Good morning and welcome to another day of live coverage of the phone-hacking scandal.
Here's a quick summary of recent developments:
Rupert Murdoch has used an interview with one of his papers — the Wall Street Journal — to defend News Corporation's management of the crisis as he gears up to appear before a commons media select committee next Tuesday. These are the salient points from the interview:
• The company has handled the crisis "extremely well" and made only "minor mistakes"
• His son James reacted "as fast as he could, the moment he could"
• Some of the things said in parliament are "total lies"
• Gordon Brown "got it entirely wrong" when he accused NI of illegally obtaining information about him and his family
• Report that he is mulling over a sell-off of his newspaper assets are "pure and total rubbish"
• The avalanche of adverse publicity is annoying him, but: "I'll get over it"
Meanwhile, the FBI has announced an inquiry into claims that News of the World journalists also tried to hack into the phones of victims of the 9/11 attacks in New York.
Nature is not alone in abhorring a (relative) vacuum. With the News of the World laid to rest, the Daily Mail & General Trust is reportedly planning a mass-market Sunday tabloid to plug the gap.
This from Reuters:
A source close to the situation said the newspaper group's Associated Newspapers national titles division would do an internal dummy run this weekend and would launch the following weekend if it was a success. The Daily Mail group did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Daily Mail already publishes the Mail on Sunday for the mid-market, which it dominates. Its circulation was 1.9 million in May, the latest month for which figures are available.
Names under consideration for the new Sunday title are The Sunday and The Sunday Lite, the source said, adding that ex-Sun editor Kelvin MacKenzie had been mooted as a columnist.
The Telegraph, meanwhile, has picked up on an interview that Jean Charles de Menezes's cousin has given to the Brazilian newspaper O Globo. (It emerged yesterday that the cousin, Alex Pereira, has been told that his phone may also have been hacked.)
Pereira says:
[Murdoch's] paper has survived on the misery and suffering of many people. It's not possible to let this go easily. The misfortune of others was the happiness of the man.
People, when using the internet, the telephone, hope that the conversation is between the person and the person on the other side. Then imagine that there is someone else involved, and with the intention of making money, and you cannot let this go easily.
Here's a nice New York Times profile of Murdoch's righthand man of 50 years, Les Hinton.
In March 2003, a committee of the House of Commons summoned the executive in charge of Rupert Murdoch's British newspapers to a hearing and put him on the spot about aggressive tabloid reporting tactics.
'Is it time to clean up your act?' demanded one member of Parliament. Les Hinton, the executive chairman of News International at the time, was indignant in his reply. 'Clean up our act? Are you saying we're dirty?'
With revelations that some within News International's ranks were not only dirty but criminal, Mr. Hinton is coming under scrutiny for what he did and did not know when he ran the company from 1995 until 2007, the period when the most egregious known examples of voice mail hacking by News International employees took place …
Unconfirmed reports suggest Rebekah Brooks has just resigned from News International … More as soon as we have it.
This, via Twitter, from David Rose at the Times:
Rebekah Brooks: "I have given Rupert and James Murdoch my resignation.... this time my resignation has been accepted" #notw #hacking
News International have just confirmed that Rebekah Brooks has resigned.
Here's the statement Brooks emailed to staff:
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.
Therefore I have given Rupert and James Murdoch my resignation. While it has been a subject of discussion, this time my resignation has been accepted.
Rupert's wisdom, kindness and incisive advice has guided me throughout my career and James is an inspirational leader who has shown me great loyalty and friendship.
I would like to thank them both for their support.
Here is a longer version of Rebekah Brooks's resignation statement:
At News International we pride ourselves on setting the news agenda for the right reasons. Today we are leading the news for the wrong ones.
The reputation of the company we love so much, as well as the press freedoms we value so highly, are all at risk.
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.
Therefore I have given Rupert and James Murdoch my resignation. While it has been a subject of discussion, this time my resignation has been accepted.
Rupert's wisdom, kindness and incisive advice has guided me throughout my career and James is an inspirational leader who has shown me great loyalty and friendship.
I would like to thank them both for their support.
I have worked here for 22 years and I know it to be part of the finest media company in the world.
News International is full of talented, professional and honourable people. I am proud to have been part of the team and lucky to know so many brilliant journalists and media executives.
I leave with the happiest of memories and an abundance of friends.
As you can imagine recent times have been tough. I now need to concentrate on correcting the distortions and rebutting the allegations about my record as a journalist, an editor and executive.
My resignation makes it possible for me to have the freedom and the time to give my full cooperation to all the current and future inquiries, the police investigations and the CMS appearance.
I am so grateful for all the messages of support. I have nothing but overwhelming respect for you and our millions of readers.
I wish every one of you all the best.
Rebekah
Interesting to compare Brooks's resignation language:
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.
With that of Andy Coulson as he left No 10:
Unfortunately, continued coverage of events connected to my old job at the News of the World has made it difficult for me to give the 110% needed in this role.I stand by what I've said about those events but when the spokesman needs a spokesman, it's time to move on.
Tom Mockridge, the head of Sky Italia, will replace Brooks as chief executive of News International, according to reports.
John Whittingdale, the chair of the Commons media committee, has just been speaking to Sky News:
I think this is the right decision. I think many people expected it to come rather sooner ... I think it is the right thing for her to have done ... This was inevitable but it was the right thing.
James Murdoch has just made a comment:
I am writing to update you on the actions we have been taking as a company ... Earlier today Rebekah Brooks resigned ... I understand her position and I want to think her for her 22 years with the company
He said he supported her as she took this step to "clear her name".
Whittingdale is still planning to "ask her the same questions" on Tuesday and said her resignation does not change that. But it makes it more important that Rupert and James Murdoch will be at the committee.
The Daily Telegraph reported this morning that Elisabeth Murdoch, Rupert Murdoch's daughter, is said to have attacked Brooks to friends.
Miss Murdoch, who is set to be given a seat on the board of her father's News Corp empire, told friends that Mrs Brooks had "f----- the company".
James Murdoch's letter confirms that Tom Mockridge will be the next chief executive of News International. He also announces the apology advertising campaign mentioned by the Guardian yesterday.
What the Sky website has to say about Tom Mockridge:
Thomas Mockridge was appointed as a Director of the Company on 10 February 2009. Mr Mockridge is the CEO of Sky Italia and Chief Executive, European Television of News Corporation where he oversees News Corporation's television operations in Europe, outside the UK. Prior to joining Sky Italia, Mr Mockridge held various roles at Star Group Limited and was previously CEO of Foxtel, News Corporation's Pay-TV joint venture with Telstra.
Labour frontbencher Chris Bryant, who has been a leading critic of News International over the phone-hacking scandal, said Rebekah Brooks should have left before. He told Sky News:
I think it is right that she goes. I think she should have gone a very long time ago. Frankly, she should have gone when she said she had paid police officers for information back in 2003.
I thought it was disgraceful when the newspaper last week was closed as a way of trying to protect Rebekah Brooks and then Mr [Rupert] Murdoch saying that she was his priority. It felt like those in the boiler room were carrying the can for those who were really at the helm of the ship.
