Murdoch wants BSkyB - will he get it?

[Jan Klimkowski]

This is a most interesting development.

So, two Telegraph undercover hacks tape Minister Cable stating that he has "declared war" on Murdoch's empire.

The Telegraph, at senior editorial level, choose not to run the story.

The Telegraph is an MSM rival to Murdoch's News International.

The rest of MSM is opposed to Murdoch controlling BSkyB as they fear it will give the Dirty Digger a huge financial advantage and a dominant editorial position within MSM.

Minister Cable loses his power to decide whether Murdoch gets BSkyB.

New Minister Jeremy "Silly" Hunt looks like greenlighting Murdoch's bid.

The Telegraph has now called in Kroll to investigate which member or members of Telegraph staff leaked the Cable tapes to rival MSM organs.

Kroll is a heavyweight insider dark arts and goon squad. See here and here for dedicated DPF threads on Kroll.

It is understood that four employees from the secretive corporate investigators Kroll have began interviewing Daily Telegraph staff, starting with members of the IT department.

The circumstances surrounding the leak have been the subject of intense speculation. Some industry insiders alleged that the Telegraph chose not to publish Cable's comments about Murdoch because it believed it would lead to his sacking as business secretary, removing a potentially serious obstacle to Sky's efforts to buy out BSkyB.

Telegraph Media Group, which also owns the paper's Sunday sister title and the Spectator, is a member of an alliance of media groups which is opposed to News Corp's bid to take full control of BSkyB.

The paper vigorously denies pulling the story for commercial reasons, and insists it was an editorial decision. Senior figures at the Telegraph have argued privately that Cable's comments about bringing the coalition government down if the Liberal Democrats are "pushed too far" were far more significant than his remarks about a rival media proprietor.

(snip)

Only a handful of people at the paper knew about the existence of the tapes and management are furious that Cable's comments were handed to rival news organisations. One executive said at the time the paper had been "betrayed".

It is unclear how long the Kroll investigation will last, or who it plans to interview, but it would be unusual if it didn't include the paper's journalists.

Cable has complained to the Press Complaints Commission about the paper's use of "subterfuge".

A spokesman for Telegraph Media Group said it did not comment on internal security matters.