A black eye? Murdoch must be joking...

Nine years ago Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation withdrew from the German TV market after making a failed investment in the stricken media empire Kirch.

It was, Murdoch said at the time, "a black eye".

Coincidentally, News Corp also lost a lot of money by investing in a US company, Gemstar, which licensed interactive programme guide technology.

Murdoch reacted by saying: "We have had two black eyes undoubtedly of Kirch and Gemstar."

Now he describes the News of the World phone hacking scandal as "a major black eye" for News Corp.

A black eye? That wins an award for understatement. The previous black eyes pale in comparison to the effects of hacking, real and potential, on Murdoch's company.
Neither the Kirch and Gemstar mistakes come anywhere close to the continuing crisis that is the hacking scandal. Clearly, he is seeking to imply that it's just another business setback, of relatively little consequence.

But News Corp's share price has yet to recover. The UK division, News International, remains in turmoil. And Murdoch has comprehensively lost his political sway.

Meanwhile, the future of Murdoch's son (and supposed heir), James, is on a knife edge.

He faces recall by a parliamentary committee to explain why his memory of a crucial meeting with the NoW's former legal manager Tom Crone and editor Colin Myler is so different from theirs.

And there are more problems facing James following the publication of an exchange of letters between the paper and its lawyers (see here and here).

Some black eye. Think corporate cancer instead.

The Guardian by Roy Greenslade