Here's News Corporation's statement on the appointment of Tom Mockridge as Rebekah Brooks's replacement:
News Corporation today announced the appointment of Tom Mockridge to the role of Chief Executive Officer of News International.
Mr Mockridge will assume responsibility for his new role with immediate effect following the resignation of Rebekah Brooks.
Mr Mockridge joins News International from Sky Italia where he has been Chief Executive Officer since launch in 2003. He was also Chief Executive European Television of News Corporation, overseeing News Corporation's television operations in Europe, outside of the UK.
Laura Cioli, Chief Operating Officer, and Domenico Labianca, Chief Finance Officer, will assume Mr Mockridge's responsibilities on an interim basis, reporting to James Murdoch, Deputy Chief Operating Officer and Chairman and CEO, International, News Corporation.
Prior to joining Sky Italia, Mr Mockridge was Chief Executive of the publicly-listed New Zealand company, Independent Newspapers, and Chairman of Sky New Zealand.
He previously held various roles at Star Group Limited and spent three years as Chief Executive Officer of Foxtel, News Corporation's Australian pay TV joint venture.
Mr Mockridge joined News Corporation in January 1991, working for Ken Cowley, Chairman and Chief Executive of the Australian newspaper company News Limited.
Before that, he was a spokesperson in the Australian government. He started his career as a newspaper journalist in New Zealand.
Mr Mockridge is also a non-executive director of BSkyB and a member of the Supervisory Board of Sky Deutschland.
James Murdoch, Deputy Chief Operating Officer and Chairman and CEO, International, News Corporation, said: 'Tom is an outstanding executive with unrivalled experience across our journalism and television businesses.
He has proven himself to be a very effective operator in his time at Sky Italia.
Under his leadership, Sky has grown to become one of the world's most successful pay TV businesses, reaching close to 5 million homes and launching channels like TG24 which has set a new standard for independent journalism in Italy.
I believe that Tom is the best person to move the company forward to a brighter future.
Ed Miliband has just said: "It is right that Rebekah Brooks has resigned. No one should exercise power without responsibility."
Here's Ben Dowell's news story on Brooks's resignation.
More from John Whittingdale, the media committee chairman.
Every day has brought another extraordinary revelation ... It is moving beyond this country; you've got the American investigation starting.
If she had gone earlier, might the News of the World not been closed?
I don't know whether or not it would but I do think she should have gone earlier.
She should have gone when it was revealed that Milly Dowler's phone had been hacked when she was editor, he says.
Editors ultimately bear responsibility, and that was such an appalling act.
On what his own committee has achieved during this scandal, he said: "I am encouraged that parliament has exerted its authority."
Photograph: Rafiq Maqbool/AP
Here's the full statement sent by James Murdoch (left), the chief executive of News Corp in Europe, to News International staff:
I am writing to update you on the actions we have been taking as a company to solve the problems at News International relating to the News of the World, in addition to continuing to co-operate fully and actively with the police and settling civil claims.
Earlier today, Rebekah Brooks resigned from her position as CEO. I understand her decision and I want to thank her for her 22 years of service to the company. She has been one of the outstanding editors of her generation and she can be proud of many accomplishments as an executive. We support her as she takes this step to clear her name.
We have created an independent management and standards committee and I want to emphasise its importance. The committee has direct governance and oversight from News Corporation board members and is codifying standards that will be clear and enforced.
We made the difficult and necessary decision to close the News of the World.
A number of other executives have now left the company.
News Corporation also withdrew its proposal to acquire the shares in BSkyB it does not own. This is a strong signal that our top priority in the UK is to address the issues facing News International.
Looking to the future, I am also pleased to tell you that Tom Mockridge will become CEO of News International. Tom is in London today and will start right away. Tom is a highly respected and accomplished media executive who has served as CEO of Sky Italia since its launch in 2003.
Tom, who has also been in charge of our European television business, started his career as a newspaper journalist in New Zealand and he has held a range of top roles in the newspaper industry. The creation of TG-24, Italy's only truly independent 24 hours news channel, is a credit to Tom's leadership and integrity.
This weekend, News International will run advertisements in all national newspapers. We will apologise to the nation for what has happened. We will follow this up in the future with communications about the actions we have taken to address the wrongdoing that occurred.
We are also sending letters to our commercial partners with an update on the actions we are taking.
Next week, my father and I will appear before the CMS [culture, media and sport] select committee and will speak to them directly about our determination to put things right.
The company has made mistakes. It is not only receiving appropriate scrutiny, but is also responding to unfair attacks by setting the record straight.
I would like to conclude by saying thank you. Throughout this time, you have gotten out great papers every day and have stayed focused. I am deeply grateful for that.
The promise to "apologise to the nation" dovetails with Brooks's own statement, in which she says she wants to "reiterate how sorry I am for what we now know to have taken place". It adds up to a more contrite tone from News International, and particularly contrasts with the final edition of the News of the World, which was bullish about what it seemed to consider its glorious past.
Here's some instant analysis from my colleague Matt Wells, a former editor of MediaGuardian.
A problem that News Corporation has faced throughout this saga is its inability to get on the front foot. Rebekah Brooks's resignation should have been accepted when she first apparently offered it, a week ago. James and Rupert Murdoch should have accepted the invitation to appear in front of the select committee when it was first issued, rather than have to be served a summons by parliamentary officials. News Corp is still focused on sorting out a problem in the UK when the storm clouds are gathering around Les Hinton in the US. The FBI has just launched a criminal investigation and Democrat senators are champing at the bit.
I wonder if it's too late? The credibility of so many senior executives in News Corporation is now under serious question. James Murdoch's bid to lead the company after his father must now be in ruins. Rebekah Brooks can surely have no future in News Corp (Elisabeth Murdoch, the smart daughter who made a success of her own company, Shine, apparently said Brooks had "fucked" the company).
If the allegations that anyone in News Corp hacked the phones of 9/11 victims prove to be true, that would be an emotional supercharge to the story many times more powerful than the Milly Dowler effect in the UK.
When the Dowler story broke in the UK I said I thought this story could go anywhere. With parliamentary hearings next week in the UK, the hawks circling in the US, and Rupert Murdoch appearing to have lost his legendary sure footing, I am absolutely sure now that we're only at the start of this. Carl Bernstein said this week, comparing the scandal to Watergate, that it was evident to him that the events of the past week "are the beginning, not the end, of the seismic event".
Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA
Here's Ed Miliband's full statement. Miliband (left) attacks Rupert Murdoch directly for not having apologised for News Corp's failings. "He clearly still doesn't get it."
It is right that Rebekah Brooks has finally taken responsibility for the terrible events that happened on her watch, like the hacking of Milly Dowler's phone.
No one in this country should exercise power without responsibility.
But as I said when I called for her resignation 10 days ago, this is not just about one individual but about the culture of an organisation.
Rupert Murdoch says that News Corp has handled these allegations "extremely well". He still hasn't apologised to the innocent victims of hacking. He clearly still doesn't get it.
When he comes to House of Commons next week, people will expect him to start taking some responsibility and apologise for the illegal actions which happened in his organisation.
Giles Coren of the Times gives a forthright defence of Brooks.
