(사진제공=AP통신)
(사진제공=AP통신)
(사진제공=AP통신)
[런던=AP/KNS뉴스통신] 영국에서 가장 영향력이 큰 여성언론인이며 루퍼트 머독의 총애를 받던 레베카 브룩스가 해킹 사건의 범죄 혐의를 조사받는 처지로 전락했다.
수년 동안 휴대전화 해킹 파문의 주인공인 영국 신문 뉴스오브더월드의 모회사에서 최고경영자를 맡았던 레베카 브룩스가 17일 경찰에 체포됐다가 12시간 만에 보석금을 내고 풀려났다.
레베카 브룩스가 경찰에 체포되면서 미디어 재벌 루퍼트 머독이 소유한 언론제국의 붕괴와 머독과 친밀한 관계를 유지했던 영국 데이비드 캐머런 총리의 위상에 상처를 입힐 것으로 보인다.
브룩스는 오는 19일 루퍼트 머독 부자와 함께 영국의회 청문회에 출석할 예정이었다.
(영문기사 원문)
The swift decline of UK media titan Rebekah Brooks
LONDON (AP) — Rebekah Brooks dined with Britain's prime minister over Christmas and got a public show of support from her boss Rupert Murdoch before the cameras this month as allegations of phone hacking on her watch mounted.
Now the 43-year-old U.K. media executive is a criminal suspect, her world of power and connections shattered by scandal.
Brooks, who quit as head of Murdoch's British newspapers Friday, was arrested Sunday in a widening investigation into years of alleged phone hacking of hundreds of celebrities, politicians and even murder victims, as well as bribing police for information, at the now-shuttered tabloid News of the World. Scotland Yard released her on bail after about 12 hours in custody.
The arrest sealed Brooks' swift transformation from one of Britain's most powerful female executives to a figure of scorn and even parody.
On Sunday, an Irish discount airline seized on perceptions of Brooks as an outlaw, placing an ad in The Observer newspaper that showed a photograph of the longtime Murdoch confidant, said to be so close to him that she was seen as family.
"Hacked Off with High Fares... I'm outta here with Ryanair!" the caption crowed.
The implications of Brooks' arrest stretch far beyond her own circumstances, with questions about the extent to which the scandal rocking Britain's media establishment will dismantle the chain of command in Murdoch's business empire and erode the stature of Prime Minister David Cameron and other politicians who had once-cozy ties to the 80-year-old press baron.
Another of Murdoch's chief executives, Wall Street Journal publisher Les Hinton, also had to resign Friday after more than 50 years with Murdoch. James Murdoch, head of European and Asian operations for his father's company, News Corp., is under increasing scrutiny. He and the senior Murdoch, along with Brooks, face questioning Tuesday by British lawmakers investigating the scandal.
Brooks has been at the center of the storm since the scandal broke.
Recognizable by a long shock of curly red hair, the 43-year-old Brooks was a loyal lieutenant of Murdoch and served as editor of the News of the World for part of the time when the tabloid's journalists allegedly hacked into telephone messages.
Brooks' career with the News of the World began in 1989, after briefly working for Murdoch's group as a secretary. She started as a features writer, then became features editor, associate editor and ultimately deputy editor. She left the tabloid in 1998 to become deputy editor of Murdoch's other London tabloid, The Sun, where she stayed for two years.
When Brooks returned to the News of the World as editor in 2000, she was only 31 years old — a feat for Britain's press establishment.
김희광 기자 april4241@naver.com
