We Stand Corrected: Why Can’t the Media Get Gennady Timchenko Right?

Is coal beating oil as the hot new commodity? Trading activities at Gennady Timchenko’s Gunvor suggests the answer is yes.

Gunvor Group’s co-founders Gennady Timchenko and Torbjorn Tornqvist are seeing their hard work pay off—literally.  Recently Bloomberg reported on October 10, 2011 that Gunvor estimated its revenue will increase from $65 billion to $80 billion this year—a 23 percent improvement on last year’s already stunning profits. Gennady Timchenko and Torbjorn Tornqvist noted that Gunvor will continue to expand via acquisitions, around half of which will be in Russia.

Despite recessionary times in Europe and abroad, Gennady Timchenko’s Gunvor bears witness to the fact that the demand for coal is increasing over the demand for oil, and the traders predict more of the same over the next two decades, particularly in Far East Russia.  Gunvor bet wisely that the demand for coal would “outpace” demand for oil when it landed a controlling stake (51 percent) in Kolmar in partnership with Gennady Timchenko’s investment vehicles. In line with this investment strategy, Gennady Timchenko’s Gunvor has cut its share of Russia’s seaborn oil exports to under 20 percent, whereas the Geneva-based company once handled around 30 percent of Russia’s seaborn oil exports. Gunvor is also slated to develop trading in grain, sugar, and ethanol. 

The good news for Gunvor continues in other coal-related purchases.  Pinesdale LLC, a Gunvor subsidiary, reportedly paid $400 million for one-third ownership in coal mine Signal Peak.  News sources indicate the Signal Peak mine is estimated at more than $1.5 billion, including existing debt. 

Mike Dawson, a spokesman for the Boich Cos. in Ohio, which purchased the mine with Ohio FirstEnergy Corp. in 2008, said of the business deal with Gennady Timchenko and Torbjorn Tornqvist’s Gunvor, “This transaction is a win for everyone involved, most especially for the continued operations of the mine. Having Gunvor as a partner will strengthen our mine operations.” Media outlets reported that Gennady Timchenko’s Gunvor plans on increasing the underground production from 9 million tons annually to around 15 million tons and shipping the coal to Pacific and Asia markets via British Columbia.

As an internationally renowned global energy trader, Gunvor’s position on coal—and its increasing profitability in a down market—show oil may soon be on its way out.

The Lib Dem MP and the Russian spy who loved him

AN MP’s researcher suspected of being a Russian spy had a string of “honeytrap” affairs with senior diplomats, a deportation hearing was told yesterday.

Pretty Ekaterina Zatuliveter, 26, is said to have bedded a Dutch official and a European Nato worker in addition to turning her charms on Lib Dem backbencher Mike Hancock, 65.

She allegedly targeted the married MP and began a four-year affair with him to gain sensitive information after they met at a conference in St Petersburg in 2006.

Home Office lawyer Jonathan Glasson said Mr Hancock was known to have had a number of extra-marital affairs.

He told Miss Zatuliveter: “You knew that Mr Hancock’s private life might make him potentially vulnerable.”

She replied: “I did not know of his private life until our relationship.”

But Mr Glasson accused her of singling him out as “an influential man in the world of British politics and a member of the Defence Select Committee”.

He added: “You are lying when you repeatedly deny that you have worked for the Russian intelligence services.

“You have been reporting from the heart of British democracy.

“You have ensured that the Russian intelligence services have eyes and ears in the House of Commons.” Miss Zatuliveter is also said to have had sex with a Dutch diplomat, who quickly became suspicious of her. She allegedly had a fling with a Nato worker after her affair with Mr Hancock ended last year.

But she denies spying on the MP or any of her high-flying lovers. She told the Special Immigration Appeals Commission in London: “I am innocent and I should not be deported simply because someone has made a mistake.”

Miss Zatuliveter said she volunteered to be a chaperone at international conferences because she found it “interesting” and could improve her English.

She claims that she at first refused the MP’s advances and turned down his alleged offer of a CD and cash. It was revealed that in Autumn 2009 she was interviewed by MI5 because she was a Russian citizen working in Parliament.

She was finally arrested in August 2010 at Gatwick Airport and grilled by two British spies, who played “good cop, bad cop”, the hearing was told.

Mr Hancock, in his second spell as an MP for Portsmouth South after first being elected in 1984, has been married to wife Jacqui, a councillor in Portsmouth, for 43 years. They have a son and a daughter.