I like Rebekah Brooks. She's a good person, and i'm sad that she's gone. And I don't give a flying fuck what Twitter thinks.
In the wake of the last half hour, it's well worth revisiting Esther Addley's excellent profile of Brooks.
On BBC News, Peter Preston, the former editor of the Guardian, says it looks as if "no one's in charge" at News Corp: in Rupert Murdoch's Wall Street Journal interview last night he played down the crisis (the company had made only "minor mistakes" in its handling of the fallout, he said), and now one of his closest allies has stepped down over it. On Tuesday at the select committee, how can Murdoch show he is in command of the facts and the organisation, Preston asks.
"Tom is very politically interested," said former colleague and current COO of Fox International Channels David Haslingden. "He understands the various political agendas. Wherever he goes – whether it's New Zealand, Hong Kong or Italy – he has a good understanding of what's going on politically and that's very helpful." Certainly, in a country like Italy, political savvy goes a long way.
Mockridge may have cut his political teeth in the world of Australian politics, but it was straight after leaving Keating's office in 1991 and entering the Murdoch empire that he first learned about the politics of the media business.
In that year he became assistant to the CEO of News Limited in Australia, Murdoch's holding company that owns all his newspaper interests in that country. Mockridge was there for five years before moving as CEO to Foxtel, News Corp's Australian pay-TV group.
Three years later he moved to Hong Kong at the height of the dotcom craziness. There Mockridge worked on putting together a new-media joint venture between News Corp and Hong Kong Telecom that would work alongside Murdoch's Asian pay satellite TV business, Star TV.
This was followed by a short stint as CEO of Independent Newspapers, the largest news-paper group in New Zealand, and part owned by News Corp. This was a very important, high-profile job as Mockridge set about rationalising the company. Concurrent with this he was president of a related company, Sky New Zealand, the outfit's pay-TV arm.
When Mockridge arrived in Italy in September 2002 to run Stream, a recent addition to News Corp's European pay-TV holdings, he had certainly earned Murdoch's trust.
Taking on a man as powerful as Berlusconi might end in a quick knockout against many more-easily intimidated TV bosses. Tom Mockridge, however, is not your average opponent.
According to friends and colleagues in the TV world, he has "all the best attributes of Australian managers and not many of the bad ones". Sounds like Mockridge vs Berlusconi could go the full 15 rounds.
It is notable that Brooks's resignation comes the day after Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal Alsaud, the second largest shareholder in News Corporation, appeared to call for Rebekah Brooks to resign on the BBC's Newsnight if she was found to have been involved.
If the indications are for her involvement in this matter is explicit, for sure she has to go, you bet she has to go. Ethics for me are very important, definitely. I will not accept … to deal with a company that has a lady or a man that has any sliver of doubts on her or his integrity.
Alsaud said he understood that it was impossible for James Murdoch to have known what was going on "at the News of the World level".
1.53pm correction: I originally wrote that Alsaud appeared to have called for Brooks's resignation. But it seems the BBC's clip skips slightly, missing off the word "if" from the beginning of his sentence. This has been corrected. Apologies.
Earlier this year, Tom Mockridge, Brooks's replacement, was accused of making a "sham offer" to Al Gore's Current TV to make it look like News Corporation, Sky Italia's owner, was engaged in normal commercial negotiations – when in fact the Murdoch-controlled media group had decided to drop the channel for what Current TV claimed are political reasons. Dan Sabbagh reported on the dispute at the time.
Here's a statement from the Hacked Off Campaign, which represents phone-hacking victims:
The Hacked Off Campaign's main focus is on getting an inquiry with the right scope, powers and timescale to get to the truth, but all the victims we have spoken to have told us that they cannot see how Rebekah Brooks could remain in her job given what has so far been revealed.
The key issue is not however whether Rebekah Brooks is in work, but whether she lied to parliament, told the full truth to the police or was engaged in a massive cover up. That is what we want the victims want to know.
According to Left Foot Forward, four in five voters want a review of all Murdoch's media outlets.
Key quotes from Rebekah Brooks as the scandal has unfolded, including this from 2009:
The Guardian coverage, we believe, has substantially and likely deliberately misled the British public. It is rushing out high volumes of coverage and repeating allegations by such sources as unnamed Met officers implying that "thousands" of individuals were the object of illegal phone hacking, an assertion that is roundly contradicted by the Met Commissioner's statement yesterday.
My colleague Andrew Sparrow has just come out of the No 10 lobby briefing. Here's what they're saying about Rebekah Brooks's resignation.
David Cameron thinks Brooks's resignation is "the right decision", the prime minister's spokesman said. Cameron said that that he would have accepted Brooks's resignation last week, when it was first reported that she offered to quit.
Cameron has not spoken to Brooks since she resigned and the spokesman said he did not want to comment on the matter of whether Cameron considered her a personal friend.
"[The prime minister] has been very clear about the issue of the relationship to politicians and the media and the fact that in the past it has been too cosy," the spokesman said.
No 10 also indicated that Cameron does not agree with Rupert Murdoch's claim in his Wall Street Journal today that News Corporation has handled the crisis "extremely well in every way possible".
The spokesman said: "Clearly there have been mistakes made. There are a lot of questions to answer."
The Liberal Democrats have just put out a statement from Don Foster MP:
At along last Rebekah Brooks has made the right decision, but it is far too late.
It was disgraceful that Rupert Murdoch, when he arrived in the UK, said that his top priority was Rebekah Brooks rather than the people who had been affected by the alleged illegal activity of a small number of his staff.
Brooks' resignation should not deflect attention from the police inquiry and the other judicial inquiries which must progress as quickly as possible so we can sort out this mess and return to having confidence in our media.
Ed Miliband has just been speaking on Sky News. He says of Rupert Murdoch:
I hope when he goes before the [media] select committee on Tuesday he starts taking some responsibility for what has been happening in his organisation.
Miliband was asked about the fact Sir Paul Stephenson, the head of the Metropolitan police, employed Neil Wallis, the former News of the World executive editor, as an adviser last year during a period when Scotland Yard rejected calls for the reopening of a criminal investigation into the interception of voicemails. Wallis was arrested by the current police phone-hacking inquiry, Operation Weeting, yesterday. The Labour leader said:
Sir Paul Stephenson has questions he needs to answer about his relationship with Neil Wallis ... and the judgements he made about employing Neil Wallis.
Miliband said "the most important thing is that the police get to the bottom of what happened but also that News International becomes an organisation that starts to understand the gravity of what happened and the scale of wrongdoing ... I haven't seen that recognition from Rupert Murdoch or his organisation."
Brooks should have resigned "straight away", he says.
It looks like an organisation that hasn't woken up to how people feel, he says.
By chance, peers are holding a debate in the Lords today on the behaviour of News International. My colleague Andrew Sparrow has been listening. He says that Lord Fowler, the former Tory cabinet minister who chairs the Lords communications committee, opened the debate by saying that he had been calling for a public inquiry for ages.
It is one of the extraordinary features of the whole phone hacking scandal just how long it has taken to agree that a public inquiry was necessary. Obviously, I think of my own experience. Since January I have asked questions on the floor of this House. And on five occasions I've been told more or less politely to jump in the Thames.
