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By Kate Holton and Matt Falloon

LONDON (Reuters) - British leaders are forced to court powerful press barons such as Rupert Murdoch or risk savage media attacks which render them unable to govern effectively, former Prime Minister Tony Blair told an inquiry on Monday.

Interrupted by a heckler who accused him of being a war criminal for supporting the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Blair paused briefly before continuing to justify his ties to Murdoch with whom he said he developed a close friendship.

Blair cast himself as a politician facing the choice between being torn apart by what he once described as the media's "feral beasts" and getting his policies implemented.

But Blair, whose reputation for obsessive media management brought him so close to Murdoch that the tycoon could joke about flirting, said he became increasingly concerned about the unhealthy relationship between the media and politicians.

"With any of these big media groups, you fall out with them and you watch out, because it is literally relentless and unremitting once that happens," Blair, looking tanned and smart in a navy suit and white shirt, told the Leveson inquiry.

"My view is that that is what creates this situation in which these media people get a power in the system that is unhealthy and which I felt, throughout my time, uncomfortable with. I took the strategic decision to manage this and not confront it but the power of it is indisputable."

Blair is the most senior politician to date to appear before Leveson, an inquiry that has tarnished the British elite by showing the collusion between senior politicians, media tycoons and police.

"If you fall out with the controlling element of the Daily Mail, you are then going to be subject to a huge and sustained attack," said Blair, who governed Britain from 1997 to 2007 after rebranding the Labour Party.

"Managing these forces was a major part of what you had to do and was difficult," said Blair.

Read more:
Blair says feared fight with Britain's media barons

It doesn't seem as if Tony Blair's media instincts have changed much since he was British prime minister.

There he was, in a courtroom in central London today, testifying in the ongoing British judicial inquiry into media ethics after the uncovering of phone hacking at Murdoch's News of the World, when an antiwar protestor barged into the room from a supposedly secure hallway and screamed that Blair should be arrested for war crimes.

"J.P. Morgan paid him off for the Iraq War!" shouted David Lawley-Wakelin, a filmmaker, who has heckled Blair in the past on the same topic. "The man is a war criminal!"

As the judge stood up in alarm and four security guards wrestled Lawley-Wakelin to the ground -- he delivered that last line from the floor -- Blair sat with his jaw on his left knuckle and did not flinch. He did not move an inch.

When the judge, Lord Justice Brian Leveson, apologized to Blair and told him he did not have to respond, Blair knew better. He knew the media would focus on that moment rather than on his other four hours of testimony.

In his experience, he said, "if you had 1,000 people in an event and somebody got up and shouted something, then it's as if the other 999 needn't have bothered showing up."

And so he denied the allegations.

But looking at those other four hours of testimony, it might be noticed that Blair argued he had essentially done the same thing when in power, from 1997 to 2007: Since he believed he could not "confront" the media, he did his best to try to "manage" it.

That puts some distance between him and current Prime Minister David Cameron, whose culture secretary Jeremy Hunt will appear in the same courtroom on Thursday to testify following an accusation that he essentially stacked the deck during a controversial bid for more media control by Rupert Murdoch and his son, James.

Blair argued today that his relationship with Murdoch was entirely professional when he was in office. Now, that is debatable. Blair's former press officer Lance Price once described Murdoch as the "24th member of cabinet." After Blair left office, he became godfather to Murdoch's child. Blair admitted he spoke with Murdoch three times in the two weeks leading to the Iraq War. And Blair himself admitted he was too close to Murdoch.

Originally posted here:
Ex PM Tony Blair Testifies in Media Inquiry, Protestor Arrested

STAMFORD -- The school district's first social media policy has been approved by the Board of Education, outlining proper conduct for employees on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

The policy is not intended to be an instrument for punishment, but rather a guideline for acceptable behavior and a resource for faculty members, Interim Executive Director of Human Resources Fay Ruotolo said. Ruotolo headed up the committee that was charged with conceptualizing the policy.

The new rule grants the school board the power to "regulate the use of social media by employees, including employees' personal use of social media," when use: interferes with the work of the school district; is used to harass coworkers or other member of the school community; creates a hostile work environment; breaches confidentiality obligations of school district employees; disrupts the educational process; harms the goodwill and reputation of the school district in the community; violates the law, board policies and/or

other school rules and other school rules and regulations; or uses social media to enter into inappropriate contact with students, their families or guardians.

