Developments in British phone-hacking scandalReported by SeattlePI.com on Friday, 22 June 2012 (on June 22, 2012)
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Developments in British phone-hacking scandal
Associated Press
Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Updated 08:58 a.m., Friday, June 22, 2012
Developments in a phone-hacking scandal involving British newspapers owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.: Goodman arrested along with private investigator Glenn Mulcaire for suspected hacking into voicemails of royal officials. Conservative Party leader David Cameron taps Coulson to be his media adviser. Police arrest two journalists, including Ian Edmondson, the tabloid's former news editor, on suspicion of intercepting voicemails. More than a dozen arrests of journalists and some police would follow in the coming months as inquiries into phone hacking and police corruption continued. News of the World admits it was responsible for phone hacking and says it will set up a compensation plan to deal with claims fairly and efficiently. Judge allows actress Sienna Miller and three others to proceed with lawsuits over phone hacking against the newspaper despite an ongoing criminal investigation. Miller's lawyer says lawsuit settled for 100,000 pounds (about $165,000 at the time). [...] News International has reached settlements with several others to avoid trials. British regulators give News Corp. tentative approval to take full control of satellite broadcaster British Sky Broadcasting. The Guardian newspaper reports that News of the World journalists hacked into voicemails left for murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler, and gave her parents and police false hope she was alive by deleting messages when the mailbox became full. News Corp. withdraws offer to spin off Sky News in attempt to save bid for complete control of satellite broadcaster BSkyB. British media report that two other News Corp. newspapers in Britain engaged in hacking, deception and privacy violations that included accessing former Prime Minister Gordon Brown's bank account information and stealing the medical records of his seriously ill baby son. London police chief Paul Stephenson resigns amid criticism over his alleged links to Neil Wallis, a former News of the World executive editor arrested in the scandal. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder calls a report of possible phone hacking targeting 9/11 victims and their families very disturbing and says the department is pursuing a preliminary criminal investigation of the matter. Documents show a legal adviser to the company's newspapers warned three years earlier that there was overwhelming evidence that several senior journalists at the News of the World were using illegal methods. The documents bolster claims that high-ranking executives were aware that phone hacking was more widespread than they let on. Miller, the actress, tells the media-ethics inquiry that she was left paranoid and scared by years of relentless tabloid pursuit that ranged from paparazzi outside her house to the hacking of her mobile phone. GlaxoSmithKline says that James Murdoch has decided not to seek re-election to the drug company's board so he could focus on his duties at News Corp. Lex Fenwick, a Bloomberg LP executive, is named Hinton's replacement as CEO of Dow Jones & Co., the News Corp. subsidiary that publishes The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires. News Corp. says net income grew by nearly two-thirds in the final three months of 2011, despite expenses related to ongoing phone hacking investigations of its U.K. newspaper unit. News Corp. says Murdoch will remain its deputy chief operating officer and concentrate on expanding its television business. Reports emerge that the FBI is investigating whether a Russian billboard company once owned by News Corp. bribed local officials to get sign placements approved. Britain's Press Complaints Commission, an industry-funded regulatory body that has been called weak and ineffective by victims of the scandal, confirms it is to be abolished and replaced with a new agency. Brooks, her husband and four others are charged over alleged attempts to conceal evidence of Britain's tabloid phone hacking scandal. June 1: A lawyer for News Corp.'s British newspaper group says the company could face 500 lawsuits from victims of phone hacking — far more than have so far been filed. Brown, the former British prime minister, accuses a Murdoch-owned tabloid of personally attacking him, failing the British people and undermining the war in Afghanistan through its coverage of the conflict. News Corp. says former U.S. Assistant Attorney General Joel Klein is relinquishing his role as head of the company's internal probe into phone hacking.
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