Fowler said governments in the past had been afraid to take on Rupert Murdoch.
The aim of both main parties has to get his support. Mr [Tony] Blair famously flew to Australia in search of his support and Lady Thatcher also had the same goal, although at least she expected him to come to her.
Lord Prescott, Lord Lamont and Lord Birt are among those speaking in the debate later.
Labour MP Chris Bryant, who has been particularly vocal about phone hacking, has written a piece for Comment is free saying that Brooks's contention that it was "inconceivable" that she would know about the hacking of Milly Dowler's phone "simply doesn't wash". "Her paper actually referred to one of the messages on Milly Dowler's phone in a story they ran at the time," he writes.
It is also "inconceivable" that she didn't know what was going on in her paper. Large sums of money were being paid to the private investigator Glenn Mulcaire. What did she think they were getting in return? And how did she think the scoops she was running had been sourced? Many of them were potentially actionable. Surely she checked? If she did know, she's been lying all this time – and if she didn't she's been culpably negligent.
Bryant adds that questions remain:
Was the News Corporation board notified of the payments to Clifford and Taylor? When did Brooks and James Murdoch know that the argument that this was not the work of a sole rogue reporter was completely untenable? And most importantly, has News Corporation, in its complete managerial ineptitude and moral turpitude, not proven itself wholly unsuitable to own any share of a British media company?
John Hooper writes from Rome about Tom Mockridge, who now replaces Rebekah Brooks as News International's chief executive. It is hard to think of anyone in News Corp less like the flame-haired, controversy-prone Brooks than Mockridge, the head of its Italian operations, John writes.
A model of discretion, he is seldom noticed in public and rarely gives interviews. I have spoken to him only once, and there are plenty of correspondents in Rome and Milan who could not even say that.
The nearest he has come to a scandal recently was in May of this year when the chief executive of Al Gore's Current TV claimed Mockridge had said there would be no problem renewing its distribution deal, a month before News Corp dropped the channel for allegedly political reasons.
Otherwise, Mockridge, who is married to an Italian, cuts a studiously anodyne figure on the otherwise tumultuous Italian media landscape. It is typical of his style that his company will let you know that he met his wife after coming to Italy; that she is called Lucia, and that they have two children. Her surname? "I think that would be going too far".
Pressed for an anecdote about Mockridge, someone who works closely with him said the best-known one in the company was that he had originally been told by Murdoch to pop over to Italy "for a few days". That was in 2002.
The company he has created since is equally uncontroversial. Whatever Murdoch's personal political preferences, he knows a business opportunity when he sees one. And in a country where six out of the seven terrestrial channels were pumping out patently biased news and current affairs, there was a raging appetite for impartiality. Sky Italia's TG24 all-news channel defines the term "plain vanilla".
The nine often tense years that Mockridge has been at the helm have made almost superhuman demands on his diplomatic skills. Successive Berlusconi governments have passed legislation whose effect has been to undermine News Corp's satellite TV operation.
But, for the most part, Mockridge has studiously avoided drawing the obvious conclusion. See, for example, an interview he did last year with the Financial Times.
Before coming to Italy, Mockridge headed Murdoch's newspaper and satellite TV businesses in New Zealand, which is where he was born. He started his career as a newspaper journalist there, but he also had a spell as an Australian government spokesperson.
A few weeks ago, and before the dropping of the bid for BSkyB, I picked up on a rumour that Murdoch was considering moving Mockridge to Britain to put him in charge of the resulting all-News Corp firm.
Asked about his management style, a person who works closely with Tom Mockridge said:
"I think you would have to define it as quiet. And that is rare in a country where every company sooner or later comes to be represented by a person. He is very quick and very intelligent but very polite. But definitely no-nonsense. If people start to ramble, he cuts them off."
Other details: He moved his offices to Milan to as to put distance between himself and the hothouse atmosphere of Italian politics. My source added: "I think it is likely that has has never gone to dinner with an Italian politician. Nor, in fact, does he hang out with other industrialists."
Here's a gallery of pictures from Rebekah Brooks's career, in which you can see the now-ex-News International chief with the Queen, Tony Blair, Prince William and Prince Charles, among others.
Lord Prescott was just speaking in the Lords. He said News International was in danger of becoming "Crime International". Andrew Sparrow will have more shortly.
Here's Brooks's resignation statement deciphered and annotated.
Michelle Stanistreet, general secretary of the National Union of Journalists, said:
This is too little too late. We all know she has worked hand-in-glove with James Murdoch and they are equally culpable in terms of the cover-up. This will be cold comfort to the hundreds of journalists who have lost their jobs at the News of the World.
In the Lords, Lord Prescott has just delivered a speech in which he described Rebekah Brooks's resignation as "a step towards responsible journalism". My colleague Andrew Sparrow was listening. He's sent me this.
Prescott is one of the few politicians who have been campaigning on phone hacking for a long time and in the Lords he complained that there had been "conspiracy of silence" to protect the Murdoch empire for ages, involving the police, the media and the Press Complaints Commission. If the report from the information commissioner in 2006 on the abuse of confidential information had been properly followed up, these problems would have been uncovered earlier, Prescott said.
The former deputy prime minister said that, in her resignation letter, Brooks talked about not being able to remain "on the bridge". As a former seafarer, he found this strange, he said. "I would not like her on the bridge, if she did not know what was going on, where she was going or what direction it was."
Prescott criticised David Cameron for hiring Andy Coulson and he was particularly critical of Andy Hayman, the former Metropolitan police assistant commissioner, and Lord Macdonald, the former director of public prosecutions, for accepting work from News International. That was "an unacceptable action", he said, because it raised questions of conflict of interest.
But Prescott focused his fire on Rupert Murdoch. Murdoch was the spider in the middle of this web, he said. "If we do not deal with him, he will just go back to the same old practices," Prescott said. It was important to ensure that there was no return to "business as usual".
The New York Times quotes a former News of the World member of staff as saying:
Our paper was sacrificed to save her career, and now she's gone as well. Who knows why they've chosen to do it now as she'll have to appear before the select committee anyway.
Comments from American readers on the New York Times's news story on the affair include speculation on how this will affect Rupert Murdoch in the US:
UK law requires a person to be "fit and proper" in order to receive a license for a TV channel. In the US the law requires that same person to be "of good character".
Now that most people, except those who pray daily at the altar of FOX News, know that Mr Murdoch doesn't have those traits, I can only hope that license will be terminated.
It should also be reexamined how Murdoch received his citizenship in record time after having made huge contributions to his favourite conservative pet causes.
Another reader notes:
I just hope that the Guardian and Hugh Grant don't give up on this.
Photograph: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images
Staying with the United States, Eric Holder (left), the US attorney general, has been speaking for the first time about the hacking scandal, from Sydney. Holder said:
There have been serious allegations raised in that regard in Great Britain and there is an ongoing investigation there ... There have been members of Congress in the United States who have asked us to investigate the same allegations, and we are progressing in that regard using the appropriate federal law enforcement agencies in the United States.
