Rebekah Brooks Finally Resigns From News Corp. Over Hacking Scandal

by Colby Hall | 7:54 am, July 15th, 2011

» 37 comments

Rebekah Brooks, the embattled former editor of the now shuttered British tabloid News of the World has resigned her post, less than one week after her newspaper shut down over a phone hacking scandal that seems to grow bigger every day. Brooks had stayed on with News Corp. as the chief executive of Rupert Murdoch’s British newspaper operations. While it appears that her particular job might be over, her role in this investigation is not.

Just yesterday, News Corp. faced further inquiries and calls for corporate-wide investigations in both Great Britain and the United States, while Murdoch and his son James reversed and earlier decision to not testify before a British Parliament’s committee looking into the matter.

While Brooks may be done with her post, her legacy (and apparent ill will with her former staff) appear to linger on. Writing for the NY Times, Sarah Lyall and Alan Cowell report:

But former staffers at The News of the World questioned why she had not resigned earlier. “Our paper was sacrificed to save her career, and now she’s gone as well,” one former staffer said, requesting anonymity because he did not wish to jeopardize his position in severance negotiations following the newspaper’s closure. “Who knows why they’ve chosen to do it now as she’ll have to appear before the select committee anyway.”

Ms. Brooks is to join Mr. Murdoch and his son James to testify on Tuesday before Parliament’s select committee on culture, media and sport, which is the main parliamentary panel investigating the phone hacking. Prime Minister Cameron has called a separate inquiry to be headed by a senior judge.

With next week’s investigation looming, it doesn’t seem like we’ve seen the last of the shocking red hair of Rebekah Brooks in this story.

News Corp., News of the World, Rebekah Brooks, rupert murdoch

TfT

Anonymous sources….

When will Holder resign for obstruction of justice in the gun running incident? Oh never mind, even the tabloids are hardly reporting on that story.

Colby: has CNN commented on Pier’s potential role in all of this? Or are they just reporting it from the FNC/Murdoch perspective? Have you reached out to them for comment? I read they are ignoring the elephant in their own house while reporting on this, and I’m just curious to know if that is true (it was from a source I am not familiar with). thanks.
gefforyk

TfT said:
When will Holder resign for obstruction of justice in the gun running incident

Tit for Tat somehow does not seem to me to be a compelling argument here.. If this type of practice was systemic throughout the Murdock organizations I would expect there will be hell to pay, and rightfully so. But I serously hope that not to be the case as it’s just plain ugly… and on that Holder thing… The AG’s arrogance will sooner or later bring him down.
glenn113

All I watch is Fox News. What’s this all about? Who is Rupert Murdoch?
Dem4Ever

So…the girl who, in 2008, went running down the street waving her hands and shouting, “I love Obama” has been thrown under the bus by Obama…lol
naughtymonkey

It’s about time she resigned.
CosmosDan

Somebody cue “Another One Bites the Dust”
Just4thefax

Fact: She will vindicate herself in court. Rebekah Brooks is innocent to this left wing conspiracy.
Thelonious Funk

I never understood why people thought Carrot Top was so funny anyways.
AmericaSucks

Just4thefax said:
Fact: She will vindicate herself in court. Rebekah Brooks is innocent to this left wing conspiracy.

Fact: That’s a remarkably dim thing to say, given that her crew has ADMITTED that they did wrong.

How is it that you’re getting worse at this rather than better?
kvon

TfT said:
Anonymous sources….

When will Holder resign for obstruction of justice in the gun running incident? Oh never mind, even the tabloids are hardly reporting on that story.

Colby: has CNN commented on Pier’s potential role in all of this? Or are they just reporting it from the FNC/Murdoch perspective? Have you reached out to them for comment? I read they are ignoring the elephant in their own house while reporting on this, and I’m just curious to know if that is true (it was from a source I am not familiar with). thanks.

Hahahahaha…change that subject bud, its the only way your narrative works.
kvon

Just4thefax said:
Fact: She will vindicate herself in court. Rebekah Brooks is innocent to this left wing conspiracy.

I don’t think you understand what the word “fact” means. Ms. Brooks was on the phone using the information attained from tapped phones to coerce members of Parliament.

Check your facts.
kvon

glenn113 said:
All I watch is Fox News. What’s this all about? Who is Rupert Murdoch?

FTW.
Bill Huggins

Just4thefax said:
Fact: She will vindicate herself in court. Rebekah Brooks is innocent to this left wing conspiracy.

