Murdoch 'Not Fit' to Lead News Corp: UK Lawmakers

Committee's decision could force Murdoch to sell off BSkyB stake
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted May 1, 2012 6:32 AM CDT
Murdoch 'Not Fit' to Lead News Corp: UK Lawmakers
News Corp Chief Rupert Murdoch is driven away from the High Court in central London on April 26, 2012.   (Getty Images)

A group of British lawmakers has concluded that Rupert Murdoch is not fit to lead his own media empire: Parliament's Culture, Media, and Sport Committee released a report the AP calls "scathing," accusing Murdoch of misleading Parliament about the extent of the phone hacking scandal at his News of the World. The report also claims that News International, the British newspaper arm of News Corp., covered up the scandal.

Murdoch has claimed he didn't know how widespread the hacking was, and said employees hid the scope of the problem from him. But if that's true, the influential group of legislators says, then Murdoch "turned a blind eye and exhibited willful blindness to what was going on in his companies." The decision, which was not unanimous and was split along party lines, could prompt regulators to force Murdoch to sell off his controlling stake in BSkyB, CNN notes. (More Rupert Murdoch stories.)

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