The FBI has launched in investigation into allegations that News of the World journalists tried to hack into the phones of 9/11 victims, as has been reported by the Daily Mirror.
Alison Rourke sends this on Tom Mockridge from Sydney, where Mockridge worked as an adviser to the Australian treasurer, Paul Keating, in the late 1980s and early 90s. Alison writes:
It was a turbulent time in Australian politics. Keating (dubbed the "Lizard of Oz" by the British press after he put his arm around the Queen), was number two to prime minister Bob Hawke, and wanted the top job, which he eventually got. The two men were barely on speaking terms.
Barrie Cassidy was Hawke's press secretary at the time and told me that Mockridge's appointment will surprise a lot of people in Australia.
"He's obviously become a good executive and administrator but [back then] he wasn't a standout by any means – he was just one of the pack," Cassidy said.
Mockridge was an adviser in Keating's office but not a senior adviser, he said.
"He was seen as a middle level journalist but once he left Paul Keating's office it obviously all worked for him," said Cassidy.
"I found him a great guy to work with and always had a good relationship with him even though I was in Bob Hawke's office and he was in Keating's and the two were trying to tear each other apart," said Cassidy.
Barrie Cassidy is now a senior journalist with ABC television and the presenter of "Insiders" a Sunday morning television programme similar to Andrew Marr's on BBC1.
Asked about contractual arrangements involving Neil Wallis, Scotland Yard responds that Boris Johnson has asked Lord Justice Leveson – who will be running the phone-hacking judicial inquiry – to look into this, and "it would therefore be inappropriate to discuss the matter further at this time".
Sam Jones is in Wapping at News International HQ. He says there is not much to write home about except several TV crews and a pack of "hungry" photographers. "NI staff popping out for lunch looking warily at metal intruders," Sam notes.
Rupert Murdoch said he was "hands-on both economically and editorially" with his newspapers on the last occasion he gave evidence to a British parliamentary committee, the Press Association reports.
The media tycoon told the Lords communications committee four years ago that he was a "traditional proprietor" of the News of the World and the Sun, and decided their stance on issues such as Europe and which party to back in a general election.
The News Corporation chairman and chief executive gave evidence to the Lords committee in a closed session in New York in September 2007 as part of its inquiry into media ownership and the news.
His appearance before the Commons culture, media and sport committee next week will be the first time he has publicly answered questions from British parliamentarians.
Mr Murdoch told peers in 2007 that he believed the role of the media was "to inform", saying: "Reporters are there to find out what is going on and editors are there to invest in those investigations if they uncover something."
Minutes from his testimony released by the Lords committee read: "Mr Murdoch did not disguise the fact that he is hands-on both economically and editorially.
"He says that 'the law' prevents him from instructing the editors of the Times and the Sunday Times. The independent board is there to make sure he cannot interfere and he never says, 'do this or that', although he often asks, 'what are you doing?'.
"For the Sun and News of the World he explained that he is a 'traditional proprietor'. He exercises editorial control on major issues - like which party to back in a general election or policy on Europe."
Murdoch also said that Sky News could be more popular if it emulated his US channel Fox News.
The committee's minutes said: "He believed that Sky News would be more popular if it were more like the Fox News channel.
"Then it would be 'a proper alternative to the BBC'. One of the reasons that it is not a proper alternative to the BBC is that no broadcaster or journalist in the UK knows any different.
"Mr Murdoch stated that Sky News could become more like Fox without a change to the impartiality rules in the UK.
"For example, Sky had not yet made the presentational progress that Fox News had. He stated that the only reason that Sky News was not more like Fox News was that 'nobody at Sky listens to me'."
Talking of the BBC, it is notable that on one of the busiest days yet in the phone-hacking saga, the corporation is without political stars Laura Kuenssberg, Nick Robinson and Robert Peston due to a strike.
My colleague Hannah Waldram has been keeping an eye on the reaction to the news of Rebekah Brooks's resignation across the web.
The First Post has this piece on how various Harry Potter terms were still trending on Twitter while "Rebekah Brooks" was not. First Post should check trendsmap, however, where the various organisations breaking the news have been trending for some time in the UK and US. #Rebekahbrooks is now trending in both countries, and at one point even "rebecca" was a trending topic. "Rebekah Brooks" is now trending across the globe according to Twitter, alongside Neville Longbottom and Mrs Weasley.
We've also had some tweets from readers pointing to the fact the BBC strikes are taking place on this pivotal day in the phone-hacking saga. Commenters on this piece view the strike in light of the latest developments at News International.
Elsewhere on the web as talk about a News of the World movie continues, the Belfast Telegraph considers the top 10 actresses who could play Rebekah Brooks.
Matt's cartoon in the Daily Telegraph is also getting a few mentions.
Huffington Post UK is going for a front page splash montage of images of Brooks.
If you see any other interesting articles, tweets or links, feel free to leave them in a comment below the line.
Reuters reckons MPs on the Commons media committee will be combing over transcripts of Rebekah Brooks's past appearance before Tuesday's session.
"The whole committee feels quite betrayed by the evidence that has been given to them by News International executives in two or three inquiries. They will be expecting apologies," said Steven Barnett, Professor of Communications at the University of Westminster.
Reuters quotes Brooks from 2003 as having said: "The days of foot-in-the-door harassment and snatched photos are gone. The pictures of journalists mobbing ordinary people as portrayed by television are a travesty of the truth."
Reuters points out:
Her comments came as journalists from her own company were allegedly already hacking into phones, but long before this month's revelations that their targets may have gone beyond royalty and celebrities to include thousands of ordinary people, including murder victim Milly Dowler.
Also in 2003, Les Hinton, head of News International until 2007, told the same committee:
There is probably no part of the [Press Complaints Commission] code [of practice] that is paid greater attention than the issue of intrusion into grief. Editors at all levels, on a daily basis, and journalists as well ... are not unfamiliar with the need to behave according to the strictures of the code in taking care not to intrude into the grief of bereaved members of the public.
Reuters also points out that David Cameron received James Mudoch and his wife at Chequers on 7 November 2010, and once attended "a World Cup party given by Victoria and David Beckham for charity" as "guests of Rebekah Wade" (Wade was Brooks's maiden name).
In the interests of scrupulous full disclosure, the Reuters story includes the line:
Reuters is a competitor of Dow Jones Newswires, the financial news agency that News Corp acquired along with the Wall Street Journal in 2007.
Here's a profile of Tom Mockridge by Jane Martinson.
And Lisa O'Carroll looks at where it all went wrong for Rebekah Brooks.
Sam Jones sends more from News International headquarters in Wapping.
Slight excitement a few minutes ago when a black Lexus 4x4 - thought to be an NI vehicle - sped past the photographic pack. Showing off or the beginning of a decoy? Murdochs Sr and Jr said to be in the building but no one sure about Brooks.
Rumour among photographers down here is that a Times snapper has been summoned to Rupert Murdoch's office to take pics for an interview he's planning to do. London Evening Standard truck has just popped by to deliver the day's news to News International.
Lord Birt, the former BBC director general, has just spoken in the Lords debate on News International. My colleague Andrew Sparrow was listening. He says Birt welcomed the fact that News Corporation's bid for BSkyB did fell through and he said that media ownership laws needed to be tightened. Here's Birt's quote.