It does fully not preclude faculty members from being "friends" or "followers" of students or students' families on social networks, Ruotolo said.

"If there's a situation where a teacher knows a family or a student in a different capacity, as a neighbor or a family friend, this helps protect them in terms of being connected to them online," Ruotolo said. "This is supposed to help maintain a balance of the private and personal lives of our staff members."

Though there were some concerns raised about regulating staff behavior during their private time during policy committee meetings earlier this year, at which the resolution was developed, Ruotolo said the district's public trust policy already lays out what teachers can and cannot do and publicize in their personal time.

The board's public trust policy states that the effectiveness of school board employees "depends on the members of the community maintaining respect and confidence in such employees in regards to their on-duty and off-duty conduct."

The policy further states that off-duty misconduct that can damage the public's trust and confidence are considered to have occurred during the course of employment. "Accordingly, such misconduct, even if it occurs off school property or during off-time, can be the subject of disciplinary action by the Board up to and including termination of employment."

The social networking policy, which has been refined over the course of a year, helps further define this public trust policy.

The rest is here:
Schools OK first social networking policy

Blanket bans on social networking in the workplace are stupid, but even workplaces which encourage the use of Twitter or Facebook worry about what their employees are getting up to. Presumably that explains why were going to see a rise in the monitoring of social networking tools by IT security departments.

Picture by jmcar.net

According to Gartner, while just 10 per cent of organisations currently monitor social media for potential security breaches, that figure is expected to rise to 60 per cent by 2015. This is a quite distinct activity to monitoring social media for consumer reactions, a role usually performed by marketing departments. However, it creates additional challenges, as Gartner analyst Andrew Walls points out:

There are times when the information available can assist in risk mitigation for an organisation, such as employees posting videos of inappropriate activities within corporate facilities. However, there are other times when accessing the information can generate serious liabilities, such as a manager reviewing an employees Facebook profile to determine the employees religion or sexual orientation in violation of equal employment opportunity and privacy regulations . . . The problem lies in the ability of surveillance tools and methods to produce large volumes of irrelevant information. This personal information can be exposed accidentally or become the target of voyeuristic behaviour by security staff.

Do you always assume that what you do on a social network while at work might be monitored? Or do you stick to using your phone? Tell us in the comments.

See the article here:
Spying On Social Networking On The Rise

"The measure of a man is what he does with power Plato

By all counts, Prime Minister Najib Razak gave a sterling performance when he spoke to the Malaysian community in London a few weeks ago. He said all the right things about democracy and his own commitment to making Malaysia a better country. As the most articulate and erudite prime minister we have ever had, he can be impressive and inspiring.

He said, for example, that what mattered most in a democracy was the choice of the people and agreed that the people should have the choice to choose their own government. He also said his government wants to engage the people, listen to the people and do what is best for them while acknowledging that the era of the government knows best is over.

Its always thrilling to hear a Malaysian prime minister articulate such powerful sentiments, sentiments that speak to our deepest hopes; not surprisingly, many cheered him on.

But what is the meaning of democracy and what is the measure of the man?

Democracy is a much abused word. Political leaders everywhere tend to bend it to their own purpose. And so we have even the North Koreans calling themselves a democratic republic.

Abraham Lincoln said that democracy is government of the people, by the people and for the people. Such a political system is premised upon determining the true will of the people through free and fair elections. As well, it is reflected in a system of governance that is transparent and accountable and that respects the rights and dignity of the people. Such a government is not master of the people but servant.

Is this Najibs vision of democracy?

Do we have a system of free and fair elections? Do we have an elections commission that has integrity and impartiality? Is each vote equally weighted? Are all political parties on a level playing field with fair access to the media and an equal opportunity to present their case to the people? Are there clear checks and balances to ensure political parties do not manipulate the vote through corruption and money politics?

The answer to all these questions can only be a resounding no! This is not the ranting of a few Malaysians living abroad or George Soros junkies or Zionist conspirators; it is the view of the overwhelming majority of the people of Malaysia as a recent Merdeka Centre poll indicates. The poll found that Malaysians have no confidence in the electoral process, with nearly 92% of them wanting to see the electoral rolls cleaned up before the next elections.

Excerpt from:
Najib Razak EXPOSED: The meaning of a word & the measure of a man