(Image Source: The Telegraph)

BY STEVEN HSIEH

ANCHOR MEGAN MURPHY

You're watching multisource world video news analysis from Newsy. 

Rupert Murdoch’s woes in Britain have captured the media spotlight – but do his troubles extend to the U.S?

News of the World rival The Daily Mirror says it has a tip from an anonymous ex-NYPD officer who claims he was approached by the Murdoch-tabloid to hack the families of 9/11 victim’s phone data.

The FBI has launched an investigation into those allegations.  So far, the agency says, no evidence has emerged supporting the Mirror’s claims.

An NBC correspondent tells Lawrence O’Donnell – people need to get the facts before they grab their pitchforks.

“This is clearly the most serious allegation facing NewsCorp, the FBI is investigating.   Were any of this proven to be true, it would have a devastating blow to NewsCorp.  It could ultimately lead to a challenge to those broadcasting licenses, which would be the worst blow possible to the company.  But at this point, I think we have to be cautious and say we haven’t seen to support that particular allegation.” (MSNBC)

Attorney Normon Siegel represents about 20 families of 9/11 victims.  He sent letters to high-level officials requesting meetings with investigators.  He tells Bloomberg…
  
“The story in the Daily Mirror said that the police officer turned down the request and said affirmatively that no hacking took place…We’re not accusing anyone of any wrongdoing, but if illegal hacking occurred in the U.K. we need to know if that happened here. But let’s see what the facts are first.”

And the New York Times reports – the scandal could affect the U.S. in other ways.

“The Federal Communications Commission signaled last week that it regarded the hacking scandal as isolated to Britain… But the scandal in Britain could influence the F.C.C. review of media ownership rules, especially if there is perceptible public discord about powerful media moguls like Mr. Murdoch.”

An LA Times editorial writer suggests – some media are stretching for an American angle to fuel the Murdoch-hate train.

“Some of his American detractors object not only to what allegedly happened at the News of the World but also to Murdoch’s politics or the extent of his empire. The scandal provides them with an opportunity to accuse him of illegality as well as arrogance…some of the outrage in Congress over a British scandal is a case of ‘everybody's gotta get into the act.’”

How are NewsCorp’s U.S. outlets -- like Fox News and the Wall Street Journal -- covering the scandal? PR mogul Bob Dilenschneider tells Fox, the media is over-scrutinizing this story and missing the bigger picture – comparing private individuals to big companies.

“The NOTW is a hacking scandal, it can't be denied. But the real issue is, why are so many people piling on at this point? We know it's a hacking scandal, shouldn't we get beyond it and deal with the issue of hacking? Citicorp has been hacked into, Bank of America has been hacked into, American Express has been hacked into, insurance companies have been hacked into, we've got a serious hacking problem in this country, and the government's obviously been hacked into, 24,000 files.”

The Wall Street Journal reports the FBI has contacted the New York Police Department over the case – the first known action in its investigation.