James Murdoch�has given�evidence under oath at Britain's media ethics inquiry. Picture: AP Source: AP
- Murdochs front Leveson's inquiry into media ethics
- Mr Murdoch, 39, had no reason to doubt his subordinates
- Rupert Murdoch will appear before the inquiry today
JAMES Murdoch has defended his role at the helm of his father's British newspaper arm, saying that he had been given assurances by subordinates "which proved to be wrong".
Mr Murdoch was testifying at Lord Justice Brian Leveson's inquiry into media ethics last night in London to answer questions about his role in the phone hacking scandal at Rupert Murdoch's now-defunct News of the World tabloid.
Mr Murdoch, 39, 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 Lord Leveson.
Mr Murdoch repeated earlier claims that his lieutenants had misled him about the scope of the illegal behaviour in the newspaper's newsroom.
"I was given assurances by them, which proved to be wrong," he said.
He said News International's corporate systems failed to pick up on legal risks posed by its papers' methods of finding stories, and that the News of the World should not have run its story falsely alleging that former Formula 1 boss Max Mosley had a "sick Nazi orgy".
Robert Jay QC, counsel to the inquiry, asked him: "In your view, were there deficiencies in News International's systems for identifying and assessing legal risk, particularly in the context of potential reputational harm for the company?"
Mr Murdoch replied: "With respect to news-gathering processes, for example, one of the subjects of interest here, I think it's self-evident that in hindsight, knowing what we know now, whatever controls were in place failed to create the sufficient transparency around those issues and the risks around it.
"At the time I didn't have a view that those were insufficient or not."
Mr Mosley was awarded a record �60,000 ($94,000) in privacy damages at the High Court over the March 2008 News of the World story about his sex life.
Mr Murdoch, wearing a dark suit and a striped navy tie, agreed that News International also had to pay "substantial" costs, which he said was a "cause for concern".
James Murdoch stepped down as chairman of News International in February and resigned from his post as chairman of British Sky Broadcasting this month.
Rupert Murdoch, chairman and chief executive of News International's parent company, News Corporation, will appear before the inquiry today.
News Corporation owns news.com.au.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/newscomaumostpopularworldndm/~3/l9hQE7SgnV8/story01.htm
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