Phone-hacking: Murdoch faces new questions

London, Nov 2: New data released by a British Parliamentary committee raises fresh questions about the reliability of embattled media baron Rupert Murdoch's News International's earlier stand that the group's senior management was not aware of phone-hacking before 2008.

The controversy that rocked Britain's politics, press and police earlier this year is back in the news after the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee of the House of Commons last evening released documents that provided new information.

The row was once again front page news today, with The Independent reporting it under the headline, 'Lies, damned lies and News International'. The new information included the mention by a barrister that there was a "culture of illegal information access" in the newsrooms of the media group.

Murdoch's media empire in Britain faced considerable reverses after it emerged that its News of the World tabloid indulged in unethical news-gathering practices to secure information that would then be used in sensational news reports. His son, James Murdoch, now faces further questions after it emerged that the News of the World's own barrister had warned three years ago that there was "overwhelming evidence" that senior journalists were involved in phone- hacking.

PTI