Rupert Murdoch “is not a fit person to exercise the stewardship of a major international company”, MPs have said.
The cross-party culture committee questioned journalists and bosses at the now closed paper, as well as police and lawyers for hacking victims.
Its report has concluded that Mr Murdoch exhibited “wilful blindness” to what was going on in his media empire.
And it said the News of the World and News International misled Parliament about the scale of phone hacking.
The committee of MPs began its inquiry in July 2011 in the wake of fresh newspaper revelations about the extent of hacking at the tabloid newspaper, with reported victims including the murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler and the families of victims of the 7/7 London bombings.
It heard evidence from Mr Murdoch and his son James, and has now concluded that the notion that a hands-on proprietor like Rupert Murdoch had “no inkling” that wrongdoing was widespread at the News of the World was “simply not credible”.
It noted that the newspaper mogul had “excellent powers of recall and grasp of detail when it suited him”.
The committee also criticised three former News International executives – one-time executive chairman Les Hinton, former News of the World editor Colin Myler and former legal manager Tom Crone.
And it concluded: “Corporately, the News of the World and News International misled the committee about the true nature and extent of the internal investigations they professed to have carried out in relation to phone hacking; by making statements they would have known were not fully truthful; and by failing to disclose documents which would have helped expose the truth.”
Foam attack
James Murdoch told the committee last summer that he did not see an email which suggested that hacking was more widespread at the paper than previously acknowledged – a claim disputed by Mr Myler and Mr Crone in their evidence.
Mr Murdoch, who was among those recalled to give evidence, has said he did not know about any wrongdoing but took “his share” of responsibility for not uncovering it earlier.
He gave evidence alongside his father Rupert, who at one point during the hearing was attacked by a man who rushed forward from the public gallery and threw a paper plate of foam, which hit the elder Murdoch’s skin and clothes.
That particular appearance was also the occasion which the News Corporation chairman and founder described as the most humble day of his life.
After initially claiming that malpractice was limited to one “rogue” reporter at the News of the World, News International has now settled dozens of civil cases admitting liability for hacking between 2001 and 2006.
More than 6,000 possible victims have been identified and the police have so far made a number of arrests in connection with an investigation reopened in January 2011 – although no charges have yet been brought.
‘Shielded’
Media regulator Ofcom is currently looking into that issue.
The hacking revelations led to the closure of the News of the World and the government’s decision to set up a judicial inquiry into press standards headed by Lord Leveson.
Appearing before the Leveson inquiry last week, Rupert Murdoch said there had been a “cover-up” which “shielded” senior figures at the paper and its parent company – including himself and his son James – from knowledge of wrongdoing taking place.
Among others cross-questioned by MPs during their inquiry included former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks, former NI chairman Les Hinton and former Met Police deputy commissioner John Yates – who decided against opening a new hacking inquiry in 2009.
The committee, which previously investigated hacking as part of a report into press standards in 2010, has said it was unable to publish its latest report before now due to the amount of evidence that emerged during its public hearings.
–BBC