He did not attend the hearing yesterday and is not due to give evidence.

In a statement, handed out at his constituency office in Southsea, Hants, Mr Hancock did not refer to the claims of an affair. But he confirmed: “Miss Zatuliveter was an intern for me in 2006 and started working for me full time in 2008.

“On both occasions she was vetted by Commons authorities and given a pass.”

He added that she had no access to classified information. He said that he had asked MI5 several times if he should end her employment but they “re-assured me that it was not necessary”.

The hearing continues.

US/2012: new rules for political communication on Twitter?

Now that Twitter is wading into the world of political advertising, the Federal Election Commission may change the way they regulate those messages.

Tech President notes that the FEC is still trying to get their arms around the new platforms and mediums.

Part of the reasoning for a return to the rules, according to the draft document, is the advent of new technology. Twitter’s political ads, for instance, display a text box when users hover their cursors over a particular area; in that box is a more formal disclosure of who paid for the ad in question. The FEC hasn’t given a definite yes or no as to whether these new technologies are kosher, which leaves people trying to innovate in the multi-million-dollar field of political advertising in something of a gray area. New rules would change that.

“Given the development and proliferation of the Internet as a mode of political communication, and the expectation that continued technological advances will further enhance the quantity of information available to voters online and through other technological means,” reads the draft document, included in a memo to the commissioners from their general counsel, Anthony Herman, “the Commission welcomes comments on whether and how it should amend its disclaimer requirements for public communications on the Internet to provide flexibility consistent with their purpose.”

It’s not clear if the rules will change in time for the 2012 election.

Read more: Utah Pulse – New Rules for Online Political Ads Could be Coming

DSK: what a spin doctor shouldn’t do!

Was Dominique Strauss Kahn, on his return to France to protest his innocence (right), but subtly and through his “people” (wrong). A spin doctor lesson… of what you shouldn’t do.

Telling It Like he Wants it Believed

Clearly imagining himself to be “The Great Communicator”(wrong), and bursting with the hubris particular to public figures who have committed a big “NO-NO,” DSK decided he alone would attempt damage control (wrong).

His televised mea culpa succeeded only in giving stand-up comedians more original material, and opposition politicians more ammunition (as if any more was needed).
Promoted as an “interview,” the great seducer’s humility rant was clearly a heavily scripted public relations spin. “Interrogated” with the ferocity of a purring cat by a pal of his wife’s — Claire Chazal, the major “News Blonde” on France’s TF1 channel — DSK continued to amaze and astound.

Just The Facts

One of his major points being that whatever his “moral error(s),” both in New York and France, there was “no violence” involved. He “unscored” this assertion by referring repeatedly (12 times) to the New York prosecutor’s report.

This would have a chance of being halfway believable, were it not for the physical evidence. Bruised shoulder, torn clothing, vaginal redness, etc.

OK — He did admit to being a bad boy. Which he did also at the IMF — for which they didn’t fire him… and from which he still gets a six-figure pension for life. However, when the great (imagined) communicator maintained that the sex was consensual, I was immediately reminded of the wise words of H.L Mencken , the late and respected editor of the Baltimore Sun newspaper: “Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people.”

While there may be some French people among the 13 million DSK-SPIN viewers who have just fallen off the back of a turnip truck, the majority can smell squirrel dookie when it’s in their face. They can tie their own shoelaces. They can walk and chew gum at the same time.

So — when a wealthy man in his 60′s tells them that he had consensual sex at 11am in the morning, in his $3000 a night hotel suite, with a hotel maid in her 30′s… and that no money was exchanged… how many of those French people are thinking of the cartoon character whose nose kept getting bigger? (hint: first three letters are: “PIN”, ends with “O.”)

Don’t Walk This Way

Sadly for DSK, the political result of his “Kahnfomercial”, is increased distance. Especially from those in his own party. While not uttering a negative word, politicians of every stripe are taking their marching orders from the three wise monkeys : “See no evil.” “Hear no evil.” “Speak No evil.”

So who’s the monkey here?

A Russian billionaire starts a war at Kremlin’s top spin doctor

Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov on Thursday resigned from the post of leader of a pro-reform party and launched an unprecedented attack on Kremlin’s top spin doctor, accusing him of stifling debate.

Prokhorov, who was until now the leader of the small Pravoye Delo (Right Cause) party, pledged to establish his own movement, saying he was not afraid of repeating the fate of tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky who supporters say was arrested in 2003 for daring to challenge the Kremlin.

