Murdoch and associates summoned by parliament

Calcutta News.Net
Wednesday 13th July, 2011

Lawmakers in the United Kingdom have summoned Rupert Murdoch, his son James Murdoch and former News of the World editor Rebekah Brooks to testify before them on the phone hacking scandal that has rocked British journalism.

A spokesperson told the BBC that parliament’s Culture, Media and Sport Committee asked the three to appear in a week, on July 19 as part of a public inquiry into the scandal that will be officially launched when the police conclude their own investigations.

News International, owned by Murdoch’s News Corp, released a statement saying that “senior executives” will “cooperate”. However, if Murdoch, his son and Brooks do not answer the summons, parliament will compel them to do so. It is unlikely Rupert Murdoch will challenge the summons.

News Corp is in the midst of an attempt to buy the remaining 60.9% of BskyB that they do not already own, a deal that must be approved by UK authorities as part of a separate assessment of whether News Corp would make a “fit and proper” broadcaster and whether the deal would conform to anti-monopoly regulations.

BskyB is a leading broadcaster in the United Kingdom and owns the news channel Sky News, one of the leading international and domestic news organisations in the world. The acquisition would turn News Corp into the leading UK broadcaster behind the BBC.

John Whittingdale, chairman of the committee, said there were key questions that needed to be asked.

“The first thing is that James Murdoch has said he has discovered that Parliament, and that means my committee, was misled by some of the executives who have given us evidence in the past,” he said. “So we will obviously want to know who has misled Parliament and what it was they said which was untrue.”

In a rare show of bipartisanship, the coalition government will reportedly vote in favour of a parliamentary motion by the Labour opposition calling on News Corp. to withdraw its bid for BskyB, according to a source at Downing Street, Prime Minister David Cameron’s official residence.

These developments come amid allegations that other UK newspapers owned by News International, such as the Sunday Times, have also been engaging in underhanded methods to get access to stories, allegations the Sunday Times has denied.

The Sun, another News International newspaper, has bought the domain name thesunonsunday.co.uk, raising speculation that News International will fill the Sunday gap left by News of the World with The Sun tabloid.

The move could be ill received by a cynical British public that suspect the closure of News of the World was a grand gesture to clear the way for a new paper to be launched, employing the same people, but under a different name.

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