(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)
BY ALYSSA CARTEE
ANCHOR CHRISTINA HARTMAN
NewsCorp fesses up -- and now --- it’s paying up. Rupert Murdoch's News International is settling several lawsuits brought against the company by high-profile actors and crime victims. Plaintiffs sued the company for allegedly hacking into private voice mails for details to publish in the company’s tabloids. Sky News reports on the accusers’ reactions.
“They are now saying they are satisfied with the settlement. It isn’t just about the money. It’s also about an acknowledgement of wrongdoing. They wanted the apology. They wanted the facts to come out into the open.”
One of the most high profile accusers, actor Jude Law received over 200,000 dollars. The actor released a statement explaining why he pressed charges.
“I owed it to my friends and family as well as myself to do this. I believe in a free press but what News Group did was an abuse of its freedoms. … They were prepared to do anything to sell their newspapers and to make money, irrespective of the impact it had on people's lives.”
The editor of Newsweek tells CBS’s Early Show the News Corp case reaches much farther than the company’s reputation. It reflects on British media as a whole.
“It goes beyond News Corp. This morning, David Cameron’s in South Africa on a State visit and he’s answering questions at press conferences about this and it’s hurting his political standing. So he might be vulnerable as well.”
For the majority of civil lawsuits filed, this is the end of the road. Now, the attention turns to the criminal phase of the investigation. British Labour MP Chris Bryant, who received a settlement of over 46,000 dollars, says a trial was not his goal.
“The whole aim of bringing these cases in the first place was to try and get to the truth. The truth will now come out either in court when the criminal investigations are completed or in the Leveson inquiry.”
Several lawsuits remain unsettled and are currently scheduled for trial on February 13.
