Fox On the Run

Now we're getting somewhere. The news media have ratcheted up their coverage of Rupert Murdoch and the ongoing scandal in the United Kingdom that has reverberated throughout the landscape in the mother country. The withdrawn BSkyB deal has become a big story since I posted here last, and Murdoch is becoming increasingly isolated.

Now comes the story that brings it all back home: News Of the World reporters in Britain have reportedly tried to hack the phones of 9/11 victims and their families here in the United States. An investigation into Murdoch's News Corporation and its practices has been called for by various Democratic senators such as Barbara Boxer of California and Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey, but also by Representative Peter King, a New York Republican.

"It is revolting to imagine that members of the media would seek to compromise the integrity of a public official for financial gain in the pursuit of yellow journalism," King said in a statement. "The 9/11 families have suffered egregiously, but unfortunately they remain vulnerable against such unjustifiable parasitic strains."

Dude, when even Peter King is calling for your head, the jig is up.

But this jig dance can be expected to go on for awhile. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is now looking into the matter. At issue was whether the New York-based News Corporation, which owns Fox Broadcasting, HarperCollins, and several newspapers in addition to and Fox Broadcasting and Fox News, bribed foreign officials in London in violation of U.S. law.

This story has a lot further to go. No congressional investigations or hearings have been called for in Washington - and with Republicans in control of the House, it's not likely that they will be - but if this scandal gets any bigger, we might get a serious look into Fox News's business practices. We might not like what we find. Especially those of us who are Republicans.