Prokhorov carefully avoided any criticism of President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, instead taking aim at their close associate.

“There is a puppeteer who has long ago privatized the political system, puts pressure on media and misinforms the country’s leadership,” the charismatic owner of the NBA’s New Jersey Nets basketball team told a party meeting.

“His name is Vladislav Yuryevich Surkov, first deputy chief of staff,” Prokhorov said to cries of “Bravo” from the audience.

“I will do everything I can to get him fired,” said the businessman, ranked Russia’s third richest man by Forbes magazine with a fortune of US$18 billion.

Surkov is considered one of the most influential Kremlin officials, who is credited with coining the term “sovereign democracy” to describe Russia’s political system.

He has worked with both Medvedev and his predecessor in the Kremlin Putin and is in charge of the ongoing political campaign for December parliamentary polls.

Such lacerating critique of the Kremlin was so startling in a country where top businesspeople and parties have for years toed the Kremlin line that some suggested the attack was stage-managed by the Kremlin to allow Prokhorov to win political points ahead of the polls.

Prokhorov said he would not take the party into the parliamentary elections because he was resigning.

“I am calling on those who are not indifferent about our country to join forces, not to quit politics, get Surkov fired, create a new political movement and win genuine elections,” he said.

“Welcome to real, honest politics.”

Observers said however that he would have to either quit politics for good or accept Kremlin rules of the game.

“If he starts genuine political fight against the regime then the threat of following Khodorkovsky’s footsteps will loom large,” former prime minister turned opposition politician Mikhail Kasyanov said on Echo of Moscow radio.

Several top culture figures including pop diva Alla Pugachyova and film director Pavel Lungin turned up at the meeting to support the businessman.

Prokhorov’s opponents organized an alternative party convention at a different location where they voted to dismiss Prokhorov from the top post.

Running heavily edited footage from both meetings, Russian state-controlled television portrayed Prokhorov’s resignation as an internal party squabble and excised all criticism concerning the Kremlin officials.

On Wednesday, Prokhorov hastily called a press conference during which he accused Surkov’s subordinate Radiy Khabirov of orchestrating a “hostile takeover” of Pravoye Delo on the first day of the party’s convention the same day.

A Kremlin official dismissed Prokhorov’s Wednesday statements as “hysterics.”

In June, Prokhorov made a splash on Russia’s lethargic political scene by winning the party’s leadership at a congress.

The move marked the first foray into politics by a top businessman since the 2003 arrest of Khodorkovsky who had financed opposition parties prior to his imprisonment.

Analysts have said Prokhorov could not have assumed the party leadership without the tacit support of the Kremlin.

benefit from a semblance of political competition ahead of the parliamentary polls and a presidential vote three months later.

They said the Kremlin had expected Prokhorov to conform to existing rules of the game but might have underestimated his ambitions.

Brand new morality for British newspapers?

Drunk in the heady wine of success, blindfolded to absolute power corrupting absolutely, Rupert Murdoch’s media empire is at last getting its comeuppance. Not that its methods passed off as white lilies in the past, but the present avalanche of revelations is sending shock waves down the media landscape.

All stick-bands around the self-inflicted wound are falling off exposing the deeper layers of a festering ethical crisis in the British media and politics, to begin with.

As the British media got obsessed with power and money and the editors revelled in the growing, somewhat, captive circulation figures and an increasing clout over politicians, it was halcyon days for both British media and politics.

Politicians, with skeletons in the closet — and there are many as the salary and perks scandals concerning British MPs had once underlined — felt beholden to the press. Murdoch and his CEOs and editors knew too much about the politicians to expect to be ruffled by the latter. The media simply cashed in on this fault-line, as it were. The government regulator and the self-regulation the media were left with could work no more. That is why, a review has been ordered into the ethical side of media including the relations among politicians, media and the police in addition to an inquest into the criminal offence.

Certain inside stories are revealing: Former British PM Gordon Brown saying that he had no knowledge of ‘criminal’ inclination in the News Corp has earned him some scathing epithets. The critics reminded him of the Sunday Times’ disclosing medical reports of Brown couple’s child, an invasion of privacy which sent Mrs Brown into tears and caused huge embarrassment to David himself. Even so, the then British Prime Minister would invite News Corp. CEO Rebekah Brooks to a sumptuous dinner party with uncorked champagne cascading as they treated their tormentor.

