj.com/ny today you can find a whole series of articles available for free. I asked Mr. Seeley if today was a special exception and he said that the amount of New York content would reflect the rest of the site-some free, some not free.

That seems to suggest that more will be available, at least at first, then Mr. Thomson let on.

Mr. Seeley did say that the Metropolis blog--what appears to be the Journal's version of City Room or Daily Intel--will be free.

How long will this last? It's unclear, but Mr. Thomson recently told us that, "if you look at where the wall is at The Journal, the wall is moving in one direction."

Indeed, that was another point he made today, after he spit at the "superciliousness" of the "bourgeois" journalistic elite that couldn't make up its mind on whether or not to charge for content.

By time the breakfast had ended, there were gift bags for a room that included mostly advertisers. Inside, there was a ceramic mug bearing the section's new name, courtesy of MoMA, and a free copy of the Journal.

Murdoch Tells Journal Newsroom He Wants a ‘Better Paper’

John Koblin — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 23:10:35 -0400

When Dow Jones shareholders were voting this morning, Rupert Murdoch was at the News. Corp headquarters on Sixth Avenue. Later in the day, after Dow Jones and the Wall Street Journal officially became his, he took a trip down to the newsroom.

He spoke about their fears, and his expectations.

"We've come here to expand it, to develop it, and, where possible, to improve its product," he told the newsroom this afternoon, according to a transcript provided by News Corp. to the Observer. "I know that change is often difficult or creates nervousness. If it's particularly nervousness then certainly let us know. We're very accessible people."

Mr. Murdoch spoke alongside new CEO Les Hinton and publisher Robert Thomson. All three spoke, and Mr. Murdoch made clear that Mr. Thomson's job will be to deal with exclusively editorial matters, not business. Their speeches lasted a few minutes each.

"Our aim is pretty simple," Mr. Murdoch said. "We have to entertain, inform, enrich all our readers in their lives and in their businesses. We must be the preeminent source of financial information and comment in the world. And we must put ourselves beyond there being any doubt in that regard."

"But I just wanted to say that we do know and understand the tremendous values of Dow Jones and particularly, of course, the Wall Street Journal and the very high bar you have set yourselves," he said. "If anything, you will find us trying to set a higher bar. So we want to see a better paper."

Shakeup at The Journal as Murdoch Moves to Install His Team

John Koblin — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 13:00:32 -0400

Yesterday at The Wall Street Journal, there were resignation announcements, multi-million dollar severance packages, and plans for trans-atlantic trips. And over the next few months, the shakeup is likely to continue.

Rupert Murdoch takes formal control of Dow Jones and The Journal on Dec. 13, but he moved yesterday to install two trusted lieutenants, and to push out remnants of the Bancroft era. At a little before noon, Dow Jones CEO Richard Zannino, who had been in the job less than two years , announced his resignation, probably to take effect next Friday. A few hours later, WSJ.com reported that Journal publisher Gordon Crovitz would also relinquish his post. Mr. Crovitz is expected to write a column for The Journal's editorial page, the paper reported this morning.

Les Hinton, 63, a little-known but influential News Corp. veteran who was noted for cutting costs at the company's News International -- which includes the British newspapers The Times of London, The Sunday Times, The News of the World and The Sun -- will replace Mr. Zannino as Dow Jones CEO. Robert Thomson, 46, the editor of The Times of London, will succeed Mr. Crovitz as The Journal's publisher.

Other changes, The Journal reported, include the departures of Chief Financial Officer Bill Plummer, General Counsel Joseph A. Stern, and the company's corporate communications chief, Linda Dunbar. And it was reported that there will likely be more high-level changes at Dow Jones over the coming months, as Mr. Murdoch seeks to move his chosen team into key positions.

In the Journal newsroom, according to reporters and editors in both the New York and Washington bureaus, the news of Mr. Thomson's arrival as publisher had long been anticipated. "I've heard great things about them," deputy managing editor Laurie Hays told The Observer, of Mr. Thomson and Mr. Hinton.

Other staffers were less optimistic. In corners of the newsroom, reporters grumbled about what they saw as an ironic twist of fate. Mr. Zannino, 49, who was one of the stronger proponents of the News Corp buyout -- Mr. Murdoch expressed his interest in Dow Jones at a breakfast meeting with Mr. Zannino in March -- had announce his departure before Mr. Murdoch had even taken over the company. Mr. Zannino will receive a payout of around $19 million in severance, according to The Journal, though The New York Times estimated the total figure at around $26 million.

In a statement, Mr. Zannino said that he has been discussing with Mr. Murdch since September that he would be leaving the company after the closing.

And in a change from the previous arrangement, according to The Journal, Mr. Thomson isn't expected to have control over the business side of the paper, as Mr. Crovitz did. Instead, he'll concentrate on editorial matters. He'll be overseeing Marcus Brauchli, the paper's managing editor, who is said to be a friend of Mr. Thomson from their time as reporters in Asia, and Paul Gigot, the editorial page editor.

And it's only beginning.

Robert Thomson Named Publisher of Journal, Les Hinton Is C.E.O. of Dow Jones

John Koblin — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 21:38:55 -0400

Robert Thomson will on Friday be named the publisher of The Wall Street Journal and Les Hinton will be named the new CEO of Dow Jones, only hours after News Corp announced the resignation of CEO Richard Zannino.

The Journal's Sarah Ellison reports:

Mr. Hinton, who is News International executive chairman, has ties to News Corp Chairman Rupert Murdoch going back several decades. He was named executive chairman of News International in 1995. Prior to that he was CEO of News America Publishing, whose titles included the New York Post.

On Mr. Zannino, Ms. Ellison writes:

Mr. Zannino's resignation, which is expected to be the first of a series of executive departures from Dow Jones, highlights the dramatic change about to sweep through the company...Mr. Zannino had expressed a desire to stay at Dow Jones under News Corp's ownership. What changed his mind isn't clear although it's likely that Mr. Murdoch didn't offer him the role he wanted.