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| This is the most humble day of my life: Murdoch |
| Press Trust of India / London Jul 19, 2011, 21:12 IST |
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Facing intense grilling by British lawmakers, media baron Rupert Murdoch said that today was "the most humble day of my life", as he and his son James apologised to the families and victims of phone hacking scandal but said he was not responsible for the fiasco.
"This is the most humble day of my life," 80-year-old Murdoch, the Australian-born head of the global News Corporation empire, told House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee, that is seeking to uncover the extent of criminality his now-defunct News of the World tabloid.
Appearing alongside Murdoch, his son James apologised for the phone hacking, a scandal which has engulfed their media empire and rocked police and politicians to the core, and told lawmakers that "these actions do not live up to the standards our company aspires to."
Murdoch said he was "appalled and ashamed" to learn that the phone of 12-year-old girl Milly Dowler had been hacked by his now-closed News of the World, which was UK's largest selling tabloid.
He told MPs he was not aware that hacking was more widespread than originally claimed and he had "clearly" been misled by some of his staff.
Rupert denied ultimate responsibility for the phone-hacking scandal. When asked by lawmaker Jim Sheridan, "Do you accept that ultimately you are responsible for this whole fiasco?", Murdoch tersely replied: "No".
When asked who he blamed, Murdoch said: "The people that I trusted to run it [his media empire] and then maybe the people they trusted."
The Australian media titan's appearance today is his first direct scrutiny by MPs during his 40-year UK media career.
The hacking issue has shaken the British establishment and placed Prime Minister David Cameron under tremendous pressure from Labour and some of his own MPs over his decision to hire ex-NoW editor Andy Coulson as his communications chief.
Coulson, who was arrested two weeks ago, resigned as editor of the tabloid due to the phone-hacking allegations.
Rupert said the News of the World was "just 1%" of his worldwide business and that he employed "people I trust to run these divisions".
Right at the beginning, James, chairman of News International, apologised to victims, saying he had great regrets and that the firm failed to live up to "the standards they aspired to" and was "determined to put things right and make sure they do not happen again".
"I would like to say just how sorry I am and how sorry we are to particularly the victims of illegal voice mail interceptions and to their families," James said.
On the issue of Rebekah Brooks, the former CEO of News International, James said he had "no knowledge or evidence" that she had knowledge of the phone hacking.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Cameron, who cut short his Africa tour following the phone hacking scandal in his country said it posed "big problems" that would however be resolved and not distract from other issues.
"These are big problems, but we are a big country and we are going to sort them out," he told reporters after meeting with Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan in Lagos.
Opening the hearing, the committee chairman John Whittingdale said abuses had been uncovered "which had shocked and angered the country" and it was clear Parliament had been misled.
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