Who's who - Phone Hacking Scandal. The Phone Hacking Scandal By The Numbers. Murdoch family divided as News Corporation crisis comes to a head. James Murdoch had been seen as the undisputed heir to his father's media empire, until the phone-hacking scandal erupted.
But as the younger Murdoch faces the prospect of his evidence to parliament being called into question by former colleagues on Tuesday, there are growing doubts coming from inside his family about his suitability for the top position at News Corporation. The immediate cause of the rift stems from what insiders call "a big family row" at the height of the crisis in July, the week after the News of the World closed.
Members of the Murdoch clan descended on the company's Wapping headquarters in London to work out their battle plan, but within days Elisabeth Murdoch, James's sister, had walked out, because in the words of one observer who asked not to be named, "she had had enough of it all". Elisabeth was not in London to advise or support Rupert or James when they appeared before MPs the following week. However, that ascent is no longer guaranteed.
Murdoch's testimony in Parliament. Arrests & Resignations. Consequences. British Leader Defends His Actions in Hacking Case. Rupert Murdoch's shield in phone hacking scandal: Joel Klein - Keach Hagey and Ben Smith. The whistleblower found dead. Sean Hoare, the former News of the World showbusiness reporter who was the first named journalist to allege that Andy Coulson was aware of phone hacking by his staff, has been found dead .
Hoare, who worked on the Sun and the News of the World with Coulson before being dismissed for drink and drugs problems, was said to have been found at his Watford home. Hertfordshire police would not confirm his identity, but said in a statement: "At 10.40am today [Monday 18 July] police were called to Langley Road, Watford, following the concerns for the welfare of a man who lives at an address on the street.
Upon police and ambulance arrival at a property, the body of a man was found. Solicitors' phones 'hacked by News of the World' High-profile media lawyer Mark Stephens has revealed to Channel 4 News that police have confirmed he is among the 4,000 potential News of the World phone-hack victims.
His name appears in Glenn Mulcaire's notebooks, which police are currently trawling. Sixty officers working for Operation Weeting are contacting people whose mobile phone numbers were listed by the private investigator, who served a jail sentence for phone hacking in 2007. Mr Stephens told Channel 4 News he contacted Scotland Yard to ask if his phone had been targeted.
He said: "I asked them if I'd been hacked - they came back to me in 90 mins and said yes. "It confirmed my worst suspicions, that I was in Mulcaire's notebook. "There is nothing I can do about it but the important thing is to ascertain which client [was the target] so I can advise them. James Murdoch, tarred by hacking scandals, out as exec. chairman of News International. Once the heir apparent to Rupert Murdoch’s throne, James Murdoch is stepping down from his role as executive chairman at News International, following the hacking scandals that continue to provoke investigations and arrests in Great Britain.
James Murdoch “Will continue to assume a variety of essential corporate leadership mandates, with particular focus on important pay-TV businesses and broader international operations,” according to a statement from his father, News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch. NPR’s media correspondent, David Folkenflik, notes that, “James Murdoch’s resignation from News International comes amid expansion of scandal to heart of 2nd UK Murdoch tabloid, the Sun, for bribery.”
In a press release James said, “I look forward to expanding my commitment to News Corporation’s international television businesses.” Folkenflik also tweets, “Worth noting: there had previously been plans for him to release these duties as he ascended at News Corp, where he is 3rd highest executive.” Why James Murdoch had to go. A protester dons a mask of James Murdoch outside of News International office in London on Wednesday.
James Murdoch resigned as the chairman of News International on Wednesday Tim Willis: His I-don't-know-nuthin' stance was becoming untenable in the hacking scandalWillis: Politicians are happy about the resignation and count it as a victory for the publicHe says the public has far more interest in the death of Davy Jones than Murdoch news Editor's note: Tim Willis is the editor-in-chief of high50, a website aimed at the active and engaged "Bloomer" generation. He is the author of "Madcap: The Half-Life of Syd Barrett, Pink Floyd's Lost Genius" and "Nigel Dempster and the Death of Discretion.
" (CNN) -- Prue Murdoch, the daughter of Rupert by his first marriage, once told me that her abiding memory of her father over the breakfast table was not of his beaming face, but of the back page of a newspaper. One doubts if James Murdoch even remembers that. Tim Willis.