This article is more than 7 years old

This article is more than 7 years old

Rupert Murdoch, bless him, feels hurt and betrayed by the leaking of the tape covertly recorded when he met arrested Sun journalists.

Both the Hollywood-based Variety and Exaro News - the investigative website that broke the story - report on Murdoch's distress about what he regards as a treacherous act.

Variety's Frank DiGiacomo reports Exaro News's editor-in-chief, Mark Watts, as saying that News UK has launched a "mole hunt" to discover who was responsible for the leak.

And in an Exaro piece published today, written by Watts and David Hencke, they mention that Murdoch "told friends that he feels hurt by the leak."

They report that The Sun's editor, David Dinsmore, revealed to colleagues that Murdoch - in a phone call from America - told him: "I feel hurt by what has happened."

They also report a "senior source" on Operation Elvedon - Scotland Yard's investigation into payments by journalists to police officers and public officials - as saying the Murdoch tape is a "delicate issue."

They are planning to assess the relevance of the recordings but have no plans, as yet, to interview Murdoch.

I wrote last week that Murdoch would view the leak as an act of betrayal. But I also pointed out that the journalists regard him as having betrayed them by setting up the management standards committee that provided evidence of their alleged wrongdoing to the police.

So it is obvious, is it not, who betrayed who first?

See also Neil Chenoweth's lengthy piece, published by the Financial Review in Australia, "The stalking of Rupert Murdoch".

Sources: Variety/Exaro News