FACT: You’re a disgusting creature to try and defend what they did. JUST TRY AND DEFEND WHAT THEY DID FACTMAN. WHY IS IT OK TO HACK THE VOICEMAIL OF

A KIDNAPPED GIRL

DEAD SOLDIERS

9/11 VICTIMS???

FACT: There’s NO WAY IN HELL you can defend that.

NOW GO AHEAD AND TRY
Jaurez

glenn113 said:
All I watch is Fox News. What’s this all about? Who is Rupert Murdoch?

Still blabbering about your make-believe sister? Seek help.
Jaurez

CosmosDan says:

Say, where’s daun?
J Baustian

naughtymonkey said:
It’s about time she resigned.

It probably is time, even though she was working at The Sun from January 2003 until June 2009, not at NOTW.

All the voicemail hacking done by NOTW employees occurred from 2002-2006, so it is unlikely she was involved in any of it directly. But in the current environment, she is guilty by association.
J Baustian

AmericaSucks said:
Just4thefax said:
Fact: She will vindicate herself in court. Rebekah Brooks is innocent to this left wing conspiracy.
.
Fact: That’s a remarkably dim thing to say, given that her crew has ADMITTED that they did wrong.

The NOTW crew was not her crew. She was working at The Sun 2003-2009.
J Baustian

kvon said:
Ms. Brooks was on the phone using the information attained from tapped phones to coerce members of Parliament.

This scandal has nothing to do with phone-tapping. It involves breaking into voicemail records.
J Baustian

Bill Huggins said:
Just4thefax said:
Fact: She will vindicate herself in court. Rebekah Brooks is innocent to this left wing conspiracy.
.
FACT: You’re a disgusting creature to try and defend what they did. JUST TRY AND DEFEND WHAT THEY DID FACTMAN. WHY IS IT OK TO HACK THE VOICEMAIL OF
A KIDNAPPED GIRL
DEAD SOLDIERS
9/11 VICTIMS???
FACT: There’s NO WAY IN HELL you can defend that.

Since the scandal involves wrong-doing at the News of the World, and Brooks was working at The Sun, she has a pretty good alibi. Air-tight, in fact.
kvon

J Baustian said:
This scandal has nothing to do with phone-tapping. It involves breaking into voicemail records.

I misspoke, but the cystic fibrosis of Gordon Brown’s young child was discussed by Rebekah Brooks openly. That information was attained through phone hacking.
kvon

J Baustian said:
Since the scandal involves wrong-doing at the News of the World, and Brooks was working at The Sun, she has a pretty good alibi. Air-tight, in fact.

Rebekah Brooks was the News of the World’s editor in 2002.

You are obviously a Fox News fan.
kvon

J Baustian said:
The NOTW crew was not her crew. She was working at The Sun 2003-2009.

But from 2000-2002 when the hacking of 9/11 victims phones were happening, she was EDITOR at NOTW.
kvon

J Baustian said:
It probably is time, even though she was working at The Sun from January 2003 until June 2009, not at NOTW.

All the voicemail hacking done by NOTW employees occurred from 2002-2006, so it is unlikely she was involved in any of it directly. But in the current environment, she is guilty by association.

Your ignorance is amazing. She was at NOTW from 2000-2002.
J Baustian

kvon said:
J Baustian said:
This scandal has nothing to do with phone-tapping. It involves breaking into voicemail records.
.
I misspoke, but the cystic fibrosis of Gordon Brown’s young child was discussed by Rebekah Brooks openly. That information was attained through phone hacking.

After the story was published, most everyone in Britain had access to the information and could discuss it.

The baby was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis in November 2006, and the story was reported in The Sun later that month. Rebekah Brooks was not working at The Sun at that time. And apparently the information was not obtained through the hacking of phones or voicemail. but through the usual methods employed by private detectives.
J Baustian

kvon said:
J Baustian said:
The NOTW crew was not her crew. She was working at The Sun 2003-2009.
.
But from 2000-2002 when the hacking of 9/11 victims phones were happening, she was EDITOR at NOTW.

Not exactly. She was the editor at NOTW in 2002, when the voicemail hacking most likely began. All the accounts I’ve seen indicate that it began in 2002 and ran until 2006 when arrests and firings began. It could have started earlier, but I haven’t seen that anywhere.

So there was some overlap — Brooks was working for the company when some of the crimes were committed. But remember, NOTW was the largest-circulation English-language newspaper in the world — I cannot even imagine how many employees it had at the time.

Brooks was succeeded as editor by Andy Coulson, and he has been arrested. I’m sure that if the wrongdoing began before he took over as editor, that information will soon come out.

