Frontline, Murdoch’s Scandal: “The Government Was So Scared of Rupert “

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“The government was so scared of Rupert. He could do anything.”

On PBS’ FRONTLINE, Lowell Bergman takes the viewer  into the story of how Rupert Murdoch’s media empire and his family’s dynasty have been threatened by shocking allegations of invasion of privacy, obstruction of justice and bribery.

At the center are three men who dared to take on Murdoch — and paid a considerable price. Murdoch’s tabloids have long vanquished those who got in the way. But these men have endured intimidation and been at the forefront of a campaign to bring accountability to Murdoch’s papers. Bergman introduces us to Nick Davies, the reporter who broke the phone-hacking story for rival newspaper The Guardian, Labour MP Tom Watson, who keenly questioned Murdoch at his parliamentary hearing, and Mark Lewis, the lawyer for more than 80 alleged phone-hacking victims.

Murdoch’s empire might have survived their criticism unscathed, as it has in the past, but for the revelation that News of the World, Murdoch’s top-selling tabloid, had hacked the phone of 13-year-old Milly Dowler while the UK media obsessed over her abduction and subsequent murder in 2002. Dowler’s case revealed the nature and the scale of the tabloid hacking that went well beyond celebrities and the royal family.

It’s a fascinating tale that raises important questions not just about the business of media, but the way media can influence, intimidate and co-opt powerful people and institutions.

Andrew Golis, Senior Editor/Director of Digital for Frontline

Editor’s Note: Here are just a fraction of the journalistic guidelines for a Frontline program. Specifically, fairness means that producers:

• will approach stories with an open and skeptical mind and a determination, through extensive research, to acquaint themselves with a wide range of viewpoints;
• will try to keep personal bias and opinion from influencing their pursuit of a story;
• will carefully examine contrary information;
• will exercise care in checking the accuracy and credibility of all information they receive, especially as it may relate to accusations of wrongdoing;
• will give individuals or entities who are the subject of attack the opportunity to respond to those attacks;
• will represent fairly the words and actions of the people portrayed;
• will inform individuals who are the subject of an investigative interview of the general areas of questioning in advance and, if important for accuracy, will give those individuals an opportunity to check their records;
• will try to present the significant facts a viewer would need to understand what he or she is seeing, including appropriate information to frame the program; and,
• will always be prepared to assist in correcting errors.