Our media concentration rules are archaic. News Corp may not own more than 20% of ITV, but it may own a far bigger entity, the whole of BSkyB. We should prize plurality and seize the moment. We must severely reduce the concentration limits in respect of UK media and cross-media ownershp. And, for clarity, I would no more wish to see the Guardian gain a dominant position than News Corp.
Rupert Murdoch has just left News International headquarters "very quickly" in the back of a silver Mercedes, Sam Jones reports.
Here is a lunchtime summary.
• Rebekah Brooks, the chief executive of News International, has resigned. She said she wanted to "reiterate how sorry I am for what we now know to have taken place" (see 10.08am). James Murdoch, the chief executive of News Corp in Europe, paid tribute to her and said: "We support her as she takes this step to clear her name." John Whittingdale of the Commons media committee said he still expected her to come to give evidence on Tuesday along with James Murdoch and his father Rupert, the News Corp chief. David Cameron's spokesman said the prime minister thought Brooks had made "the right decision". Ed Miliband welcomed her resignation too. Tom Mockridge of Sky Italia will replace her.
• Miliband has turned his fire on Rupert Murdoch, who the Labour leader says "still doesn't get it" (see 10.43am). Miliband attacked Murdoch for not having apologised to the victims of phone hacking. The Labour leader said he hoped when the News Corp chief appeared before the media select committee on Tuesday he started "taking some responsibility for what has been happening in his organisation" (see 11.53am) and "apologise for the illegal actions which happened in his organisation" (see 10.43am).
• Miliband also said Sir Paul Stephenson, the head of the Metropolitan police, had questions to answer about his hiring of Neil Wallis, a former News of the World executive who advised him last year and was arrested yesterday as part of the police phone-hacking inquiry (see 11.53am).
• In the US, attorney general Eric Holder has said that, in response to requests for members of Congress that the phone-hacking allegations be investigated in America, "we are progressing in that regard using the appropriate federal law enforcement agencies in the United States" (see 12.54pm). The FBI has launched in investigation into allegations that News of the World journalists tried to hack into the phones of 9/11 victims, as has been reported by the Daily Mirror.
• James Murdoch announced that News International would run advertisements in all British national newspapers this weekend to "apologise to the nation for what has happened" (see 10.34am).
Sam Jones writes from News International HQ in Wapping that if Murdoch was leaving, Brooks might be leaving soon too. He only got a partial glance of Murdoch, "but the ear and glasses suggest it was indeed him in the back of the Merc".
Breaking: David Cameron will this afternoon release details of all his meetings with media proprietors and editors since he became Tory leader.
Sam Jones sends more from News International's Wapping HQ, where he is experiencing some deja vu.
Scrub earlier sighting. False alarm. The real Rupert has just left the building in the back of a black 4x4. We think ... Snappers still comparing pics.
Earlier Sam assured me he had recognised Murdoch by his "ear and glasses". Apologies.
More from Sam Jones in Wapping: "Snappers confirm - definitely Rupert Murdoch in black 4x4."
Breaking: David Cameron hosted Andy Coulson at Chequers this spring after his resignation in January ... More details soon ...
Breaking: We have just received the text of the advert News International is running in every national newspaper in Britain this weekend. It is much more contrite than the News of the World's final editorial – a complete change of tone.
We are sorry.
The News of the World was in the business of holding others to account. It failed when it came to itself.
We are sorry for the serious wrongdoing that occurred.
We are deeply sorry for the hurt suffered by the individuals affected.
We regret 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.
Sincerely,
Rupert Murdoch
"We are sorry" is written in huge letters at the top, and Rupert Murdoch's signature rounds off the note.
For contrast, here are the relevant passages of that final NoW editorial, which, as well as apologising, emphasises the paper's "high standards" and its journalists' "skill, dedication, honour and integrity" and asks to be judged "on all our years":
We praised high standards, we demanded high standards but, as we are now only too painfully aware, for a period of a few years up to 2006 some who worked for us, or in our name, fell shamefully short of those standards.
Quite simply, we lost our way.
Phones were hacked, and for that this newspaper is truly sorry.
There is no justification for this appalling wrongdoing.
No justification for the pain caused to victims, nor for the deep stain it has left on a great history.
Yet when this outrage has been atoned, we hope history will eventually judge us on all our years.
The staff of this paper are people of skill, dedication, honour and integrity bearing the pain for the past misdeeds of a few others.
And as a small step on the long road to making some amends, all profits from the sale of this final edition will be split equally between three charities: Barnardo's, the Forces Children's Trust, and military projects at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham Charity.
The Commons select committees seem to be competing with each other to hold the most dramatic hearings in relation to phone hacking. On Tuesday the culture committee has already scheduled a hearing with Rupert Murdoch, James Murdoch and Rebekah Brooks for the afternoon. Now the home affairs committee has announced details of its own session before lunch – and Sir Paul Stephenson, the Metropolitan police commissioner will be giving evidence. My colleague Andrew Sparrow has the details.
Sir Paul Stephenson, the commissioner of the Metropolitan police, will be giving evidence to the home affairs committee at midday on Tuesday. He may be asked about various aspects of the phone hacking affair, but in particularly he's likely to be asked to explain why the Met employed Neil Wallis, the former News of the World executive arrested on Thursday by the police team investigating phone hacking, as a part-time adviser.
Interestingly, the committee will also be speaking to Dick Fedorcio, the director of public affairs at the Met, at 12.30pm. As Nick Davies has revealed in the Guardian, Fedorcio was present at a meeting in 2002 when Rebekah Brooks, the then editor of the News of the World, was presented with evidence that her paper's resources had been used on behalf of two murder suspects to spy on the senior detective who was investigating their alleged crime. The MPs will probably want to ask him about Davies's revelation that the police took no further action, "apparently reflecting the desire of Fedorcio, who has had a close working relationship with Brooks, to avoid unnecessary friction with the News of the World".
Commenting on the hearing, Keith Vaz, the chairman of the home affairs committee, said: "Evidence to us last Tuesday from current and former employees of the Metropolitan police service left a number of unanswered questions. I have therefore invited Sir Paul Stephenson and Mr Fedorcio to give evidence to ensure the committee is in possession of all the relevant facts before we write our report."
On Sky News, they are discussing Andy Coulson's being a guest at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat, in March, two months after he resigned as No 10's director of communications over the phone-hacking scandal. This indicates a level of loyalty or friendship between David Cameron and Coulson that he may now regret.
Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA
A New York Times reader earlier expressed his/her hope that "the Guardian and Hugh Grant don't give up on this". Well, Hugh is certainly pulling his weight. The actor (left) has said he regrets starring in Nine Months, a 1995 film for 20th Century Fox, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. He told Entertainment Weekly:
It would certainly stick in my craw to work for Fox. I did make one film for them 16 years ago, but I was naive then. I didn't even know who owned it [the studio].
Grant is considering suing News International for illegally accessing his voicemail.
Here's a clip of my colleague Matt Wells giving his views on Rebekah Brooks's resignation.
