LONDON — As the phone hacking scandal in Britain continues to gnaw at Rupert Murdoch’s media empire, a parliamentary panel opened new hearings on Tuesday, seeking to determine who knew about unauthorized voice mail intercepts ordered by the now defunct News of the World tabloid.
Two of four former executives called to testify said they had informed Mr. Murdoch’s son, James, at a 15-minute meeting in 2008 that the use of hacking went further than his company had publicly acknowledged at the time. But one of the executives, Tom Crone, the former legal manager at the tabloid, denied that there had been a cover-up.
Mr. Murdoch ordered The News of the World closed as the scandal crashed around it earlier this year following disclosures that it had hired a private detective to hack the voice mail of Milly Dowler, a 13-year-old girl who was murdered in 2002.
The hearings on Tuesday could revive the surge of revelations about the scandal that has shaken the British media, politics and police in recent months. They could also determine whether the panel recalls James Murdoch to give further evidence.
In July, James Murdoch, who runs the European and Asian operations of the News Corporation media giant, testified in Parliament that he had no knowledge of a wide pattern of hacking at the newspaper. Mr. Crone and Colin Myler, a onetime editor of The News of the World, challenged him, saying his testimony was “mistaken,” but Mr. Murdoch immediately denied their assertion.
Mr. Myler and Mr. Crone were called to testify again on Tuesday before Parliament’s select committee for culture, media and sport — the panel that questioned Rupert and James Murdoch in a dramatic hearing in July when a prankster slipped by security guards to throw a shaving cream pie at the elder Mr. Murdoch.
The panel also summoned Jonathan Chapman, the former director of legal affairs at News International, News Corporation’s British newspaper subsidiary, and Daniel Cloke, the group’s former director of human resources.
John Whittingdale, the chairman of the committee, said the latest round of questioning was an attempt to uncover the truth in the “continuing difference in the accounts of James Murdoch and Tom Crone and Colin Myler about whether or not James Murdoch was aware of the so-called for Neville e-mail.” He was referring to a 2005 e-mail containing transcripts of hacked phone messages. It was headed “for Neville,” an apparent reference to the News of the World’s chief reporter, Neville Thurlbeck.
The e-mail came to light in April 2008 when the soccer union leader Gordon Taylor brought a lawsuit alleging voice mail interceptions. At that time, James Murdoch chose to make a record $1.4 million settlement, which also included a confidentiality clause. The company had long asserted that phone hacking was limited to a “lone rogue reporter” but, had the case proceeded, documentary evidence undermining that assertion would likely have emerged publicly.
James Murdoch testified in July that he had made the settlement because it made financial sense, and not because he wanted to disguise the truth.
Testifying on Tuesday, Mr. Crone, the former legal manager, said the contentious e-mail was “clear evidence that phone hacking was taking place beyond” Clive Goodman, the newspaper’s former royal reporter who was the only journalist who had been publicly identified at that time as having intercepted voice mails. Mr. Goodman and a private investigator, Glenn Mulcaire, both served prison terms in 2007 for hacking the voice mails of members of Britain’s royal family.
“It was the reason we had to settle the case and in order to settle the case, we had to explain the case to Mr. Murdoch and get his authority to settle, so clearly it was discussed,” Mr. Crone told the parliamentary panel. “I can’t remember the conversation and there isn’t a note of it. The conversation lasted about 15 minutes. It was discussed, but exactly what was said I can’t remember.”
Mr. Myler, the former News of the World editor, also confirmed that account of the meeting with James Murdoch in 2008. “There was no ambiguity about the significance of that document and what options were there for the company to take,” he said, according to Britain’s Press Association news agency. “Mr. Murdoch was the chief executive of the company. He’s experienced. I am experienced in what I do. Mr. Crone is experienced as a legal manager. I think everybody perfectly understood the seriousness and the significance of what we were discussing."
Last month, the phone hacking inquiry released a potentially damning four-year-old letter from Mr. Goodman claiming that voice mail intercepts were routine and were “widely discussed” at the paper,
In light of the scandal, James Murdoch has faced calls to step down as the chairman of British Sky Broadcasting, also known as BSkyB, a satellite television company of which the News Corporation owns 39 percent.
A $14 billion bid by the News Corporation to take full ownership of the broadcaster earlier this year became mired in political controversy as the phone hacking scandal broke, and was eventually withdrawn amid allegations that improper links between politicians and the Murdoch family had tainted the process.
The hacking scandal is also under investigation by British police, who last Friday arrested a 30-year-old man — the 15th person held since early this year.