Tony Blair’s super spin doctor A. Campbell cozying up to the press to sell the unsaleable for all one knew.

In passing, admittedly though, the beauty of the British press is its absolute candour, even when operating in the reverse gear.

Personally, British Prime Minister Cameron’s embarrassment is huge. He had hired Andrew Coulson as his media consultant on his resignation as editor of the News of the World in 2007, perhaps with certain dark forebodings at the back of his mind. At any rate, when Cameron sensed that a spilling of the beans was imminent he eased off Andrew who resigned from government. Arrested, interrogated and set on bail, he remains on the radar.

Rupert Murdoch, his son James Murdoch and Rebekah Brooks, the News Corp’s CEO, have been called to face questioning by a House of Commons committee. The first two have refused to respond to the summon while the CEO is going to appear before the Committee. Meanwhile, Murdoch has withdrawn his bid to take full control of satellite broadcaster BskyB. Again, it’s a sand pack against an engulfing storm.

In the process, however, what the British prime minister sees: ‘we are all in it — the media, police and politicians including me’ — may go down as a correct diagnosis of the ailment. But the other way of putting it would be that the media was indulged in undermining the moral power of truth and the ideal of public service by successive elected governments in varying degrees.

The media was obsessed with their methods and procedures of news gathering thinking perhaps that the readers have got used to a diet of sensational scoops and exclusives. Partly it may have been addictive on the part of readers but to a large part it was due to apathy.

In a democracy with affluence, people could care less; as long as it didn’t affect their lifestyle, it wouldn’t perhaps sink in their minds. One wonders, however, if the British economy were not in the doldrums such a hue and cry would have been raised.

But it is perhaps safe to infer that when British people thought that the victim could be anybody among them that they felt outraged and exploited.

The Western countries are used to criticising the weaknesses of Bangladesh’s democracy. Of course, we have many and we are aware and conscious of them. But the longstanding Western democracies have their own kind.

Without feigning any holier than thou image, can we draw parallels between Bangladesh media scene and the current phase of the British media. Not quite, yet like the British or any democratic media, the press in Bangladesh is politically divided. While British media and politics are well-coordinated, to put it politely, in our case, they are not so. In fact, there is a hiatus between the politicians and the media in Bangladesh.

There is, however, a common threat perception in democracies: Either democracy is being compromised by commercialisation of the media or by money and muscle power as in Bangladesh.

The question is whether the robust review of the media-politician role in Britain would prove to be curative, only time will tell.

Telephone hacking is a babe in front of the many-fangled technology shift the media world is going through. This in time has the potential to send tectonic shock waves to people who would like to keep faith with the media as their sacred trust.

With the financial, media and political domains taking on complex and sophisticated ramifications, there is little knowing how vulnerable the media might become to the wily side of power brokers given to abusive use of all tools of power.

Andy Coulson : the resignation of Cameron’s spin doctor

The resignation of Andy Coulson is probably the biggest blow ­suffered by David Cameron since becoming Prime Minister. It need not have happened at all.

In appointing Mr Coulson to the powerful position of Tory Director of Communications three and a half years ago, Mr Cameron took an unnecessary risk that many forecast would end in disaster. The outcome ­inevitably places a question mark against his judgment.

Even if no controversy had surrounded Mr Coulson, it would have been an unwise appointment simply because he was editor of the News of the World for four years. It is a newspaper unlike any others which, while sometimes breaking important stories, employs controversial techniques. In ­journalistic terms, Mr Coulson was as far the other side of the tracks as it was possible to be.

But he was not just any editor of the News of the World. He had been forced to resign from the newspaper because of evidence of phone-hacking that had taken place during his editorship, and which had led to the prosecution and imprisonment of one of his journalists, royal editor Clive Goodman, and of a private investigator called Glenn Mulcaire, who had collaborated with the paper.

There was – and remains – no proof that Mr Coulson was aware of these illegal practices. He has told the Commons Culture Select Committee that he had no recollection of any phone-tapping during his time as editor of the newspaper. He said that he gave reporters freedom to operate and did not attempt to micromanage every story. Yet the response of many people who know how journalism works was that it was difficult to see how he could not have been aware. It was always possible that evidence would emerge which pointed a finger at the former editor, and a racing certainty that the Tories’ enemies in the media would plug away in the hope of implicating him, and embarrassing Mr Cameron.