Matt notes that Rupert Murdoch had described Brooks as the daughter he never had – "not sure how his actual daughter felt about that".
What this has shown is a real lack of judgment ... on the part of many people in News Corporation, but specifically on Rebekah. She was the chief executive of the company, which was embroiled in a massive national scandal and in any other public company a chief executive faced with that level of criticism and that level of problems would have resigned immediately and she didn't.
Brooks's resignation leaves James Murdoch "horribly exposed", Matt says.
Here's the News International apology ad running in the national press this weekend.
_
Ivan Lewis, the shadow media secretary, has said Andy Coulson's visit to Chequers in March is "yet more" evidence of an extraordinary lack of judgment on the part of the prime minister, my colleague Nicholas Watt tells me.
Breaking: The Guardian has confirmed reports that Rupert Murdoch has met the family of Milly Dowler this afternoon. More as we get it.
Rupert Murdoch met Milly Dowler's family today as part of his efforts to stem the huge damage to his worldwide business interests caused by the Guardian's revelations that the News of the World had hacked the murdered 13-year-old's mobile phone.
Murdoch held talks with Milly's parents, Sally and Bob, and her sister Gemma, in a London hotel this afternoon.
Matthew Taylor has more on the meeting between Rupert Murdoch and the Dowler family.
The head of News Corporation is understood to have requested the meeting with the family of the murdered schoolgirl and their lawyer Mark Lewis.
Evan Harris, who runs the Hacked Off Campaign that has worked closely with the Dowler family since it emerged last week that their daughter's mobile phone had been hacked, said the meeting had been set for central London at 4.15pm.
"I am not sure it is going to be a happy meeting but I am sure Mark [Lewis, the family's solicitor] will say something afterwards," he said.
The Press Association has more on the meeting between Rupert Murdoch and the Dowler family, which Murdoch requested. Murdoch met the family and their lawyer, Mark Lewis, at the five-star One Aldwych hotel central London. The purpose of the meeting was to apologise to the family, Sky News is reporting.
The Dowlers – who found out about Milly being targeted shortly before her killer, Levi Bellfield, went on trial at the Old Bailey – were the first of a string of crime victims to have been exposed as targets of the paper.
The family have already held talks with David Cameron, Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg this week.
The Guardian's revelation that Milly's voicemail was accessed on behalf of the News of the World while she was missing, and that messages were deleted to make room for more recordings, giving the family false hope that she was still alive, caused widespread revulsion and ignited huge public interest in the phone-hacking scandal.
The Murdoch meeting with the Dowlers is still going on, it has been confirmed.
Rebekah Brooks, who resigned today as chief executive of News International, received hospitality at Chequers twice last year, once in June and again in August, the Press Association is reporting.
According to a list of prime ministerial engagements released by Downing Street, News International chairman James Murdoch also attended Chequers in November.
Brooks and Murdoch met the PM socially in December. Separately, Brooks met Cameron again the same month.
On another fast-moving day, here is an evening summary.
• Rebekah Brooks, the chief executive of News International, resigned. She said she wanted to "reiterate how sorry I am for what we now know to have taken place" (see 10.08am). James Murdoch, the chief executive of News Corp in Europe, paid tribute to her and said: "We support her as she takes this step to clear her name." John Whittingdale of the Commons media committee said he still expected her to come to give evidence on Tuesday along with James Murdoch and his father Rupert, the News Corp chief. David Cameron's spokesman said the prime minister thought Brooks had made "the right decision". Ed Miliband welcomed her resignation too. Tom Mockridge of Sky Italia will replace her.
• Rupert Murdoch is currently meeting the family of Milly Dowler (see 4.59pm). The Guardian's revelation that Milly's voicemail was accessed on behalf of the News of the World while she was missing, and that messages were deleted to make room for more recordings, giving the family false hope that she was still alive, caused widespread revulsion and ignited huge public interest in the phone-hacking scandal, leading to the closure of the News of the World, the abandonment of Murdoch's bid for BSkyB, and today's resignation of Brooks.
• It emerged that Andy Coulson was a guest of David Cameron's at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat, in March, two months after the No 10 director of communications and former News of the World editor resigned over renewed phone-hacking allegations. Ivan Lewis, the shadow culture secretary, said this was "yet more" evidence of an extraordinary lack of judgment on the part of the prime minister (see 4.26pm). Brooks was a guest at Chequers twice last year, and James Murdoch once (see 5.04pm).
• James Murdoch announced that News International would run advertisements in all British national newspapers this weekend to "apologise to the nation for what has happened" (see 10.34am). The apology took a new and very contrite tone, in marked contrast to the editorial in Sunday's final edition of the News of the World (see 4.20pm).
• Miliband turned his fire on Murdoch, who the Labour leader says "still doesn't get it" (see 10.43am). Miliband attacked Murdoch for not having apologised to the victims of phone hacking. The Labour leader said he hoped when the News Corp chief appeared before the media select committee on Tuesday he started "taking some responsibility for what has been happening in his organisation" (see 11.53am) and "apologise for the illegal actions which happened in his organisation" (see 10.43am).
• Miliband also said Sir Paul Stephenson, the head of the Metropolitan police, had questions to answer about his hiring of Neil Wallis, a former News of the World executive who advised him last year and was arrested yesterday as part of the police phone-hacking inquiry (see 11.53am). Stephenson will appear before the Commons home affairs committee on Tuesday (see 3.56pm).
• In the US, attorney general Eric Holder said that, in response to requests for members of Congress that the phone-hacking allegations be investigated in America, "we are progressing in that regard using the appropriate federal law enforcement agencies in the United States" (see 12.54pm). The FBI has launched in investigation into allegations that News of the World journalists tried to hack into the phones of 9/11 victims, as has been reported by the Daily Mirror.
I'm going to hand over to Ben Quinn now for all tonight's developments. Thanks for all your comments – 1,391 at last count.
This is Ben Quinn taking over the blog from Paul. You can follow me on twitter at BenQuinn75
Rupert Murdoch has just emerged from his meeting with the Dowler family. It was a bit of a scrum but he told journalists that he had apologised to the family, BBC news are reporting.
We will bring you more on that shortly, as well as coverage of anything that the Dowler family might say when they emerge.
The Dowler family have emerged from their meeting with Rupert Murdoch and stood behind their lawyer, Mark Lewis, as he read out this statement:
It was a private meeting that had been called for by Rupert Murdoch and he was humbled to give a full and sincere apology to the Dowler family.We told him. The Dowler family told him that his papers should be leading the way to set the standards of honesty and decency in the field, and not what had gone on before.
At the end of the day, actions are going to speak louder than words.
The Dowler family's solicitor, Mark Lewis, added that Murdoch was "very humbled and very shaken and very sincere".
"I think this was something that had hit him on a very personal level and was something that shouldn't have happened," he added.
"He apologised many times. I don' think somebody could have held their head in their hands so many times and say that they were sorry."
Murdoch was also said to have referred to his mother and father, an Australian journalist, saying that the standards set by them had not been met.
Sally, Gemma and Bob Dowler emerge after today's meeting with Rupert Murdoch. Photograph: Getty
Lewis was pressed by reporters on whether the Dowler family would be pursuing a claim for compensation against News International, replying that the question of money had not "tainted" the meeting with Rupert Murdoch.
