Murdoch apology in press adverts

16 July 2011 Last updated at 09:11 GMT Rupert Murdoch's apology promises further steps "to make amends for the damage caused". National newspapers are running a full-page advert with a signed apology from Rupert Murdoch over "serious wrongdoing" by the News of the World.

The advert states: "We are sorry for the serious wrongdoing that occurred."

Rebekah Brooks, a former editor of the paper, and senior News Corporation executive Les Hinton both resigned on Friday over the phone-hacking scandal.

The printed apology expresses regret for not acting faster "to sort things out".

"I realise that simply apologising is not enough. Our business was founded on the idea that a free and open press should be a positive force in society. We need to live up to this.

"In the coming days, as we take further concrete steps to resolve these issues and make amends for the damage they have caused, you will hear more from us", says the statement, signed "sincerely, Rupert Murdoch".

In other developments:

Downing Street revealed that former News of the World editor Andy Coulson stayed at Mr Cameron's official residence Chequers in March, after he resigned from his job as Director of Communications in Downing Street. Mr Coulson was arrested last week as part of the police inquiry into phone-hacking.A list of Mr Cameron's guests at his country retreat showed that he was visited there twice by Mrs Brooks, in June and August last year, as well as once in November by News International chairman James Murdoch and his wife Kathryn.Former deputy prime minister Lord Prescott says Rupert Murdoch is "desperately" trying to save his company, and "ditching everybody else in the process". He said his apology changed nothing and only came about because he is going to be asked questions about his record by MPs next week.The actor Jude Law is suing The Sun newspaper for alleged phone hacking. He's launched legal proceedings over four articles published in 2005 and 2006. A spokesperson for News International called the news "a deeply cynical and deliberately mischievous attempt to draw The Sun into the phone-hacking issue." The apology letter appeared in several Murdoch papers and other titles

Mrs Brooks is expected to appear alongside Rupert and James Murdoch in front of the Commons media select committee on Tuesday to answer MPs questions on the hacking scandal.

She was editor of News of the World between 2000 and 2003, during which time the phone belonging to murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler was tampered with.

In a statement resigning as chief executive of News International, she said she felt a "deep responsibility for the people we have hurt".

She said she wanted to "reiterate how sorry I am for what we now know to have taken place".

Her statement went on: "I have believed that the right and responsible action has been to lead us through the heat of the crisis. However my desire to remain on the bridge has made me a focal point of the debate.

"This is now detracting attention from all our honest endeavours to fix the problems of the past."

Mrs Brooks, 43, who had been with News International for 22 years, bowed to the international pressure piling up on the company.

Prime Minister David Cameron said through a spokesman that her resignation was "the right decision".

She has been replaced by Tom Mockridge, who was in charge of News Corporation's Italian broadcasting arm.

Les Hinton, chief executive of the media group's Dow Jones, was head of News International from 1995 to 2007 and has worked with Rupert Murdoch for more than five decades.

Mr Hinton, the most senior executive to leave the conglomerate, said in a statement that he was "ignorant of what apparently happened" but felt it was proper to resign.

Also on Friday, Rupert Murdoch apologised to Milly Dowler's family at a meeting in London.

The family's solicitor Mark Lewis said the newspaper boss looked very shaken up and upset during the talks, which were arranged at short notice.

He said the Dowlers were surprised his son James Murdoch did not attend and called on the News International chairman to "take some responsibility" in the affair.

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Call to cut back Murdoch empire

17 July 2011 Last updated at 03:11 GMT Ed Miliband said current media ownership rules were "outdated" Labour leader Ed Miliband has called for new media ownership rules to limit the "dangerous" concentration of power in Rupert Murdoch's hands.

Mr Murdoch had an "unhealthy" market share that led to "abuses of power", Mr Miliband told the Observer.

It comes as Mr Murdoch's company, News International, placed a second round of adverts in national newspapers saying how it will address wrongdoing.

Its newspaper, the News of the World, shut amid phone hacking allegations.

With that closure, The Sun, The Times, The Sunday Times and 39% of digital broadcaster BSkyB remain in the News Corporation stable.

Calling for new ownership rules, Mr Miliband said: "I think that we've got to look at the situation whereby one person can own more than 20% of the newspaper market, the Sky platform and Sky News.

"I think it's unhealthy because that amount of power in one person's hands has clearly led to abuses of power within his organisation. If you want to minimise the abuses of power then that kind of concentration of power is frankly quite dangerous."

He told the Observer that current media ownership rules were outdated, describing them as "analogue rules for a digital age" that do not take into account the advent of mass digital and satellite broadcasting.

'Backfired terribly'

Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Police has disputed reports that a journalist arrested over the phone-hacking scandal had arranged a stay at a luxury health resort for its commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson.

Sir Paul Stephenson denied he accepted hospitality from a former News of the World journalist

Scotland Yard made the statement in response to newspaper reports that former News of the World deputy editor Neil Wallis was a PR consultant for Champneys health spa when Sir Paul stayed there earlier this year after an operation.

"The accommodation and meals were arranged and provided by Stephen Purdew, MD of Champneys, who is a personal family friend who has no connection with, or links to, his [Sir Paul's] professional life," the Met said.

Mr Purdew said he was "outraged" at the suggestions that the stay had anything to do with Mr Wallis.

'Rebuild trust'

The advert placed by News International in national newspapers on Sunday describes how the company is "putting right what's gone wrong".

It says it has set up an independent management and standards committee to see how the company can prevent similar instances happening again.

It has also asked law firm Olswang to carry out an investigation and a former High Court judge is overseeing the compensation scheme for hacking victims.

News International still owns three national newspapers after the News of the World was closed

So far, celebrities including actress Sienna Miller and football pundit Andy Gray have accepted damages from the compensation fund, believed to be worth ?20m.

The advert says: "It may take time for us to rebuild trust and confidence, but we are determined to live up to the expectations of our readers, colleagues and partners."

The Liberal Democrats have written to media regulator Ofcom calling for it to investigate whether the owners of the BSkyB licence are "fit and proper" following the allegations around News Corp.

Lib Dem deputy leader Simon Hughes, media spokesman Don Foster and party president Tim Farron asked the watchdog to investigate in light of "the manifest public concern about News International's activities, the close integration of News International with its parent company News Corporation, (and) News Corp's effective control of BSkyB".

A spokeswoman for Ofcom said: "We received this letter early on Friday evening. We will be considering our response next week."

She added that the regulator was continuing to gather information and has already written "to a number of relevant authorities and can confirm that follow-up meetings will now be taking place."

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