Lawsuit: Murdoch killed negative Clinton stories

Rupert Murdoch

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch ordered his U.S. editors to kill any negative stories about President Clinton and his wife Hillary, according to claims in a lawsuit.

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Murdoch, whose News Corp. of America owns the Fox News Channel and the New York Post, is being sued by former Post gossip writer Jared Paul Stern, who contends he was fired illegally, reports the UK's Press Gazette.

The Post dismissed Stern last year after he allegedly demanded $100,000 and a $10,000 monthly stipend from California businessman Ron Burkle to keep negative stories about him out of the paper.

Charges about how Murdoch controls his newspapers come in an affidavit by another fired Post staffer, Ian Spiegelman, who disputes Murdoch's claim of non-interference in daily operations.

Spiegelman contends Murdoch ordered New York Post editors to kill any negative stories about the Clintons.

He also claims Murdoch made decisions to avoid angering the communist regime in China. Murdoch allegedly ordered the Post to kill a story about a Chinese diplomat's visits to a New York strip club because he didn't want to jeopardize his company's broadcasting in China.

Spiegelman claims, at the same time, Harper Collins, a News Corp. subsidiary, published a book favorable to Chinese Communist Party boss Deng Xiaoping, written by his daughter Deng Rong. Spiegelman says Deng Rong was given a $1 million advance even though the book was "stunningly awful."

Murdoch recently made a $5 billion bid for Dow Jones, the company that owns the Wall Street Journal. Making his case for the deal, Murdoch has tried to reassure owners his journalists share the business paper's high standards.

As WND reported last year, a television ad critical of President Clinton was accepted by CNN but rejected by Fox News. A spokesman for the cable channel told WND the ad was not accepted because it made an undocumented claim about the former president.

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In the lawsuit, Post staff members are accused of accepting gifts from restaurant owners and sexual favors at New York strip clubs.

The Post itself ran the allegations as the lead on its Page Six gossip column, calling them "lies and smears."

The paper responded to some of the charges, calling acceptance by the Page Six editor of a $1,000 Christmas gift a "grave mistake." The editor was reprimanded, the paper said, and was told future indiscretions would be unacceptable.

The Post denied its editor-in-chief, Col Allan, received "sexual favors" at a club, maintaining his behavior was always "beyond reproach."

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