Rebekah Brooks, the chief executive of News Corp.'s British newspaper division, resigned today as the phone hacking scandal fallout continues to boil in the United Kingdom and has started to simmer in the U.S. The departure of Brooks, who was once the editor of now-closed tabloid The News of the World whose reporters allegedly hacked the phones of celebrities, politicians, murder victims, dead soldiers, and, possibly, 9/11 victims, as well as bribed police, is called a "another stunning blow to [Rupert] Murdoch’s once all-powerful empire" by the NY Times. And Times competitor, the News Corp.-owned Wall Street Journal, reports, "Ms. Brooks's resignation is the latest development in what has been a dramatic series of events."
Brooks said in a statement, "As chief executive of the company, I feel a deep sense of responsibility for the people we have hurt and I want to reiterate how sorry I am for what we now know to have taken place. 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."
Brooks, who is described as a "ruthless, charming, super-schmoozer," climbed her way from being a receptionist at the tabloid to becoming like a daughter to News Corp. owner Rupert Murdoch. In fact, Murdoch's support of Brooks had suggested that she wouldn't have to step down, but now several former News of the World employees and contractors have been arrested—including a former editor who later become Prime Minister David Cameron's communications director briefly—and the FBI is investigating claims of phone hacking in the United States. Brooks, whose antics have included dressing up as a cleaning woman so she could hide out in a rival newspaper's offices in order to steal a first edition and use material for News of the World, claims she had no idea about the hacking.
Now there are rumors that Murdoch's son—and once-rumored heir apparent—James should step down as chairman of British broadcaster BSkyB.
