‘Most humble day' for Rupert Murdoch

Tuesday was the “most humble day” of his life, a nervous looking Rupert Murdoch, said as he sat before a packed hearing of the House of Commons Culture Media and Sport Committee, alongside his son, James, Chairman and Chief Executive of News Corporation, Europe and Asia.

For the most part, the octogenarian Rupert Murdoch gave brief, or one-word, answers — with his son often stepping in — to the closely-watched hearing of the committee's reopened inquiry into press standards, privacy and libel.

The committee had previously examined the matter in 2009, concluding at that time that it was inconceivable that just one News of the World journalist had been involved in the hacking scandal, following the arrest and conviction of a private investigator and News of the World editor back in 2006. The two Murdochs had initially refused to appear before the committee, but finally agreed after receiving formal summons last week.

On Tuesday, Mr James Murdoch, who appeared more animated and more engaged with the proceedings than his father, apologised “unreservedly” to victims of phone hacking conducted on behalf of News of the World. “We are trying to establish the facts of any new allegations as they come up,” he told MPs.

Just 1% of News Corp

The elder Murdoch admitted little knowledge of the build up to the crisis now engulfing his entire media corporation, often pausing before his answers. News of the World formed just “one per cent” of News Corp, he said by way of explanation.

He hadn't been informed of settlement payments to victims, he hadn't been made aware of the committee's charge of “collective amnesia” at the company, and until two weeks ago he hadn't become aware of the hacking of the phone of school girl Milly Dowler, which began the onslaught against News Corp. Hardly the media tycoon in control of his empire. However, he did admit that the News of the World had “broken the trust” of its readers.

In answer to a question about who he thought was responsible for the crisis, the elder Murdoch referred to the “people I trusted to run it and people they had trusted to run it.” He denied any knowledge of an FBI investigation into claims that 9/11 victims had had their phones hacked. “We have seen no evidence of that at all and as far as we know the FBI haven't either. If they do we will treat it exactly the same way as we do here,” he said.

‘ Wilful blindness?'

One of the elder Murdoch's few moments of animation came when one MP asked the son and father whether they were aware of the term “wilful blindness.” “We were not ever guilty of that,” he said forcefully.

The appearances of James and Rupert Murdoch rounded off a lively day at Parliament, after another committee heard evidence for senior police officers, including Sir Paul Stephenson, who resigned as the head of the Metropolitan Police Service on Sunday. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister who is under pressure over his appointment of a former News of the World editor Andy Coulson as his (former) head of communications, has cut short a visit to Africa to attend an emergency session of Parliament on Wednesday.

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