Chase Carey of News Corporation, said in a statement, “We believed that the proposed acquisition of BSkyB by News Corporation would benefit both companies, but it has become clear that it is too difficult to progress in this climate.”
Meanwhile, British Prime Minister David Cameron has announced the appointment of judge Lord Justice Leveson to head an inquiry into phone hacking. His inquiry will have two parts: a full review of the regulation of the press, which will be completed within 12 months; and an investigation into the wrongdoing of the press and police during the phone-hacking scandal.
Cameron told Parliament that Lord Justice Leveson’s work, assisted by a panel of senior independent figures, will begin. The scope of their work will be deep. It will inquire into and make recommendations regarding the culture and ethics of the press, their relationship with the police and politicians, the failure of the current regulatory system, and the issue of cross-media ownership.
“The second part of the inquiry will examine the extent of unlawful or improper conduct at the News of the World and other newspapers and the way in which management failures may have allowed this to happen,” said Cameron. Included will be a look at the issue of police corruption in the case.
Cameron described the current state of affairs as a ”firestorm … that is engulfing parts of the media, parts of the police, and indeed, our political system’s ability to respond.”
Currently, the U.K. press voluntarily adheres to the rulings of the Press Complaints Commission (PCC), a body headed by editors of major news organizations and by independent members. The PCC, however, holds no legal power.
The PCC said in a statement that it “welcomes the announcement of the terms of the inquiry into media ethics.”
Last week, the commission issued a statement making clear its intention to review its own constitution and funding arrangements, the range of sanctions available to it, and its practical independence.
It also made it clear that the body must stay independent from the government.
“We welcome the consensus of Parliament that the model of regulation for the press should continue to be a nonstatutory one,” said the PCC statement.
Lord Levenson said, “The inquiry must balance the desire for a robustly free press with the rights of the individual while, at the same time, ensuring that critical relationships between the press, Parliament, the government, and the police are maintained.
Calls for Inquiry in US
In the United States, where the Australian media mogul’s News Corp. also has extensive holdings ranging from Fox News to the Wall Street Journal, some politicians are also calling for an inquiry into allegations that phones of 9/11 victims and other Americans were included in the list of the numbers that were hacked.
On Tuesday, Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, called for such an inquiry.
“The reported hacking by News Corporation newspapers against a range of individuals—including children—is offensive and a serious breach of journalistic ethics,” said a statement by Rockefeller. He added that if the News Corp. journalists were found to have done this, “the consequences will be severe.”
On Wednesday, Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) added his voice to Rockefeller’s sending a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder urging him to thoroughly investigate the accusations.
“The U.S. government must ensure that victims in the United States have not been subjected to illegal and unconscionable actions by these newspapers seeking to exploit information about their personal tragedies for profit,” wrote the senator.