As for 9/11 victims… I’ve seen nothing about this except conjecture. I think it is a pure invention.. I know there was a lot of interest about the final messages people had left before they died; but the people who had received this voicemail messages were releasing them themselves. I don’t think anyone hacked into them, either in the US or UK.
J Baustian

kvon said:
J Baustian said:
It probably is time, even though she was working at The Sun from January 2003 until June 2009, not at NOTW.
All the voicemail hacking done by NOTW employees occurred from 2002-2006, so it is unlikely she was involved in any of it directly. But in the current environment, she is guilty by association.
.
Your ignorance is amazing. She was at NOTW from 2000-2002.

Sorry, but I do not understand. We seem to be in agreement regarding the basic facts and dates, yet you accuse me of ignorance. If you and I both know the same things, and you are amazed by my ignorance, then are you also amazed by your own?
kvon

J Baustian said:
Sorry, but I do not understand. We seem to be in agreement regarding the basic facts and dates, yet you accuse me of ignorance. If you and I both know the same things, and you are amazed by my ignorance, then are you also amazed by your own?

The hackings took place 2000-2003, Rebekah Brooks was in charge, EDITOR of NOTW from 2000-2002
http://victoryinamericaday-11210.blogspot.com/ Bob Uda

This is proof that we need freedom “from” the press instead of freedom “of” the press. The press has relinquished their reason for being, which is to protect the people by keeping the three branches of government honest. Now, we need to keep the press/media honest. Shameful!
http://www.facebook.com/people/Catherine-Coy/1207016798 Catherine Coy

Apologies by News Corporation executives abound, but the practical reality is that now is the time to purge the world of the evil influence of Rupert Murdoch. If entire countries (Egypt, Syria, Libya) can excise its evil, society can reject Murdoch’s hideous control of practically the entire English-speaking world’s media.

If you value an independent media comprised of ethical and responsible journalists, you can do your part by not purchasing or patronizing anything controlled by the News Corporation. Here’s a complete list of News Corporation holdings.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/News_Corporation#Holdings

Please do your part. There will likely never be another opportunity to have your voice so widely or forcefully heard.
TfT

Oh brother Cahterine – who are you working for? George Soros of Van Jones?
http://www.facebook.com/people/Catherine-Coy/1207016798 Catherine Coy

Bob Uda @ July 15, 2011 at 3:32 pm says: Now, we need to keep the press/media honest.

I agree with John C. Merrill, Professor of Journalism at the University of Missouri: journalists need to professionalize.

Professionalization: Fusion of Media Freedom and Responsibility

http://lass.calumet.purdue.edu/cca/gmj/sp05/gmj-sp05-merrill.htm
http://www.facebook.com/people/Catherine-Coy/1207016798 Catherine Coy

If George Soros or Van Jones committed the same crimes, I’d want to throw those bums out, too. Try to keep your ideology out of the conversation, eh?
Bill Huggins

THATS WHAT I THOUGHT FACTMAN
Yoda002

The ship continues to lean as it begins to sink.
J Baustian

kvon said:
J Baustian said:
Sorry, but I do not understand. We seem to be in agreement regarding the basic facts and dates, yet you accuse me of ignorance. If you and I both know the same things, and you are amazed by my ignorance, then are you also amazed by your own?
The hackings took place 2000-2003, Rebekah Brooks was in charge, EDITOR of NOTW from 2000-2002

That is incorrect — the voicemail hackings occurred from 2002-2006. If any occurred before 2002, please provide a link to your source.
J Baustian

Catherine Coy said:
If you value an independent media comprised of ethical and responsible journalists, you can do your part by not purchasing or patronizing anything controlled by the News Corporation. Here’s a complete list of News Corporation holdings.

Translation: “If you value an independent media, then join in a boycott of the only news organization that provides an alternative to the government propaganda machine.”

You want to destroy the only major news organization that is independent of all the others?

What about a regard for the virtues of a free press? Because of the actions of a small number of people at NOTW, a division of News Group Newspapers Ltd., a division of News International, which is a division of NewsCorp, you want to destroy NewsCorp?

This is amazing hypocrisy.

Following this line of reasoning, President Obama is criminally liable for the actions of a GS-11 at the BATFE office in Phoenix.
J Baustian

Catherine Coy said:
If George Soros or Van Jones committed the same crimes, I’d want to throw those bums out, too. Try to keep your ideology out of the conversation, eh?

There is no reason for all the piling-on except for ideology. Similar or worse activities have happened at many print and broadcast companies.