Rupert Murdoch, owner of News Corp., is not a “fit and proper person” to run a major international company, British lawmakers investigating the phone hacking scandal at his tabloid, the News of The World, reported on Tuesday. According to a report on the malpractice at Murdoch’s now shuttered News of The World tabloid, legislators accused Murdoch and his son James Murdoch of overseeing a corporate culture, which sought “to cover up rather than seek out wrongdoing.” The report said, “We conclude, therefore, that Rupert Murdoch is not a fit person to exercise the stewardship of a major international company.”
British Parliament’s cross-party Culture, Media and Sport committee unanimously agreed that three key News International executives had misled Parliament by offering false accounts of their knowledge of the extent of phone hacking, which is a rare and serious censure that can see offenders hauled before Parliament to make a personal apology. The House of Commons will reportedly decide on penalty distribution to the three executives, which include New York Daily News Editor Colin Myler, an ex-News of The World editor, the former executive chairman of the News International, and the former publisher of The Wall Street Journal.
