Murdochs turn tables on British government

　　The Murdoch family dramatically turned the tables on Britain’s government yesterday, putting pressure on David Cameron and one of his senior ministers to answer tough questions about their close relationship with News Corp.

　　默多克家族昨日戏剧性地扭转了局面，让英国政府陷入了被动，给首相戴维•卡梅伦(David Cameron)及一位高级大臣带来了压力，要求他们回答有关他们与新闻集团(News Corp)的密切关系等棘手问题。

　　In evidence presented to an official inquiry into the press, James Murdoch, News Corp’s deputy chief operating officer, laid bare the intimate relationship between his company and the office of Jeremy Hunt, the media minister who was acting in a quasi-judicial capacity in deciding on News Corp’s £8.3bn bid for full control of BSkyB, the British satellite broadcaster.

　　在官方针对报业的调查中，新闻集团副首席运营官詹姆斯•默多克(James Murdoch)提交证据，揭露出他的公司与英国文化大臣杰里米•亨特(Jeremy Hunt)的办公室关系密切。亨特当时正以近乎法官的身份，决定是否同意新闻集团以83亿英镑全面控制英国天空广播公司(BSkyB)。

　　Mr Cameron was last night standing by Mr Hunt, the minister in charge of the London Olympics, but he is braced for worse to come today when Rupert Murdoch takes the stand at the Leveson inquiry into press standards.

　　昨夜，卡梅伦对分管伦敦奥运会的大臣亨特表示支持，但他在今天将面临更加难堪的局面。在针对媒体标准展开的莱韦森调查(Leveson Inquiry)中，鲁珀特•默多克(Rupert Murdoch)将在今天作证。

　　“We have no idea what he will say,” admitted one shell-shocked senior Tory, although Rupert Murdoch’s recent comments on Twitter – and the editorial tone of The Sun newspaper – suggest the media tycoon is in an unforgiving mood.

　　一位极度震惊的资深保守党人承认：“我们不知道他会说些什么。”不过鲁珀特•默多克最近在Twitter上的言论——加上《太阳报》的社评——暗示，这位媒体大亨会放出狠话。

　　The scandal over phone hacking last year put paid to News Corp’s bid for BSkyB and led to a severing of ties between Mr Cameron’s government and the media empire, but James Murdoch yesterday lifted the veil on relations in happier times.

　　去年曝光的电话窃听丑闻，破坏了新闻集团对BSkyB的收购，并导致卡梅伦政府与这家媒体帝国切断关系，但詹姆斯•默多克昨日的证词，揭开了双方在愉快期的关系的面纱。

　　James Murdoch revealed that he had a “tiny side conversation” with Mr Cameron about the BSkyB bid at a Christmas dinner at the home of Rebekah Brooks, the former News International chief executive, on December 23 2010.

　　詹姆斯•默多克透露，2010年12月23日，他和卡梅伦在新闻国际(News International)前首席执行官丽贝卡•布鲁克斯(Rebekah Brooks)家共进圣诞晚宴时，曾就收购BSkyB一事进行过“一点私下交流”。

　　Mr Cameron’s office had previously insisted the prime minister had “not been involved” in discussions on the bid and initially denied the Christmas encounter had taken place.

　　卡梅伦办公室此前坚称，首相没有卷入收购BSkyB的讨论，最初还根本否认二人曾在那年圣诞会面。

　　The appearance of James Murdoch at the Leveson inquiry was accompanied by the release of dozens of emails detailing relations between the company and senior politicians, including Mr Hunt.

　　詹姆斯•默多克出席莱韦森调查(Leveson Inquiry)的听证会时，还公布了数十封说明新闻集团和资深政客（包括亨特）之间关系的电子邮件。

　　Fred Michel, News Corp’s director of public affairs, relayed a conversation with Mr Hunt’s office saying the minister had received “very strong advice” not to meet James Murdoch but said the executive could call Mr Hunt on his mobile.

　　新闻集团公共事务总监弗雷德•米歇尔(Fred Michel)转达了和亨特办公室的对话，表示这位文化大臣已得到“强烈建议”不要会晤詹姆斯•默多克，但他表示，默多克可以拨打亨特的手机。

　　The emails are replete with private information allegedly obtained from advisers to Mr Cameron, Vince Cable, business secretary, and George Osborne, chancellor.

　　这些电子邮件充满了私人信息，据称是从卡梅伦、商务大臣文斯•凯布尔(Vince Cable)和财政大臣乔治•奥斯本(George Osborne)的顾问手中获得的。

　　Mr Hunt said he had asked Lord Justice Leveson to bring forward his appearance before the press standards inquiry, adding that he was “confident that when I present my evidence the public will see that I conducted this process with scrupulous fairness’’.

　　亨特表示，他已请求莱韦森法官提前让他在媒体标准调查中出面作证，并补充道，他“有信心在出示证据以后，公众将看到我以严格的公平地处理整个事件。”

　　Additional reporting by Jim Pickard and Kiran Stacey

　　吉姆•皮卡德(Jim Pickard)、基兰•斯泰西(Kiran Stacey)补充报道