noelyf
VIP Member
Tuesday, 19 July 2011
British MPs are holding hearings into the hacking scandal, with appearances from top Metropolitan Police officers and Rupert and James Murdoch.
Rupert Murdoch has told a House of Commons committee that giving evidence on the phone-hacking and corruption scandal that is engulfing his global media empire was 'the most humble day of my life'.
Live updates
His son James opened the proceedings in a committee room at Westminster by apologising for the distress caused to victims of voicemail hacking.
The 80-year-old magnate briefly interrupted, saying: 'I would just like to say one sentence: This is the most humble day of my life.'
He later said he was 'shocked, appalled and ashamed' when he read two weeks ago about the case which has transformed the long-smouldering scandal into a matter that has shaken Britons' confidence not only in the press, but also in the police and in politicians, including Prime Minister David Cameron.
But asked flat out if he considered himself personally responsible 'for this fiasco', Mr Murdoch replied simply: 'No'.
Asked who was, he said: 'The people that I trusted to run it, and then maybe the people they trusted.'
Several people were ejected from the packed public area of the room as proceedings were beginning after holding up posters reading 'Murdoch wanted for news crimes'.
The hearing was suspended for ten minutes after a man threw a plate of white foam over Rupert Murdoch. There was no sign that Mr Murdoch had been hurt and no doctor was required.
During questioning, Mr Murdoch insisted that he had been misled when previously denying that phone hacking at his News of the World tabloid went beyond the case of a reporter who was jailed for the offence in 2007.
Slapping the table in apparent frustration, he said the paper was only a small part of his business, suggesting he could not supervise it personally.
The newspaper, the country's biggest selling Sunday journal, was closed ten days ago as a result of the hacking scandal.
Asked by name about one of the ten journalists arrested this year by police probing the phone-hacking, he said: 'Never heard of him.'
But he said: 'We have broken our trust with our readers.'
As the session before the lower house media committee got under way, the chairman rejected a request by James Murdoch, the 38-year-old heir apparent and chairman of British newspaper unit News International, to make an opening statement.
However, after a first question, the younger Murdoch began by offering an apology: 'First of all I would just like to say how sorry I am and how sorry we are to particularly the victims of the illegal voicemail interceptions and to their families.
'It is a matter of great regret, of mine, of my father's, and everyone at News Corporation.
'These actions do not live up to the standards that our company aspires to everywhere around the world and it is our determination to put things right, to make sure these things do not happen again and to be the company that I know we have always aspired to be.'
The two Murdochs sat side-by-side at a table facing the horseshoe of lawmakers asking their questions.
Occasionally, the younger Murdoch attempted to break in to answer questions posed to his father. The elder Murdoch's wife, Wendi Deng, sat behind him.
Police questioned
With a second British police chief quitting yesterday over the scandal, Mr Cameron cut short a trade trip to Africa and was due to return in time for an emergency debate tomorrow in parliament, which is delaying its summer recess.
Speaking in Lagos, Nigeria, Mr Cameron said he was committed, through new investigations, to addressing three key problems: 'The wrongdoing in parts of the media and the potential that there is corruption in the police and ... the third ... which is the relationship between politicians and the media.'
But he also signalled a desire to push the agenda away from a scandal that has dominated every debate for two full weeks.
'The British public want something else too,' Mr Cameron said.
'They don't want us to lose our focus on an economy that provides good jobs, on an immigration system that works for Britain, a welfare system that is fair for our people.'
The Murdochs' appearance before parliament's media committee was expected to attract a television audience of millions, not only in Britain, but also notably in the United States, where Murdoch controls Fox television and the Wall Street Journal among other businesses.
Vodafone issues password reminder
Mobile phone operator Vodafone has begun sending a text message to its 2.2m Irish customers reminding them that they can change the password required to access their voicemail from another phone.
The News of the World hacked into the voicemails of celebrities and victims of crime who had not changed their password from the default of 0000.
In the text message, Vodafone reminds customers that their voicemail password is set to a default of 0000.
It says that customers can change the password by dialling 173 from their handset.
The company says all customers will be sent the message over the coming weeks as a part of a phased plan which began this morning.
