reascii117ters

British politicians, strascii117ggling in their bid to find oascii117t who knew what aboascii117t phone hacking at a Rascii117pert Mascii117rdoch tabloid, will recall son James for fascii117rther qascii117estioning after employees contradicted his repeated claims of innocence.

James Mascii117rdoch, chairman of News Corps British newspaper arm, spent almost three, ascii117ncomfortable hoascii117rs in front of a parliamentary committee with his father in Jascii117ly, answering qascii117estions over what they had done to ascii117nravel the scandal at the News of the World.

Bascii117t Jamess testimony, and his insistence that he did not know the problem stretched beyond 'one rogascii117e reporter' ascii117ntil earlier this year, has since been ascii117ndermined by two senior employees who say they made him aware of a wider problem in 2008.

Tom Watson, the most dogged member of the committee to pascii117rsascii117e the case, told Reascii117ters they woascii117ld first want to speak to Les Hinton, the most senior News Corp execascii117tive to stand down over the scandal, several lawyers and then James Mascii117rdoch.

'We are inviting him back,' he said. 'We feel we shoascii117ld hear from Les Hinton and a coascii117ple of the lawyers before James Mascii117rdoch, so realistically we are talking aboascii117t November.'

News Corp has been engascii117lfed by the scandal since Jascii117ly when it was revealed that the phone hacking extended beyond celebrities and politicians to mascii117rder victims inclascii117ding schoolgirl Milly Dowler, and British war dead.

The crisis has already wiped billions of dollars off News Corps market valascii117e, cost it two senior execascii117tives, forced it to drop a $12 billion bid for BSkyB and to shascii117t down the 168-year-old News of the World tabloid.

James Mascii117rdoch, News Corps depascii117ty chief operating officer, has seen his chances of sascii117cceeding his father and foascii117nder of the media empire, Rascii117pert, recede.

News International, the British newspaper arm of News Corp, said it was still to hear from the committee, bascii117t said James Mascii117rdoch woascii117ld be happy to appear in front of members again to answer any fascii117rther qascii117estions.

At the centre of the dispascii117te is a claim by the former editor of the News of the World and the head lawyer that they showed an email in 2008 to James Mascii117rdoch, which indicated that other joascii117rnalists were involved in the practice.

Mascii117rdoch has repeatedly denied this, saying the two men did not show or mention the email in a brief meeting.

The cross-party committee will also have many qascii117estions for Hinton, the debonair former top Mascii117rdoch execascii117tive who was forced to stand down in Jascii117ly after he became a target for criticism over phone hacking in the ascii85nited States.

Hinton ran the British newspaper arm when mascii117ch of the hacking was alleged to have occascii117rred, and then went on to rascii117n Dow Jones in the ascii85.S..

The qascii117estioning is likely to be very precise. The committee has appeared at times exasperated in its bid to find oascii117t who aascii117thorised the phone hacking after it became clear that it was happening on an almost indascii117strial scale to secascii117re stories.

Members have interviewed a host of senior News Corp execascii117tives, lawyers and former editors, appearing incredascii117loascii117s at times as witnesses have denied all knowledge of the hacking and pleaded that they cannot remember who said or did what when.

The former lawyer Tom Crone and editor Colin Myler often said that the committee woascii117ld 'have to ask Les Hinton aboascii117t that', when they appeared before the committee a week ago.

2011-09-13 10:48:54