LONDON — Rupert Murdoch’s media empire was besieged Monday by accusations that two more of his British newspapers engaged in privacy violations that included accessing former Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s bank-account information and stealing the medical records of his seriously ill baby son.
If proved true, the charges by rival newspapers seem certain to dramatically increase the pressure on Murdoch’s News Corp. from a scandal that seems to grow wider and deeper by the hour.
The public outrage began a week ago over wrongdoing at the Murdoch-owned tabloid News of the World. The scandal has since disrupted the media titan’s plans to take over highly profitable satellite broadcaster British Sky Broadcasting and slashed billions off the value of his global conglomerate, News Corp.
In Britain, the scandal has cast a harsh light on the unparalleled political influence of Murdoch’s collection of newspaper titles and is taking an increasing toll on Prime Minister David Cameron. The conservative leader’s former communications chief, Andy Coulson, was arrested last week in connection with allegations of payments to police when he was editor of News of the World.
British media began reporting Monday afternoon that Brown was one of thousands whose privacy was breached by papers run by Murdoch’s British operation, News International, saying that his personal details — including his bank account and his son’s medical records — had been stolen by people working for titles including the Sun and the Sunday Times. None of the media cited sources.
The Guardian, which set off the scandal last week with a report that the News of the World had hacked the phone of a kidnapped teenager, said on its website that the Sun had illegally obtained details from the medical records of Brown’s 4-year-old son Fraser, who has cystic fibrosis.
The Sun broke the story of Fraser’s illness soon after he was born in 2006.
The Guardian reported that News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks, then editor of the Sun, had contacted the Browns before publication to say that the paper had details from Fraser’s medical file. The Browns were extremely distressed by the story, friends told the Guardian.
Brooks, who also edited the News of the World when journalists there allegedly hacked murder victim Milly Dowler’s cellphone, has since been promoted to head of News International. Murdoch has publicly stood by her even while closing down the News of the World on Sunday in response to the allegations.
Brooks has denied knowledge of any wrongdoing.
Media-watchers accuse Murdoch of offering up the more than 200 News of the World journalists — many of whom say they were not at the paper when phone hacking and bribes allegedly took place — as a sacrifice to save Brooks.
