Murdoch’s tabloid hacking scandal: The case of Jeffrey Bezos, a former editor of the St. Petersburg Times and the Telegraph, and the late Eugene Patterson
Lewis had not yet started as publisher and CEO, despite being named by Jeff Bezos. Lewis tried to give me an exclusive interview about the Post’s future as long as I stopped reporting on the allegations.
Buzbee did not recuse herself from the stories, which were overseen by Managing Editor Matea Gold, and drew upon reporters from three desks. Lewis did not block the story from running. The newsroom changed its leadership after the longer story ran, and on Sunday night he unexpectedly announced that Buzbee was leaving.
It is not the first time that Lewis has engaged in intense efforts to head off coverage about him in ways that many U.S. journalists would consider deeply inappropriate.
In December, I wrote the first comprehensive piece based on new documents cited in a London courtroom alleging that Lewis had helped cover up a scandal involving widespread criminal practices at media mogul Rupert Murdoch’s British tabloids. (Lewis has previously denied the allegations.)
The story was published by NPR. On Thursday, a spokesperson for Lewis denied the publisher had made the offer, writing, “That is not true. That is not what happened.”
When he was publisher of the St. Petersburg Times, the late Eugene Patterson wanted to report his drunk driving arrest on the front page. NPR has independently reported about the troubles of its own leaders.
Lewis decided to name one of his former colleagues who helped him land the key scoop in the Post’s primary news reporting. Rob Winnett is the Telegraph Media Group’s deputy editor and he is British.
At the Telegraph, the two journalists arranged to pay a source £110,000 for a database detailing inappropriate expenses of British lawmakers at taxpayer costs. It was a big story that resulted in resignations and reforms. But it violated a key component of major U.S. news outlets’ ethics codes against paying sources.
Their tabloids were accused of committing crimes “on an industrial scale,” as former Prime Minister Gordon Brown put it, including hacking into the voicemails and emails of both celebrities and private citizens. The victims of violent crime and veterans killed in combat were the targets of the hacking scandal that went public in 2011.
Attorneys for Hugh Grant, Prince Harry, and several former British government officials claim that Lewis stood at the center of an attempt to cover up company executives knowledge of those practices. In particular, Lewis is accused of giving a green light to the deletion of millions of emails after authorities had asked for the company to retain records for its investigation.
Lewis denied all wrongdoing, but didn’t give any more information. He is not a named defendant in any civil claims, nor has he been charged with any criminality. His actions remain in dispute as part of ongoing cases involving Harry and others.
Over the course of the hacking scandal, Murdoch’s media empire has paid over a billion dollars in settlements and costs. Late last fall, it made a six-figure payment to former Cabinet Minister Chris Huhne, whose scandals had been intensely covered by the tabloids. Grant accepted the deal to avoid paying close to $10 million in legal fees, and News UK did the same.