Sky News admits to hacking emails, including the account of John Darwin, the “canoe man” accused of faking his own death.
James Murdoch resigns as chairman of BSkyB, saying he does not want to become a “lightning rod” for the company because of ongoing investigations into News International.
As David Cameron flies back early from his Africa trip, and the Murdochs are put on parliamentary trial, we are hearing a lot from the Opposition about the close links between Conservatives and the News Corp empire. If Labour party figures really are serious about reining in the power of Rupert Murdoch, they would do…
Exclusive: Channel 4 News reveals a new front in the Murdochs’ legal woes as the Serious Fraud Office begins a preliminary investigation into News International.
Ed Miliband has called for Rupert Murdoch’s empire to be broken up, saying he has “too much power over British life”.
A full page apology from Rupert Murdoch has been published in newspapers, as the scandal spreads to the US where former News International head, Les Hinton quit his post as CEO of the Dow Jones.
The mogul was “humbled” and held his head in his hands as he apologised to the Dowlers. In another dramatic day in the phone hacking scandal, Rebekah Brooks has resigned from News International.
Gary Gibbon
As Rupert Murdoch withdraws his bid for BSkyB in the face of mounting political pressure, Political editor Gary Gibbon blogs on the future landscape for media ownership.
Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation has withdrawn its bid to take over BSkyB. News Corp CEO Chase Carey said it had become “too difficult to progress in this climate”.
“As I spent most of the time in the rainforests of Central America, I can’t quite be sure whether I’ve come from or returned to some sort of banana republic.”
As News Corporation announces plans to spend $5bn to buy back its shares, Channel 4 News looks at how the past 10 days have highlighted the bizarre corporate structure of the Murdoch Empire.
We think of Rupert Murdoch as a newspaper man who got into television. But in America he already makes more money from television. It is starting to look possible that could he end his career in Britain without owning a newspaper any longer. For as this crisis unfolds he could easily conclude that UK newspapers just aren’t worth it anymore. He is, at the end of the day, a businessman.
The Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt refers the takeover bid for BSkyB to the Competition Commission after News Corp withdraws plans to hive off Sky News.
So here’s the dilemma for David Cameron : do you let it through, strengthen the Murdoch empire and take a political battering for being their poodle or do you block it, alienate the Sun and Times newspapers and make a mockery of your own words to date on media plurality tests in the hope that the electorate (vast numbers of which still buy Murdoch newspapers and watch Sky TV) will thank you for it?
All eyes turn to the arrival in the UK of News Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch, who says his first priority is Rebekah Brooks, despite facing mounting pressure to drop his takeover bid for BSkyB.