James Murdoch to face MPs' criticism over phone hacking

guardian.co.uk, Monday 30 2012

James Murdoch, son of Rupert Murdoch (News of the World), will be criticized over the phone hacking scandal at “News of the World”, but will presumably not be accused of misleading parliament. However, members of parliament agreed on the fact that Murdoch had not done enough to find out exactly how many times phone hacking occurred at his newspaper during the last several years.

News International now faces lawsuits by individuals that state their phones were hacked between 2001 and 2006, but the extent of hacking only surfaced at the end of 2010. Murdoch had been chairman since 2007. It is therefore that Murdoch’s predecessor, Les Hinton, will face a much tougher committee hearing and most probably be accused of misleading parliament. If inviduals are found guilty, they could be summoned to apologize.

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I absolutely agree with a hearing on the conduct of James Murdoch in this case. I think hacking telephone or other conversations is a serious crime; people have a right of privacy. How far do these journalists think they can go by hacking phones and publishing private information? It should not happen and in my opinion it should be punished. This makes clear how the continuous surge for power can influence people and turn them into criminals. How immensely stupid of a tycoon like Murdoch to get himself involved in this and to lose his credibility.