Murdoch still hasn't fired anyone...

I'm still waiting...

So far, Rupert Murdoch hasn't fired anyone for publishing that embarrassing Kerry Picks Gephardt cover story. LINK (Scroll Down)

The NYT even cited an unnamed employee, who claimed that Murdoch, himself, was the source of the story.

Today, we learn that Murdoch phones in story tips and expects them to be published, even if he has no evidence of their veracity:

Murdoch was a regular tipster, says ex-NYPer

From DAN COX: It's not surprising that the New York Times claims Rupert Murdoch tipped off his own paper re: the VP debacle. And I suppose it's not that surprising that he's denying it. He is a private guy, after all.

However, it should be mentioned that when I was the senior media reporter at the Post in 2002, barely a day went by when Murdoch didn't force feed items about his rival media moguls and their particular transgressions. Whether it was Dick Parsons and Steve Case battling virtually everyone -- including each other -- while AOL Time Warner disintegrated. Or the Newhouse bros fending off old age. Or the insanity that prevailed in the Vivendi Universal offices. Usually they would be fed surreptitiously through his Smithers-like business editor Jon Elsen. Not only were we not allowed to ask Murdoch any specific questions about these "tips," we were not allowed to check their veracity -- anywhere. Murdoch expected us to use them wholesale, unattributed of course.

Sometimes he was right. Sometimes he was egregiously wrong. As a tipster, he would occasionally come up with some gems. And given his "contacts," I wanted to believe they had some value.

But most of the time, he would contribute something that was almost entirely impossible to verify; it would usually have to be accepted fully on faith. And since he signed all the checks, arguments were not readily encouraged.

The Gephardt gaffe was not unusual. And it is certainly no surprise that Murdoch might have provided it. What is unusual that the Post was caught in its "exclusive" and forced to eat a little crow in public. LINK

To the person who convinced Murdoch to run with the Gephardt story...

Thanks!