Murdoch’s son denies role in hacking

LONDON - The Associated Press

James Murdoch defended his record at the head of the British arm of his father’s scandal-tarred newspaper empire yesterdal, saying that he had been given assurances by subordinates “which proved to be wrong.” Murdoch was testifying at Lord Justice Brian Leveson’s inquiry into media ethics to answer questions about his role in the phone hacking scandal at Rupert Murdoch’s now-defunct News of the World tabloid.

The 39-year-old Murdoch said he had no reason to doubt his subordinates when he took over at News International, which published the News of the World, in 2008.

“I do recall receiving assurances around journalistic ethics, codes of practice on a number of occasions,” he told Leveson. Murdoch repeated earlier claims that his lieutenants had misled him about the scope of the illegal behavior in the News of the World’s newsroom.

Revelations that reporters at the News of the World had hacked into the phone of a teenage murder victim led Murdoch’s father Rupert to close the 168-year-old newspaper and triggered Leveson’s inquiry into media practices. Rupert Murdoch, who is still chairman and chief executive of News International’s parent company News Corp., will appear before the inquiry today.