Why did the Conservative leader nonetheless go ahead and appoint him a mere six months after his resignation? Mr Coulson is a talented man, and as an editor of a Sunday ‘red-top’ tabloid who had very definitely not been born with a silver spoon in his mouth, he offered an understanding of ordinary people’s concerns that was not obviously shared by the privileged Old Etonians and slick marketing men who dominated Mr Cameron’s team.

Mr Cameron was also influenced by Tony Blair’s reliance on Alastair Campbell as his spin doctor from 1994 until 2003. Mr Campbell had a similar background as a rough-and-tumble former ‘red-top’ journalist who shot from the hip.

In fact, Mr Coulson is a much less abrasive and generally more straightforward character, and has shown little appetite for bullying journalists and threatening media organisations in the manner of the divisive Mr Campbell. Nevertheless, his appointment owed much to the New Labour spin doctor having gone before.

A third factor in his appointment – and arguably the most important – was Mr Coulson’s background as a senior executive who had worked for Rupert Murdoch, first as associate editor of The Sun, and then as editor of the News of the World. One of Mr Cameron’s main concerns during 2007 was to secure the support of Mr Murdoch’s newspapers, which had backed New Labour through thick and thin for more than a decade.

Although not particularly close to Mr Murdoch himself, Mr Coulson understood how his organisation worked and had many important contacts within it. The Tory leader’s assiduous courting of various figures in Mr Murdoch’s circle eventually bore fruit. Of course there were many reasons, not least Gordon Brown’s increasing unpopularity, which explained Mr Murdoch’s dumping of Labour at the end of September 2009. But Mr Coulson had played a useful role and Mr Cameron must have thought he had made the right decision by giving him the job.

What he did not foresee was that, after Mr Murdoch had dropped Labour, elements opposed to him on the Left in politics and the media would feel free to launch assaults on the media mogul with a ferocity they had not shown for many years. Mr Coulson had already been an object of their attacks because he was an important Cameron lieutenant.

 

In the end, Mr Coulson evidently felt weighed down by the media onslaught and has become increasingly disengaged. Two recent developments tipped the balance: the revelation by the News of the World that it was suspending a senior executive, Ian Edmondson, following a ‘serious allegation’ relating to phone-hacking while Andy Coulson was editor of the paper; and an announcement by the Crown Prosecution Service that it will mount a ‘comprehensive’ review of phone-hacking evidence held by the police.

The resignation will inevitably be seen to have been deliberately timed in the immediate aftermath of Alan Johnson standing down as Shadow Chancellor, and on the day that Tony Blair appeared for the second time before the Chilcot Inquiry, in an attempt to lessen media coverage.

I doubt the stratagem will have any effect on the damage that may be suffered by Mr Cameron. His judgment is already called into question. If the Crown Prosecution Service should issue proceedings against Mr Coulson, and if that led to a conviction, the Tory leader would face much more serious criticism.

We have no way of knowing whether this will happen. If no charges are brought, the controversy will slowly fade away, though the whole phone-hacking scandal will continue to be invoked by some who oppose Mr Murdoch’s ambitions for BSkyB.

For Andy Coulson this is a sad end to a brief but on the whole successful foray into political life. His understanding of the concerns of ordinary Tory voters was a factor in Mr Cameron becoming prime minister. He also acted as a counterweight to some of the wilder ideas of Steve Hilton, the Tory leader’s political guru. By the way, Mr Hilton is said to be delighted that his rival has resigned, though Mr Cameron and George Osborne reportedly tried to persuade him not to go.

For David Cameron his resignation is a setback rather than a disaster – so long as his former spin doctor does not end up being convicted in a court of law. The lasting damage that will result from his misjudgment is therefore still unknowable. All we can say with certainty is that this was one appointment which David Cameron need not, and should not, have made.

Spin doctor: what is the “spin”?

In quantum mechanics, the spin is the property of a particle rotating around its own axis. In PR, this effect has been used to describe the ability to modify the public perception of an event, a company, a policy or a person. An ability relying, of course on a certain amount of disingenuous messages…

Spin is not to be mixed up with plain lie though: in quantum mechanics, lying would mean taking the particle away, and replacing it with a brand new one. Instead, the spin aims at modifying the perception of this very same particle, this very same event. Obviously, if you need to have a very bad candidate elected (say, hmmm, for instance, George W. Bush), or a very bad product to sell (say, hmmm, for instance, Microsoft Vista) you can’t just say you’d need a better one. The candidate (or product) is here, your job is to have him elected (sold).

