Thursday 19 April 2012

Murdochs To Appear Before Leveson Inquiry

Rupert Murdoch and his son James will give evidence separately at the Leveson Inquiry into media practices and ethics next week.

The media tycoon will face questioning on Wednesday and Thursday about practices at his British newspapers following the phone-hacking scandal.
The scandal led to News International (NI) - one of Mr Murdoch's companies - closing the News Of The World tabloid.
James Murdoch, who stood down as NI executive chairman in February, is due to appear before the inquiry on Tuesday.
Rupert Murdoch, 81, is chairman and chief executive of News Corporation, which owns The Sun, The Times and The Sunday Times, and has a 39% stake in satellite broadcaster BSkyB, owner of Sky News.
He is likely to be asked whether he knew about allegations that illegal voicemail hacking was not just confined to a lone reporter at the News Of The World, as well as about claims that he was too close to British politicians.
However, there are limits to how deeply the inquiry can look into the hacking scandal because of continuing police investigations.
The inquiry has also heard evidence about newspapers paying private detectives for personal information and crime victims and celebrities experiencing intrusion into their private lives.
The Murdochs last appeared at a public hearing in July 2011 when they gave evidence side-by-side to the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee and Rupert Murdoch declared it "the most humble day" of his life.
The session was disrupted for a time when he was pelted with a custard pie by a protester.
James Murdoch resigned as BSkyB chairman earlier this month , admitting that his links to "past events at News International" threatened to damage the broadcaster's reputation.
He faced tough questioning about his knowledge of phone hacking at the News Of The World in two appearances before the committee, which is expected to publish its report on the scandal in early May.
Lord Justice Leveson will also hear from Aidan Barclay, chairman of Telegraph Media Group, and Evgeny Lebedev, chairman of the companies which own the Independent and London's Evening Standard, next week.

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