The 45-year-old former editor of the Sun and now-defunct News of the World tabloids was described as "the boss" when it came to tabloid stories.
"You got some very good stories, you did not much care how you got them," prosecutor Andrew Edis told her during her trial over phone-hacking charges at the Old Bailey court.
Edis said: "You were running your world and not much happened in it that you didn't want to happen when you were at the top of the tree. You were the boss.
Brooks responded: "That's not true. I think the majority, if not all, for me - all have some public interest."
Earlier she told the trial that her husband Charlie made an "impulsive, ill-thought-out decision" to keep some of his belongings from the police who were investigating phone hacking.
The court saw video which prosecutors said showed Charlie hiding two bags behind bins in an underground car park. The bags contained his "mobile office" and a Jiffy bag of pornographic magazines.
She has denied conspiracy to hack phones, to commit misconduct in public office and to pervert the course of justice. Her husband also denied perverting the course of justice.
Brooks and six others are on trial over phone hacking scandal that shook the British media. They have denied any wrongdoing.
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