It requires flair, strong-nerves, knowledge of the human nature, and a good share of techniques. Those ones I’d like to share and, hopefully, discuss with all of you.

Rupert Murdoch is to use PR firm Edelman

Rupert Murdoch‘s News Corporation has called in PR and lobbying specialists Edelman to help the embattled company handle mounting public anger and political pressure over the phone-hacking scandal in the UK.

The PR company will report directly to Will Lewis, general manager of News Corp subsidiary News International, the publisher of Murdoch’s British newspapers.

The appointment of Edelman comes after 11 days of sustained coverage of the phone-hacking scandal, which has forced News International to close the News of the World and News Corp to abandon its BSkyB takeover.

Robert Phillips, chief executive of Edelman’s Europea, Middle East and African operations, said the company had been providing News International with “ad hoc” advice since 20 June – before the hacking of Milly Dowler’s phone was made public – and was formerly appointed to provide “communications and public affairs support and counsel” to its management and standards group on Tuesday. This group is handling the internal inquiry into the phone-hacking scandal.

The Edelman team will be run by Alex Bigg, its managing director for corporate affairs, and James Lundie, its managing director of public affairs. Lundie is the long-term partner of David Laws, the former chief secretary to the treasury.

Edelman will report to News International’s new management and standards committee, which consists of Lewis, a former editor of the Daily Telegraph who joined NI in 2010, Simon Greenberg, the director of corporate affairs who arrived in January, and general counsel Jeff Parker.

Edelman recently hired Ed Williams, the BBC director of communications, to head its UK operation. Williams is due to join Edelman on 31 October and it is understood he will not be involved in the company’s work for News Corp.

However, the BBC confirmed on Thursday that he will be leaving the corporation immediately.

Edelman last year hired the BBC’s former director of news, Richard Sambrook, to head up its “crisis and issues practice”. It is unclear whether he will be part of the firm’s News Corp team.

 

Edelman, the world’s largest PR firm, handles the reputations of brands including Starbucks, Pepsi and Burger King. The company, which has 51 offices around the world, was founded by Daniel J Edelman in 1952 and is currently led by his son Richard Edelman.

The public announcement of Edelman’s appointment comes after rumours suggested that Matthew Freud, founder of PR firm Freud Communications and husband of Rupert Murdoch’s daughter, Elisabeth Murdoch, had been advising News Corp on the phone-hacking scandal.

On Thursday a spokeswoman for Freud Communications denied this. “Neither Matthew Freud or the agency was advising NI on this issue, nor had Freud advised on the closure of the News of the World.”

UK: is it the end of Murdoch’s media empire?

Rupert Murdoch is under intense pressure in the UK where Members of Britain’s Parliament plan to come together Wednesday across party lines to urge him to drop his bid to acquire British Sky Broadcasting, saying the purchase would not be in the national interest as investigations into phone hacking by the media baron’s papers continues.

The three major parties in the House of Commons have all voiced support for a motion calling on Murdoch to back away from his bid for the company, often called BSkyB. The motion was put forward by the Labour party and has gotten the backing of the Tories and the Liberal Democrats, BBC News reported Wednesday.

Though the measure is nonbinding, it adds another hurdle to the path toward approval of Murdoch’s attempt to buy up 61 percent of the company’s stock for $19 billion. The bid has been delayed for several months by the Competition Commission, which reviews potential mergers for monopoly concerns, and comes as other key British players have asked Murdoch to give up his efforts to buy BSkyB.

Murdoch and his son James have were asked Tuesday to testify before a Parliament committee, as was Rebekah Brooks, CEO of News International, the branch of News Corporation that oversees its British newspapers, including the now-defunct News of the World. The company said that senior executives “will cooperate” with the request for the appearance, set for July 19, although it remains unclear whether the Murdochs will appear in person.

Prime Minister David Cameron’s office announced Tuesday that it would support the resolution. That came after Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg on Monday asked Murdoch to “do the decent and sensible thing and reconsider: think again about your bid for BSkyB.”

On Tuesday night, three leaders of the Liberal Democrats wrote to Murdoch asking him to drop his bid. “News International is simply no longer respected in this country,” they said. His company is tainted “by a history of completely unacceptable journalistic practices,” they continued, and instead of trying to expand his empire, he should focus on cleaning it up.