Murdoch 'not a fit person' to run News Corp
Source: Agencies |
May 2, 2012, Wednesday
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Print Edition
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RUPERT Murdoch is unfit to lead his global media empire, an influential group of British politicians said yesterday.
In a scathing report, they said Murdoch's News Corp misled Parliament about the scale of phone hacking at one of its tabloids.
Parliament's cross-party Culture, Media and Sport committee said News International, the British newspaper division of News Corp, had ignored evidence of malpractice, covered up evidence and frustrated efforts to expose wrongdoing.
The 81-year-old media mogul has insisted he was unaware that hacking was widespread at his now defunct News of the World tabloid, blaming underlings for keeping him in the dark.
If that was true, the politicians said, "he turned a blind eye and exhibited willful blindness to what was going on in his companies."
The report produced by 11 members of parliament said: "We conclude, therefore, that Rupert Murdoch is not a fit person to exercise the stewardship of a major international company."
The judgment on Murdoch implies that News Corp, which he heads, is also not fit to control British Sky Broadcasting, in which News Corp holds a controlling stake of 39 percent.
Louise Mensch, a Conservative Party member of the committee, told reporters it had been divided over the harsh criticism of Murdoch.
Four Conservative members opposed the suggestion that Murdoch was unfit to lead a global company, but that stance was endorsed by four Labour Party members and one Liberal Democrat. The chairman, a Conservative, did not vote.
The committee agreed unanimously that three key News International executives - Les Hinton, Colin Myler and Tom Crone - misled Parliament by offering false accounts of their knowledge of the extent of phone hacking at the News of The World.
The report also said that Murdoch's son James, 39, a former News International executive chairman, was also badly at fault over the scandal.
The committee said phone hacking at the tabloid dated back to at least 2001, and said James Murdoch could have halted it as early as 2008.
"As the head of a journalistic enterprise, we are astonished that James Murdoch did not seek more information," the politicians wrote. But they stopped short of accusing him of misleading Parliament.
News Corp said it was "carefully reviewing the Select Committee's report and will respond shortly."
In a scathing report, they said Murdoch's News Corp misled Parliament about the scale of phone hacking at one of its tabloids.
Parliament's cross-party Culture, Media and Sport committee said News International, the British newspaper division of News Corp, had ignored evidence of malpractice, covered up evidence and frustrated efforts to expose wrongdoing.
The 81-year-old media mogul has insisted he was unaware that hacking was widespread at his now defunct News of the World tabloid, blaming underlings for keeping him in the dark.
If that was true, the politicians said, "he turned a blind eye and exhibited willful blindness to what was going on in his companies."
The report produced by 11 members of parliament said: "We conclude, therefore, that Rupert Murdoch is not a fit person to exercise the stewardship of a major international company."
The judgment on Murdoch implies that News Corp, which he heads, is also not fit to control British Sky Broadcasting, in which News Corp holds a controlling stake of 39 percent.
Louise Mensch, a Conservative Party member of the committee, told reporters it had been divided over the harsh criticism of Murdoch.
Four Conservative members opposed the suggestion that Murdoch was unfit to lead a global company, but that stance was endorsed by four Labour Party members and one Liberal Democrat. The chairman, a Conservative, did not vote.
The committee agreed unanimously that three key News International executives - Les Hinton, Colin Myler and Tom Crone - misled Parliament by offering false accounts of their knowledge of the extent of phone hacking at the News of The World.
The report also said that Murdoch's son James, 39, a former News International executive chairman, was also badly at fault over the scandal.
The committee said phone hacking at the tabloid dated back to at least 2001, and said James Murdoch could have halted it as early as 2008.
"As the head of a journalistic enterprise, we are astonished that James Murdoch did not seek more information," the politicians wrote. But they stopped short of accusing him of misleading Parliament.
News Corp said it was "carefully reviewing the Select Committee's report and will respond shortly."
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