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John Oliver and Andy Zaltzman Take on Rupert Murdoch from Inside His Own House
From The CC Insider…
The News of the World phone-hacking scandal is probably the biggest phone-related scandal ever (and that's counting all the phone-related scandals that involved penises!) But you wouldn't know it from reading News Corp. owned papers. Even the New York Post somehow restrained their infinite amount of monkeys banging away at an infinite amount of typewriters.But in the nether regions of the Internet, a podcast rose up. John Oliver and Andy Zaltzman record a podcast together called The Bugle for The Times of London, a Murdoch owned paper. They somehow flew under the radar and mined the comedy-rich territory…
As some Murdoch-owned media properties chose to minimize the unfolding scandal, Mr. Skinner and the pair of comedians behind the podcast, Andy Zaltzman and John Oliver, went straight for the jugular. The Bugle, among the most popular comedy podcasts in Britain with roughly 400,000 weekly downloads, spent three weeks hammering their corporate owners, News International, and Mr. Murdoch himself.
This is significant considering how much power Rupert Murdoch has over shaping the perception of the trial and just how little his media empire chose to cover the scandal. John and Andy seemed pretty aware of that fact as they dug into Rupert Murdoch.
"I'm not saying Rupert Murdoch’s face didn't look better with a shaving cream pie in it," Mr. Oliver said during one episode. "You just don't want to find yourself with any misplaced sympathy for Rupert Murdoch."
The two then jokingly wondered on air whether anyone higher up at News International was listening. "Should this not have been stopped by now?" Mr. Oliver asked. "It doesn’t make sense!"
You can download the podcast on iTunes. After the jump, I've posted a video of John Oliver putting the News of the World scandal into proper perspective.
The Daily Show airs Monday through Thursday at 11/10c.
(Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images)
Tags: John Oliver, News of the World, Podcasts, Rupert Murdoch, United Kingdom -
WINNER Caption Challenge: Rupert Murdoch
Submitted by Robert Sickel.
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YOU DECIDE Caption Challenge: Rupert Murdoch
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Jon Stewart on British Parliament vs. Rupert Murdoch and David Cameron
You know, if the United States Congress were half as fun to watch as the United Kingdom's Parliament, it might be half fun to watch…
Coverage continues after the jump.
The Daily Show airs Monday through Thursday at 11pm / 10c.
Tags: Barack Obama, David Cameron, Jon Stewart, News of the World, Rupert Murdoch, The Daily Show, United Kingdom, Video -
Top UK Cop Resigns After Having Chakras Cleared
Because you are a genius and you read Indecision (one goes hand in hand with the other, really), you know by now that there's a big ol' political/news/entertainment/phone hacking/crazytown scandal happening in Britain these days. We couldn't help but notice the way in which this fustercluck illustrates differences between the United States and Great Britain — especially when it comes to police scandals.
For example, your average U.S. police scandal involves, say, the NYPD maybe possibly raping a lady, or perhaps a man! But across the pond, Scotland Yard's chief officer just resigned because he took a lovely vacation at a spa…
Sir Paul Stephenson, the outgoing head of Scotland Yard who resigned on Sunday, was forced to defend his relationship with a former news executive for the News of the World, Neil Wallis. He denied any wrongdoing in his relationship with Mr. Wallis, a former News of the World deputy editor at the time of widespread phone hacking at the newspaper who later was hired as a media consultant for the police… Mr. Wallis was also a public relations executive at a health spa, Champneys, in Watford, north of London, where Sir Paul received free hospitality for five weeks this year while recuperating from a leg injury.
Mr. Wallis was arrested last week in the police investigation into phone hacking.
"When I became aware that Mr. Wallis was in some way connected with Champneys, I thought that was a very difficult story," Sir Paul said, explaining his resignation. "I thought, 'This is going to be a significant story, and if I am going to be a leader and do the right thing by my organization, I better do something quickly.' "
Yes, the head of the Metropolitan Police Service of London was brought down by his penchant for free mud masks and exfoliating facials. That's how the thin blue line works over in Londontown: Working the mean streets, pleasantly saying "Pip-pop!" and "Cheerio!" to passing dukes and duchesses, and getting slathered in hot oil and salt whilst Enya plays softly in the background.
It may not make the best Law & Order plot, but it sure is adorable.
Photo by Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images
Tags: News of the World, Rupert Murdoch, United Kingdom
