August 15, 2011

NYTimes.com
The Bugle, a popular British news satire podcast published by The Times of London, spent three weeks hammering its parent company News Corp. and chairman Rupert Murdoch over the phone-hacking scandal. The New York Times reports:

With new hacking-scandal developments each week, the show appeared to push the boundary of that freedom, especially after a man hit Mr. Murdoch with a plate of shaving cream during a Parliamentary inquiry. “I’m not saying Rupert Murdoch’s face didn’t look better with a shaving cream pie in it,” [co-host John] 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!”

No one from the company has complained, the show’s hosts said. John Oliver is also a correspondent on “The Daily Show,” which regularly skewers media. || Related: Sunday tabloids add almost 2 million sales after News of the World closure (The Guardian)

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Jeff Sonderman (jsonderman@poynter.org) is the Digital Media Fellow at The Poynter Institute. He focuses on innovations and strategies for mobile platforms and social media in…
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