British MPs are holding hearings into the hacking scandal, with appearances from top Metropolitan Police officers and Rupert and James Murdoch.
-
Protests - Outside the hearing
-
Westminster - Murdochs asked questions by MPs
-
Press - Global interest in the hearings
Rupert Murdoch has told a House of Commons committee that giving evidence on the phone-hacking and corruption scandal that is engulfing his global media empire was 'the most humble day of my life'.
Live updates
His son James opened the proceedings in a committee room at Westminster by apologising for the distress caused to victims of voicemail hacking.
The 80-year-old magnate briefly interrupted, saying: 'I would just like to say one sentence: This is the most humble day of my life.'
He later said he was 'shocked, appalled and ashamed' when he read two weeks ago about the case which has transformed the long-smouldering scandal into a matter that has shaken Britons' confidence not only in the press, but also in the police and in politicians, including Prime Minister David Cameron.
But asked flat out if he considered himself personally responsible 'for this fiasco', Mr Murdoch replied simply: 'No'.
Asked who was, he said: 'The people that I trusted to run it, and then maybe the people they trusted.'
Several people were ejected from the packed public area of the room as proceedings were beginning after holding up posters reading 'Murdoch wanted for news crimes'.
The hearing was suspended for ten minutes after a man threw a plate of white foam over Rupert Murdoch. There was no sign that Mr Murdoch had been hurt and no doctor was required.
During questioning, Mr Murdoch insisted that he had been misled when previously denying that phone hacking at his News of the World tabloid went beyond the case of a reporter who was jailed for the offence in 2007.
Slapping the table in apparent frustration, he said the paper was only a small part of his business, suggesting he could not supervise it personally.
The newspaper, the country's biggest selling Sunday journal, was closed ten days ago as a result of the hacking scandal.
Asked by name about one of the ten journalists arrested this year by police probing the phone-hacking, he said: 'Never heard of him.'
But he said: 'We have broken our trust with our readers.'
As the session before the lower house media committee got under way, the chairman rejected a request by James Murdoch, the 38-year-old heir apparent and chairman of British newspaper unit News International, to make an opening statement.
However, after a first question, the younger Murdoch began by offering an apology: 'First of all I would just like to say how sorry I am and how sorry we are to particularly the victims of the illegal voicemail interceptions and to their families.
'It is a matter of great regret, of mine, of my father's, and everyone at News Corporation.
'These actions do not live up to the standards that our company aspires to everywhere around the world and it is our determination to put things right, to make sure these things do not happen again and to be the company that I know we have always aspired to be.'
The two Murdochs sat side-by-side at a table facing the horseshoe of lawmakers asking their questions.
Occasionally, the younger Murdoch attempted to break in to answer questions posed to his father. The elder Murdoch's wife, Wendi Deng, sat behind him.
Police questioned
With a second British police chief quitting yesterday over the scandal, Mr Cameron cut short a trade trip to Africa and was due to return in time for an emergency debate tomorrow in parliament, which is delaying its summer recess.
Speaking in Lagos, Nigeria, Mr Cameron said he was committed, through new investigations, to addressing three key problems: 'The wrongdoing in parts of the media and the potential that there is corruption in the police and ... the third ... which is the relationship between politicians and the media.'
But he also signalled a desire to push the agenda away from a scandal that has dominated every debate for two full weeks.
'The British public want something else too,' Mr Cameron said.
'They don't want us to lose our focus on an economy that provides good jobs, on an immigration system that works for Britain, a welfare system that is fair for our people.'
The Murdochs' appearance before parliament's media committee was expected to attract a television audience of millions, not only in Britain, but also notably in the United States, where Murdoch controls Fox television and the Wall Street Journal among other businesses.
Vodafone issues password reminder
Mobile phone operator Vodafone has begun sending a text message to its 2.2m Irish customers reminding them that they can change the password required to access their voicemail from another phone.
The News of the World hacked into the voicemails of celebrities and victims of crime who had not changed their password from the default of 0000.
In the text message, Vodafone reminds customers that their voicemail password is set to a default of 0000.
It says that customers can change the password by dialling 173 from their handset.
The company says all customers will be sent the message over the coming weeks as a part of a phased plan which began this morning.