Murdoch attacked at hacking hearing

(China Daily) Updated: 2011-07-20 07:35

Questions

Rupert Murdoch is driven down Whitehall in London on Tuesday before heading to the House of Commons and questioning about the News of the World phone-hacking scandal. Reuters / Parbul TV Via Reuters TV

News International chairman James Murdoch, 40, said earlier this month that the News of the World "made statements to Parliament without being in full possession of the facts." He is certain to be questioned on that statement.

The Murdochs appeared late Tuesday night Beijing time, followed by a separate hearing for Brooks. Brooks, a former News of the World editor, resigned as News International chief executive on Friday and was arrested by police on Sunday on suspicion of corruption and intercepting communications. She was released on bail.

Cameron, who took office as prime minister in May 2010, is facing the worst crisis of his premiership as his decision to hire former News of the World editor Coulson as his communications chief comes back to haunt him.

Coulson quit the paper in 2007 when its royalty reporter was jailed for phone hacking. Coulson said he knew nothing of the practice but took responsibility.

Coulson resigned as Cameron's spokesman in January when the long-running scandal came back to life. He was arrested earlier this month and is also free on bail.

Few expect the prime minister to quit but he appears weakened as head of a deficit-cutting coalition and might find his room for maneuver limited.

Computer hackers turned the tables on the media group when some broke into the website of Rupert Murdoch's best-selling British tabloid, The Sun. They altered the front page to show a fake report about the media mogul's death.

Observers' views

In London and beyond, journalist associations say the saga has severely undermined public trust in the media.

Fiona Swarbrick, national organizer and public relations officer for the UK's National Union of Journalists, said people need to "turn a little attention" to "the way the media are owned in the country and whether the problems are from there, rather than the practice of individual journalists".

"Most journalists we come across are actually very keen to ethical ways and they got into journalism to make a difference," she said.

For Norman Bartlett, president of the London-based Chartered Institute of Journalists, founded in 1884, the police, politicians and the press "have got closer than they should have" in the drama. "If everyone declared their interests, then the scandal would not have taken place," he said.

In Beijing, Long Yan, a professor at Communication University of China, said Murdoch's toughest days are still ahead. "News Corp will possibly be dismantled."

The scandal's impact on Cameron's administration, meanwhile, will be limited, said Tian Dewen, an expert on UK studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. First, he said, Cameron did not benefit from telephone hacking.

"Moreover, the malpractice of the News of the World has been years long, but the current PM of UK has just taken office. And the consensus that stability of the government is essential for the country to go through such a financially difficult time will also help Cameron."

This article was reported by Keith Weir of Reuters and China Daily's Zhang Haizhou, Cecily Liu and Justin Wan from London, and Wang Chenyan from Beijing.

Key dates

Nov 2005: News of the World royal reporter Clive Goodman writes a story saying Prince William has a knee injury. Buckingham Palace complains, prompting a police inquiry.

Aug 2006: Goodman is arrested along with private investigator Glenn Mulcaire for suspected hacking into voice mails of the royal household.

Jan 2007: Goodman and Mulcaire are jailed. News of the World editor Andy Coulson resigns.

May 2007: Conservative Party leader David Cameron taps Coulson to be his media adviser.

July 2009: Coulson tells a parliamentary committee he never "condoned use of phone hacking".

SepT 2009: Rebekah Brooks, former editor of News of the World and its sister paper, The Sun, is named chief executive of News International, News Corp's British arm.

Feb 2010: A parliamentary committee finds no evidence that Coulson knew about phone hacking but states it's "inconceivable" that only Goodman knew about it.

MAY 2010: Cameron becomes prime minister. Coulson is named his communications chief.

Jan 2011: British police reopen an investigation into phone hacking. Coulson resigns.

May: News of the World agrees to pay actress Sienna Miller 100,000 pounds ($161,000) to settle a claim that her phone had been hacked.

July 4: The Guardian newspaper publishes a report saying the phone of 13-year-old murder victim Milly Dowler was hacked by News of the World when Brooks was its editor. Brooks refuses to resign, saying she knew nothing about the hacking.

July 5: News of the World advertisers boycott the paper.

July 7: News International announces it will close News of the World.

July 8: Coulson is arrested over phone hacking; he's not charged. Goodman is arrested again, this time for suspected illegal payments to police. Cameron announces inquiries.

July 10: News of the World publishes its final edition. Rupert Murdoch flies into London to deal with the crisis.

July 11: News Corp withdraws its offer to spin off Sky News in an attempt to save its bid for complete control of satellite broadcaster British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB).

July 12: Cameron backs an opposition motion urging Murdoch to back out of the BSkyB bid, which he does the next day.

July 13: News Corp pulls its bid to take full control of BSkyB.

July 14: Murdoch agrees to appear before a parliamentary committee and defends News Corp's handling of the scandal in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. Reports emerge that the FBI opens an inquiry into possible phone hacking of 9/11 terror victims.

July 15: Brooks resigns as CEO of News International. Les Hinton, former News International chairman, resigns as CEO of Murdoch's Dow Jones & Co. and publisher of The Wall Street Journal. Murdoch meets with Milly Dowler's family to apologize.

July 16: News Corp runs a full-page ad in seven British newspapers apologizing for "serious wrongdoing" at News of the World.

July 17: Brooks is arrested by UK police in the hacking scandal. London police chief Paul Stephenson resigns amid criticism over his alleged links to Neil Wallis, a former News of the World executive editor arrested in the scandal.

July 18

London police assistant commissioner John Yates resigns.

July 19

BBC News reports that the Murdochs and Brooks will be quizzed by MPs later about the phone-hacking scandal. They have questions about evidence given at a 2003 hearing by Brooks and Coulson.

The Associated Press

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