The Murdoch Stasi
Posted by Charles II on August 17, 2011
One of the things that is most troubling about the United States is that it is possible for a corporation to keep a person from working–and reduce them to destitution– purely because they have annoyed the corporation. How can the American people call ourselves “free” or a “democracy,” if people work under the sword of Damocles known as blacklisting?
Ed Pilkington, The Guardian:
Five years ago Robert Emmel was enjoying the American dream. He lived in a detached house in a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia, drove a BMW, and earned $140,000 a year as an accounts director in a highly successful advertising company called News America Marketing.
Today, Emmel is described by his lawyers as destitute. Jobless and in debt, he was discharged from bankruptcy last year. …
This is a cautionary tale about what can happen to someone who dares to become a corporate whistleblower. Or, more specifically, someone who incurs the wrath of News Corporation, the media empire owned by Rupert Murdoch, of which News America forms a part.
…
News Corp has devoted the efforts of up to 29 lawyers to pursuing Emmel personally, at a cost estimated at more than $2m. Emmel, by contrast, has relied on two lawyers, Hilder and Marc Garber in Atlanta, working for no pay since January 2009.Attention has been focused on News Corporation’s activities in the UK, where the News of the World phone-hacking scandal has led to the arrest of 10 people associated with the company. In the US, oversight of News Corp is gathering pace …
…
Emmel was one of the main witnesses for Floorgraphics at a subsequent trial against his old company. He worked for News America for seven years from 1999 to 2006, turning whistleblower in his final year there.
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He alleged that News America was engaging in “criminal conduct against competitors” and using “deceptive and illegal business practices” to defraud its retailer customers out of money owed.
Emmel provided documents to a Grassley staffer, Nicholas Podsiadly, who told him that the Judiciary Committee was considering making a referral to DoJ… and apparently did nothing. Emmel has survived the constant pursuit by News America and been exonerated of wrongdoing at every stage. Now, as it becomes ever more clear that Emmel was an honest citizen trying to report a crime by a criminal enterprise, this country needs to step forward and support him.
There are too many people like Tom Emmel in this oh-so-free country. One goal of our efforts at reform must be to ensure that corporations–or the government itself–never again have the power to deprive a person of work, especially when that person is trying to stop lawbreaking.
As an aside, Scott Horton has another blockbuster story about Alabama Governor Bob Riley abusing the power of his office, just as he did in the Siegelman case, to falsely accuse people of crimes in order to achieve a political objective.
4 Responses to “The Murdoch Stasi”
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jo6pac said
Will we all know what happens to whistleblowers in Amerika, he’s lucky doj didn’t handle it or he would be in jail and the bad guys walk or ride in a limo/private jet.
On Siegelman doj has done nothing to upset repugs, just more of that we don’t want to look back except in cases where we do.
Charles II said
Spot on, Jo.
Sad what the DoJ has become: a bunch of Regent Law graduates.
MarkH said
It appears Murdoch is getting his hat, and perhaps some shackles, handed to him in the U.K. His hold on people here ought to weaken considerably after that.
The power of the Right to constantly indoctrinate people with Faux News might also wither.
Charles II said
The Murdoch machine is huge, Mark. It is the largest concentration of media in the world, right after the mouse. When it comes to the ability to project political propaganda, it is unquestionably the largest.
Rupert is clearly near the end of his life, so some kind of transition was in the cards. The question is who is the real power of News Corp. I would suggest that if Murdoch is removed, someone dedicated to the “conservative” cause will be anointed. That’s because re-branding is so hard (and costly). For that matter, if all the “conservative” powers at News Corp. vanished, ABC or Time Warner would step in to fill the void, because there’s money to be made.
So, I rejoice in Murdoch’s troubles, and I sorrow at his joys, but I have no illusions: it will take many years to bring down this machine.