NEWS CORPORATION’S CEO Rupert Murdoch has taken out full-page advertisements in every British newspaper today to personally apologise for the conduct of staff at the News of the World.
The simple adverts, announced last night, follow a day to forget for the Australian press magnate who not only lost the CEO of News International, Rebekah Brooks, but also his right hand man Les Hinton.
Hinton, the chief executive of Wall Street Journal publisher Dow Jones, has been a personal friend of Murdoch’s for decades – and had himself been the chief executive of News International when the bulk of the alleged phone-hacking took place.
The twin resignations meant Murdoch lost the chief executives of his two largest newspaper publishers in a single day – as he also met the family of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler, whose phone was among those hacked by the NotW.
Yesterday actor Jude Law launched legal action against The Sun, another News International title, claiming it hacked his phone to seek material for stories published in 2005 and 2006.
We are sorry.The News of the World was in the business of holding others to account. It failed when it came to itself.
We are sorry for the serious wrongdoing that occurred.
We are deeply sorry for the hurt suffered by the individuals affected.
We regret not acting faster to sort things out.
I realise that simply apologising is not enough.
Our business was founded on the idea that a free and open press should be a positive force in society. We need to live up to this.
In the coming days, as we take further concrete steps to resolve these issues and make amends for the damage they have caused, you will hear more from us.
Sincerely,
(signed)
Rupert Murdoch
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