By Kevin McCauley
News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch is “not a fit person” to run a multinational and must take responsibility for the U.K. hacking scandal, according to a scathing report by a select committee of Parliament.
That “unfitness” may impact News Corp.’s ownership of its 39 percent of BSkyB satellite TV operation. News Corp. withdrew a bid to increase that investment stake following the uproar over the phone hacking.
The panel determined that Murdoch and son James, deputy COO of News Corp., presided over a company that emphasized cover-up rather than correcting wrong doing.
The elder Murdoch, last week, testified that he was not aware of the hacking scandal at the now closed News of the World tabloid.
The report of the culture, media and sport committee said Murdoch “did not take steps to become fully informed about phone hacking" and “turned a blind eye and exhibited willful blindness to what was going on in his companies and publications.”
Concerning the younger Murdoch, the report said as “the head of a journalistic enterprise, we are astonished that James Murdoch did not seek more information.”
Rebekah Brooks, former News of the World editor and News International boss, must take responsibility for the “culture which permitted unethical newsgathering methods” concerning Milly Dowler, the murdered girl whose phone was hacked.
“The attempts by the News of the World to get a scoop on Milly Dowler led to a considerable amount of police resource being redirected to the pursuit of false leads,” said the document.
News Corp. is carefully reviewing the report and will respond shortly. “The company fully acknowledges significant wrongdoing at News of the World and apologizes to everyone whose privacy was invaded,” reads its statement.
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