Phone hacking: who will feel the force of this ticking time bomb?
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.In June 2008, James Murdoch authorised a secret, out-of-court settlement of £500,000 (including costs) to Gordon Taylor, chief executive of the Professional Footballers' Association.
The payment shows that Mr Murdoch, whose role as European chief executive of News Corp gave him responsibility for the News of the World, knew about phone hacking. When News International's top executives appeared before the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee in 2007 and 2009, they insisted that internal investigations had pointed only to Clive Goodman. Now we know, courtesy of The Sunday Times – its master's (often silent) voice – that there was damning evidence and that it was suppressed. It quoted a News International executive as saying: "We were sitting on a ticking time bomb."
Last week Mr Murdoch admitted mistakes in his handling of the affair, particularly the Taylor pay-off. News International is privately saying that Mr Murdoch "was not aware" of the devastating internal report when he agreed to Mr Taylor's settlement. Nor, it says, was Rebekah Brooks. Ms Brooks and James Murdoch are aggressively defending their position and appear to be blaming others for mounting a cover-up.
This newspaper scandal now looks likely to ruin the reputations of top executives. The question is: which ones?
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments