Murdochs begin testimony to British lawmakers
Posted Jul 19, 2011 09:48:04 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
LONDON, England – Rupert Murdoch and his son, James Murdoch, took questions from a British parliamentary committee investigating phone hacking at their tabloid News of the World.
The senior Murdoch said his appearance Tuesday before a British parliamentary inquiry was “the most humble day of my life.”
The two men were being grilled before an appearance by their former U.K. newspaper chief, Rebekah Brooks.
In a tense question-and-answer session with lawmakers, Murdoch, 80, said he was “shocked, appalled and ashamed” at the hacking of the phone of a murdered schoolgirl by his now-shuttered News of the World tabloid.
He said he had seen no evidence that victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attack and their relatives were targeted by any of his papers.
Murdoch also told the committee that he didn’t believe the FBI had uncovered any evidence of hacking Sept. 11 victims in a recently launched inquiry.
James Murdoch apologized for the scandal, telling British lawmakers that “these actions do not live up to the standards our company aspires to.” The younger Murdoch said the company acted as swiftly and transparently as possible.
Rupert Murdoch acknowledged, however, that he did not investigate after the Murdochs’ former U.K. newspaper chief, Rebekah Brooks, told Parliament years ago that the News of the World had paid police officers for information.
Asked by lawmakers why there was no investigation, he said: “I didn’t know of it.”
He said the News of the World “is less than 1 per cent” of his News Corp., which employs 53,000 people.
Murdoch also said he was not informed that his company had paid out big sums — 700,000 pounds ($1.1 million U.S.) in one case — to settle lawsuits by phone hacking victims.
James Murdoch said his father became aware of the settlement “in 2009 after a newspaper report. It was a confidential settlement.”
He said a civil case of that nature and size would be dealt with by the executives in the country involved — in this case James Murdoch, the head of News Corp.’s European and Asian operations.
Rupert Murdoch’s wife Wendi Deng and News Corp. executive Joel Klein, who is overseeing an internal investigation into the wrongdoing, sat behind him as he spoke.
The elder Murdoch denied that the closure of the News of the World was motivated by financial considerations, saying he shut it because of the criminal allegations.
There has been speculation that Murdoch wanted to close the Sunday newspaper in order to merge its operations with the six-days-a-week Sun, which some have said will relaunch as a seven-day publication.
Asked by a Tuesday whether there was a financial motive for closing the paper, Rupert Murdoch said: “Far from it.”
Politicians also pushed for details about the Murdochs’ ties to Prime Minister David Cameron and other members of the British political establishment.
Rupert Murdoch is eager to stop the crisis from spreading to the United States, where many of his most lucrative assets — including the Fox TV network, 20th Century Fox film studio, The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post — are based.
The Murdochs arrived to a crush of media — their car swarmed by photographers as it pulled up to drop them off.
Former Metropolitan Police commissioner Paul Stephenson wrapped up his testimony earlier Tuesday insisting his resignation wasn’t a result of wrongdoing or pressure to quit.
“Contrary to the much ill-informed media speculation, I’m not leaving because I was pushed, just to confirm what I said earlier,” he said. “I’m not leaving because I have anything to fear or threatened, I’m not leaving because of any lack of support from the mayor, the prime minister.”
Stephenson said he stepped down to make way for a new commissioner free from distractions especially as London prepares to host the Olympics.
The police force is accused of resisting a full investigation into the phone-hacking allegations because of links to the Murdoch media empire.
Stephenson also revealed that 10 of the 45 press officers in his department used to work for News International, but he denied there are any improper links between the force and Rupert Murdoch’s media empire.
“I understand that there are 10 members of the (Department of Public Affairs) staff who have worked in News International in the past, in some cases journalists, in some cases undertaking work experience with the organization,” he said.
British Prime Minister David Cameron cut short a visit to Africa for this emergency session of Parliament on the scandal.
