Paul Sonne

Voices

Rebekah Brooks Charged in Hacking Case

Cassell Bryan-Low and Paul Sonne, Reporters, The Wall Street Journal in Media on May 15 at 4:02 am PT

Prosecutors in the U.K. charged the former head of News Corp.’s British newspaper unit, Rebekah Brooks, with conspiring to obstruct justice, marking the first charges filed in a wide-ranging criminal investigation into wrongdoing at the U.S. media company’s British tabloids.

Voices

U.K. Report Condemns News Corp.

Paul Sonne and Jeanne Whalen, Reporters, The Wall Street Journal in Media on May 1 at 4:37 am PT

The U.K. parliamentary committee probing illicit voicemail interception by News Corp.’s shuttered News of the World tabloid released a final report Tuesday concluding that News Corp. Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch is “not a fit person to exercise the stewardship of a major international company” and accusing several former company executives of misleading parliament.

Voices

James Murdoch Grilled Over Political Influence

Paul Sonne, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal in Media on April 24 at 10:45 am PT

James Murdoch faced tough questions about News Corp.’s political influence in Britain — especially with a key government minister — and his handling of a scandal over illicit reporting tactics at the company’s British tabloids, during a public grilling before a judge-led inquiry into U.K. media practices.

Voices

News Corp. Reaches Settlements in Some Phone-Hacking Cases

Paul Sonne and Cassell Bryan-Low, Reporters, The Wall Street Journal in Media on January 19 at 3:44 pm PT

News Corp. has reached settlements in a majority of the civil lawsuits it faces in Britain over phone hacking at the now-closed News of the World tabloid, but the media giant faces new claims by victims’ lawyers that senior employees covered up wrongdoing and destroyed evidence.

Voices

U.S. Restricts U.A.E. Firm for Web Filter Sale to Syria

Paul Sonne and Steve Stecklow, Reporters, The Wall Street Journal in Voices on December 16, 2011 at 12:00 am PT

The Department of Commerce is placing restrictions on a person and a company in the United Arab Emirates for supplying Syria with Internet-filtering devices made by California-based Blue Coat Systems Inc.

Voices

Life Under the Gaze of Gadhafi’s Spies

Margaret Coker and Paul Sonne, Reporters, The Wall Street Journal in News on December 14, 2011 at 12:00 am PT

In August 2010, Libyan journalist Khaled Mehiri shot an email to his editor at al-Jazeera proposing an article about the hollow nature of the Gadhafi regime’s anticorruption efforts.

Voices

James Murdoch Exits Newspaper Boards

Paul Sonne and Cassell Bryan-Low, Reporters, The Wall Street Journal in News on November 23, 2011 at 5:16 pm PT

James Murdoch has left the boards of operating companies overseeing News Corp.’s U.K. newspapers the Sun, the Times and the Sunday Times, according to British regulatory filings, which registered the changes in September.

Voices

U.S. Firm Acknowledges Syria Uses Its Gear to Block Web

Jennifer Valentino-DeVries, Paul Sonne and Nour Malas, Reporters, The Wall Street Journal in News on October 28, 2011 at 4:17 pm PT

A U.S. company that makes Internet-blocking gear acknowledges that Syria has been using at least 13 of its devices to censor Web activity there — an admission that comes as the Syrian government cracks down on its citizens and silences their online activities.

Voices

Phone-Hacking Allegations Rattle News Corp. Tabloid

Paul Sonne and Cassell Bryan-Low, Reporters, The Wall Street Journal in News on July 6, 2011 at 12:00 am PT

News Corp.’s tabloid reporting scandal swelled anew Tuesday, as allegations about the possible hacking of a dead teenager’s phone unleashed public outrage and placed the company’s top U.K. newspaper executive in the hot seat.