An official at News International, the parent company of the now-shuttered News of the World, speaking on condition of anonymity, identified the man as Ross Hall, a former reporter with the newspaper. A spokeswoman for News International declined to comment.
Parliamentary Recording Unit, via Associated Press
The former editor of the News of the World Colin Myler testifying before a parliamentary panel in London on Tuesday.
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Mr. Murdoch ordered The News of the World closed as the scandal crashed around it earlier this year following disclosures that it had hired a private detective to hack the voice mail of Milly Dowler, a 13-year-old girl who was murdered in 2002.
The hearings on Tuesday could revive the surge of revelations about the scandal that has shaken the British media, politics and police in recent months. They could also determine whether the panel recalls James Murdoch to give further evidence.
In July, James Murdoch, who runs the European and Asian operations of the News Corporation media giant, testified in Parliament that he had no knowledge of a wide pattern of hacking at the newspaper. Mr. Crone and Colin Myler, a onetime editor of The News of the World, challenged him, saying his testimony was “mistaken,” but Mr. Murdoch immediately denied their assertion.
Mr. Myler and Mr. Crone were called to testify again on Tuesday before Parliament’s select committee for culture, media and sport — the panel that questioned Rupert and James Murdoch in a dramatic hearing in July when a prankster slipped by security guards to throw a shaving cream pie at the elder Mr. Murdoch.
The panel also summoned Jonathan Chapman, the former director of legal affairs at News International, News Corporation’s British newspaper subsidiary, and Daniel Cloke, the group’s former director of human resources.
John Whittingdale, the chairman of the committee, said the latest round of questioning was an attempt to uncover the truth in the “continuing difference in the accounts of James Murdoch and Tom Crone and Colin Myler about whether or not James Murdoch was aware of the so-called for Neville e-mail.” He was referring to a 2005 e-mail containing transcripts of hacked phone messages. It was headed “for Neville,” an apparent reference to the News of the World’s chief reporter, Neville Thurlbeck.
The e-mail came to light in April 2008 when the soccer union leader Gordon Taylor brought a lawsuit alleging voice mail interceptions. At that time, James Murdoch chose to make a record $1.4 million settlement, which also included a confidentiality clause. The company had long asserted that phone hacking was limited to a “lone rogue reporter” but, had the case proceeded, documentary evidence undermining that assertion would likely have emerged publicly.
James Murdoch testified in July that he had made the settlement because it made financial sense, and not because he wanted to disguise the truth.
Testifying on Tuesday, Mr. Crone, the former legal manager, said the contentious e-mail was “clear evidence that phone hacking was taking place beyond” Clive Goodman, the newspaper’s former royal reporter who was the only journalist who had been publicly identified at that time as having intercepted voice mails. Mr. Goodman and a private investigator, Glenn Mulcaire, both served prison terms in 2007 for hacking the voice mails of members of Britain’s royal family.
“It was the reason we had to settle the case and in order to settle the case, we had to explain the case to Mr. Murdoch and get his authority to settle, so clearly it was discussed,” Mr. Crone told the parliamentary panel. “I can’t remember the conversation and there isn’t a note of it. The conversation lasted about 15 minutes. It was discussed, but exactly what was said I can’t remember.”
Mr. Myler, the former News of the World editor, also confirmed that account of the meeting with James Murdoch in 2008. “There was no ambiguity about the significance of that document and what options were there for the company to take,” he said, according to Britain’s Press Association news agency. “Mr. Murdoch was the chief executive of the company. He’s experienced. I am experienced in what I do. Mr. Crone is experienced as a legal manager. I think everybody perfectly understood the seriousness and the significance of what we were discussing."
Last month, the phone hacking inquiry released a potentially damning four-year-old letter from Mr. Goodman claiming that voice mail intercepts were routine and were “widely discussed” at the paper,
In light of the scandal, James Murdoch has faced calls to step down as the chairman of British Sky Broadcasting, also known as BSkyB, a satellite television company of which the News Corporation owns 39 percent.
A $14 billion bid by the News Corporation to take full ownership of the broadcaster earlier this year became mired in political controversy as the phone hacking scandal broke, and was eventually withdrawn amid allegations that improper links between politicians and the Murdoch family had tainted the process.
The hacking scandal is also under investigation by British police, who last Friday arrested a 30-year-old man — the 15th person held since early this year.
An official at News International, the parent company of the now-shuttered News of the World, speaking on condition of anonymity, identified the man as Ross Hall, a former reporter with the newspaper. A spokeswoman for News International declined to comment.
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