By Karla Adam, Updated: Tuesday, May 1, 11:20 AM The Washington Post
LONDONâ Rupert Murdoch âis not a fit person to exercise the stewardship of a major international company,â a British parliamentary committee said on Tuesday in a scathing report over News Corp.âs handling of the phone hacking scandal.
The report culminates months of investigation by a select committee and was far more condemning of the 81-year-old media titan than expected, saying the chairman and chief executive of News Corp. had âturned a blind eye and exhibited wilful blindnessâ over the widespread malpractice at his now-closed News of the World tabloid.
âThis culture, we consider, permeated from the top throughout the organization and speaks volumes about the lack of effective corporate governance at News Corporation and News International,â the report said.
The committee approved the report on a majority of six votes to four, with the four members from Prime Minister David Cameronâs Conservative party staunchly objecting to the description of Murdoch as an unfit proprietor.
âThe issue in which no Conservative member thought they could support the report itself is the line put in the middle of the report that said that Mr. Rupert Murdoch is not a fit person to run an international company,â said Louise Mensch, a Conservative MP and panel member at a press conference in central London on Tuesday.
The 121-page report includes a catalogue of criticisms, accusing three senior figures at News International, the British arm of News Corp., of misleading the committee, including Les Hinton, the former head of News International, who the panel said was âcomplicitâ in a cover-up. They also said that Colin Myler, the former editor of News of the World and now editor at the New York Daily News, and Tom Crone, a former lawyer at News of the World, âanswered questions falselyâ to the committee.
News Corp. said on Tuesday that it was âcarefully reviewing,â the report and âwill respond shortly.â
âThe Company fully acknowledges significant wrongdoing at News of the World and apologizes to everyone whose privacy was invaded,â the firm said.
Broadcast media regulator Ofcom said in a statement on Tuesday that it was reading the report âwith interest.â Ofcom recently announced that it is expanding its investigation into whether BSkyB, a satellite network partially owned by News Corp., is a âfit and properâ owner under its licensing rules.
While the committee said that there was no evidence that either Murdoch or his 39-year-old son, James Murdoch, the former head of News International, misled the committee, they faulted James for what they called his âlack of curiosity,â and said it was âastonishingâ that James only realized that the crisis extended beyond âone rogue reporterâ in late 2010.
For years, News Corp. maintained that phone hacking at News of the World was limited to its royal editor Clive Goodman, who was briefly jailed in 2007, along with a private investigator, for tapping in to the voice mails of aides to Prince William.
Murdoch closed the News of the World last summer following the revelations that its reporters had hacked into voice mails on an industrial scale, including those of a teenage girl who had been murdered.
The panel said it was now up to the House of Commons to decide on what âpunishment should be imposed" on those it says are guilty of contempt.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world...ritish-panel/2012/05/01/gIQApey9tT_story.html
LONDONâ Rupert Murdoch âis not a fit person to exercise the stewardship of a major international company,â a British parliamentary committee said on Tuesday in a scathing report over News Corp.âs handling of the phone hacking scandal.
The report culminates months of investigation by a select committee and was far more condemning of the 81-year-old media titan than expected, saying the chairman and chief executive of News Corp. had âturned a blind eye and exhibited wilful blindnessâ over the widespread malpractice at his now-closed News of the World tabloid.
âThis culture, we consider, permeated from the top throughout the organization and speaks volumes about the lack of effective corporate governance at News Corporation and News International,â the report said.
The committee approved the report on a majority of six votes to four, with the four members from Prime Minister David Cameronâs Conservative party staunchly objecting to the description of Murdoch as an unfit proprietor.
âThe issue in which no Conservative member thought they could support the report itself is the line put in the middle of the report that said that Mr. Rupert Murdoch is not a fit person to run an international company,â said Louise Mensch, a Conservative MP and panel member at a press conference in central London on Tuesday.
The 121-page report includes a catalogue of criticisms, accusing three senior figures at News International, the British arm of News Corp., of misleading the committee, including Les Hinton, the former head of News International, who the panel said was âcomplicitâ in a cover-up. They also said that Colin Myler, the former editor of News of the World and now editor at the New York Daily News, and Tom Crone, a former lawyer at News of the World, âanswered questions falselyâ to the committee.
News Corp. said on Tuesday that it was âcarefully reviewing,â the report and âwill respond shortly.â
âThe Company fully acknowledges significant wrongdoing at News of the World and apologizes to everyone whose privacy was invaded,â the firm said.
Broadcast media regulator Ofcom said in a statement on Tuesday that it was reading the report âwith interest.â Ofcom recently announced that it is expanding its investigation into whether BSkyB, a satellite network partially owned by News Corp., is a âfit and properâ owner under its licensing rules.
While the committee said that there was no evidence that either Murdoch or his 39-year-old son, James Murdoch, the former head of News International, misled the committee, they faulted James for what they called his âlack of curiosity,â and said it was âastonishingâ that James only realized that the crisis extended beyond âone rogue reporterâ in late 2010.
For years, News Corp. maintained that phone hacking at News of the World was limited to its royal editor Clive Goodman, who was briefly jailed in 2007, along with a private investigator, for tapping in to the voice mails of aides to Prince William.
Murdoch closed the News of the World last summer following the revelations that its reporters had hacked into voice mails on an industrial scale, including those of a teenage girl who had been murdered.
The panel said it was now up to the House of Commons to decide on what âpunishment should be imposed" on those it says are guilty of contempt.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world...ritish-panel/2012/05/01/gIQApey9tT_story.html