New York
CNN
–
Rupert Murdoch’s media empire just did an incredibly unusual thing: It lamented.
The conservative media mogul’s British newspaper division, called News Group Newspapers (NGN), “completed a full statement against the Duke of Sussex for serious intrusion into his private life by The Sun between 1996 and 2011.” and made an outright apology, including for incidents of illegal activity carried out by private investigators working for The Sun.
And that was just the first sentence. Apologies for Prince Harry and former Labor MP Tom Watson continued for another four paragraphs.
The extraordinary public apology was a key part of a settlement agreement announced Wednesday in an 11th-hour deal to avert a high-stakes trial. Prince Harry, who spent five years pursuing Murdoch’s papers, called it “a strong weapon for hundreds of other claimants to settle without ever getting to the bottom of what was done to them.” were equipped with.”
The move was particularly surprising because it came at the behest of Murdoch, who has been using his papers as weapons for decades. Murdoch is not exactly a man known for apologizing. His maligned media brands resist any weakness or wrongdoing. When Murdoch’s Fox News Channel was sued for defamation by Dominion Voting Systems for lying about the 2020 US election, Fox settled for $787.5 million, but did not apologize.
In that case, Fox’s public apology on the airwaves was never a top priority for Dominion’s lawyers. They thought it wouldn’t look real anyway. “I don’t think there’s any point in forcing an apology,” co-lead counsel Stephen Shackelford later commented.
Wednesday’s settlement in the UK was similar in a way to the Dominion case – it allowed Murdoch to avoid the embarrassing spectacle of a trial. But Murdoch’s tabloids have been held accountable, nonetheless, because the apology included a detailed admission of wrongdoing.
In short, it was what Prince Harry said he wanted: “truth and accountability” for the phone-hacking scandal that shocked Britain more than a decade ago.
The widespread scandal centered on private investigators who illegally hacked the voicemails of news subjects and gathered information for Murdoch’s tabloids.
The company issued a full apology in 2012, when Murdoch appeared before a British parliamentary committee. In a full-page ad titled “We’re sorry” and published in all UK national newspapers, Murdoch said, “We regret the serious mistake that has been made” and “sorry for the harm caused to those affected.” I am deeply sorry.”
He repeated the apology on camera during his testimony.
In the years since, Murdoch-owned media companies have paid more than $1 billion to claimants for what is known as “voicemail interception.” But these settlements did not include specific admissions of wrongdoing.
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Prince Harry rejected NGN’s previous settlement demands and pushed for a trial that would allow new evidence to be presented in public.
A lawyer speaking on behalf of the claimants called the settlement – along with his admission of wrongdoing – “a monumental victory”.
The newspaper group said it was paying “substantial damages” to both Prince Harry and Watson. But a public apology can be priceless.
According to the Washington Post, Prince Harry Texted my brother. “Obviously my goal is to expose all their lies and manipulations to the public, to get a public apology for all of us and some justice,” Prince William wrote in 2019 about pursuing the case.
This was discussed in detail in Wednesday’s apology.
He specifically referred to The Sun newspaper, not just the News of the World, a tabloid that the Murdochs shut down in 2011 amid public outcry over phone hacking. (The NGN emphasized that it was “private investigators working for The Sun,” not newspaper journalists, who carried out the “illegal activities.”)
As for the News of the World, the newspaper group apologized to Prince Harry for “phone hacking, surveillance and misuse of private information” by its journalists and private investigators.
And he acknowledged the damage done to the royal family.
“The NGN further apologizes to the Duke for the extensive coverage and serious intrusion into his private life, as well as the private life of Diana, Princess of Wales, his late mother, particularly at a young age. ” said the company. “We acknowledge and apologize for the pain Duke has caused and for the damage to relationships, friendships and family.”
