I would have probably dismissed as not realistic enough for even The Daily Show this kind of story, had someone suggested it a few months ago:
Rupert Murdoch’s corporation (owner of FOX News, Wall Street Journal, News of the World, etc) would have been found to have illegally accessed other people’s voicemails.
These included voicemails from a cellphone belonging to a recently-murdered girl, which interfered with the police.
And they had also bribed Scotland Yard officers for information, and actively covered it up.
The story would close one of Britain’s biggest newspapers, and force the resignation of various government and Scotland Yard officials.
That it would lead to the first high-profile investigation under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of an American corporation bribing British officials.
That one of the central figures in the scandal would suddenly die at a young age.
That there was a question of how the former editor of Murdoch’s newspaper — whom he steadfastly defended until one day he didn’t — would be taken from jail to testify before Parliament.
That CNN would live stream a hearing of a British Parliamentary subcommittee instead of the news conference given by the President of the United States.
And that during this committee hearing, some guy would attack Rupert Murdoch — who, until then, looked like he had a few drinks too many the night before — with a shaving cream pie.
And that Rupert Murdoch’s newspapers and TV channels would portray News Corp. as a victim of the liberal press in all this, and that they should just be left alone.
So maybe the last one was believable, but my goodness. Just when it couldn’t get any stranger, a SHAVING CREAM PIE?!
Shaving cream pies or eggs are traditional here.
Totally agree, and until I read your post I had only gotten as far in this saga as the
“That one of the central figures in the scandal would suddenly die at a young age.” part.
It’s like the plot from an Agatha Christie novel at that point.
But the cream pie bit, honestly, you can’t make this stuff up!
Worse, they accessed a murder victim’s voicemail, and deleted messages to make space for more so they could get those, leading to hope for the parents that she was still alive.
The shaving cream guy did the world a disservice; instead of talking about the Murdochs’ absolutely appalling performance in that hearing, the media is now chattering away about his wife’s “brave” response to the attacker.
Meanwhile, the finance media is slapping themselves on the back about how Murdoch has shored up his position in Newscorp because he “did so well”. They must have been watching a different hearing than the one I did, because Murdoch came across as a man who is too old to handle a company that size now, and James as just another slimy manager with an MBA who talks too much about nothing.