He added however: "They will be pursuing legal remedies, but today is not the day for that.
One other detail to note. Murdoch himself was met with shouts of "shame on you" from a handful of protesters after he emerged from the hotel where he was meeting with the Dowlers.
Rebekah Brooks was the archetypal tabloid editor but committed the cardinal sin, for someone who held that role, of failing to anticipate the public mood, writes Janine Gibson, editor of guardian.co.uk.
Brooks always had ambitions to run the show. Her supporters were pitching her as Les Hinton's natural successor as News International chief executive almost from the moment she became editor of the Sun.
But, having got the job, she was out of her depth. Tabloid editors aren't strategists, they are instinctive; they don't run businesses, they run campaigns, or feuds.
The only truly successful one with longevity is Paul Dacre of the Mail, and he's never ventured anywhere near the share price.
Brooks was not brought down by inate evilness, nor fragility, nor some dreadful father-daughter dynamic with Rupert Murdoch.
She wasn't even brought down by the crime, however thin the "I knew nothing" defence is wearing. She was brought down, like many a chief executive before her, for bad handling of the crisis.
For failing to anticipate a public mood. Which, for a tabloid editor, is the worst sin of all.
A spokesman for the families of British victims of 9/11 has said it would be "an outrage" if their loved ones' phones were hacked but said the group had no evidence it happened.
He was speaking to my colleague, Robert Booth, after the FBI launched an investigation on Thursday into allegations News of the World journalists tried to arrange the hacking of victims' voicemail accounts.
Tom Clarke, a spokesman for the September 11 UK Families Support Group, who lost his elder sister Suria in One World Trade Centre, added that there was anxiety among families:
If this happened I am not surprised. At the time there was a massive amount of interest in finding out about victims, who they were and what they did. Does it bother me? Of course it does.
It would be an outrage if these people were trying to get messages on the phone that I myself could not get hold of. I am sure there is a lot of anxiety among British families. I know I left lots of messages on my sister's mobile phone in the immediate aftermath. I know all of her friends left messages. But I am not convinced this ever happened.
There was nothing at the time that we considered suspicious and I think the general opinion here is that it didn't happen.
What would be most hurtful was that at the time information about our loved ones was all we wanted as well.
In the first 48 hours there was so much uncertainty about what had happened that any information about your husband, father, wife was of the greatest value. The idea that other people might have been using an understanding of the system to get information that you couldn't get yourself is only going to make people upset.
But I have to say I don't think it happened and until there is proof I am not going to get distressed.
The group represents the families of most of the 67 British citizens who died in the attack.
Rupert Murdoch's bid to rebuild his newspaper empire's reputation using full-page adverts in national newspapers tomorrow (see 4.20pm) is "an old-fashioned tactic in the digital era", the Guardian's John Plunkett has been told:
The advert, signed by the News Corp's chairman and chief executive, forms part of what appears to be a more concerted effort to stem the fallout from the News of the World phone-hacking scandal, which began yesterday with the resignation of News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks in the morning, and Murdoch paying a penitent visit to the family of murdered teenager Milly Dowler in the afternoon.
In the press ad, Murdoch says he is sorry for the "serious wrongdoing that occurred" and "for the hurt suffered by the individuals affected... We regret not acting faster to sort things out."
He also raises the prospect of more such communications in the near future: "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."
The blanket advertising campaign comes days after News Corp called in US PR and lobbying firm Edelman to help the embattled company tackle the political pressure and public backlash over revelations of phone hacking at the now defunct News of the World.
Danny Rogers, editor-in-chief of PR Week, said: "It's been a fairly disastrous PR strategy so far. The usual advice on this sort of crisis is that you get all the bad stuff out as early as you can, isolate the problem and begin the rehabilitation. They clearly haven't done that.
The longer this drags on the more damaging it is going to be in the long term."
Mark Borkowski, an entertainment PR specialist, said the newspaper advert was an old-fashioned tactic in the digital era.
"It's classic damage limitation mode. Rupert Murdoch's taken charge of the situation and gone back to what he understands best."
Guardian News & Media has released a statement in relation to the adverts that will appear national newspapers tomorrow bearing Rupert Murdoch's signature and an apology:
News International responded to our original revelations about phone-hacking in July 2009 by telling MPs that we had 'deliberately misled' the British public.It has taken two years of subsequent reporting by the Guardian to force the truth out. We are happy to accept News International's paid-for advertisements apologising for the reality of what our journalism revealed.
The money we receive from News International will be donated to charity.
Fox News, owned by a subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch's News Corps, has been turning its attention to the hacking scandal.
On the Fox and Friends show, Fox journalist Steve Doocy wondered just what the fuss was all about: "The company has come forward and said: 'look, this happened a long time ago, at a tabloid, in London, somebody did something really bad,' and the company reacted. They closed that newspaper, all the people got fired, even though 99 percent of them had nothing to do with it."
Doocy's guest, public relations consultant Robert Dilenschneider, was in agreement:
"If I am not mistaken, Murdoch, who owns it, has apologised but for some reason, the public, the media keeps on going over this, again and again. It's a little bit too much."
"The bigger issue is hacking and how we as a public are going to protect ourselves," said Dilenschneider, who earlier listed a number of US companies which had recently become the targets of hacking.
Doocy added later: "One of the things about the media, you look at some sites and you would think that martians had landed in New Jersey - again"
The departure of Rebekah Brooks has removed a human shield from one of the key figures in News Corporation's American heartland, Les Hinton, chief executive of Dow Jones, which publishes the Wall Street Journal.
The Guardian's Ed Pilkington has filed a piece from New York on how News International's former chairman will no longer be able to avoid questions about his role in the phone hacking crisis:
He has been accused of giving misleading information to parliament on two occasions, in 2007 and 2009, by saying there was no evidence of widespread malpractice within the company.
With the spotlight on Brooks, Hinton has so far managed to stay on the sidelines of the crisis.
He has given no comments and has not been seen in public since the hacking of Milly Dowler's voicemail was revealed earlier this month.
"Hinton's strategy has been to keep his head down," said Murdoch's biographer and editorial director of Adweek, Michael Wolff. "But he can't do that for much longer. This is a classic domino effect."
Claire Enders, a media analyst in London, said questions were bound to be asked about Hinton's role: "How the culture emerged at News of the World while he was head of News International, and what if anything he knew about the 2007 report into its activities, will emerge."
So far parliament has given no indication that it wishes to recall Hinton to explain his earlier comments to the culture, media and sport committee.
But MPs have expressed their dissatisfaction with his appearances before them.
David Cameron hosted Andy Coulson at Chequers in March, two months after the former News of the World editor resigned as Downing Street director of communications, writes Nick Watt, the Guardian's chief political correspondent.
In a sign of his determination to stand by the man he described as a "friend", Nick adds that the prime minister paid out of his own pocket to welcome Coulson for an overnight stay at Chequers:
Downing Street disclosed Coulson's visit to Chequers as it published details of all of Cameron's contacts with media proprietors and executives since he became Tory leader in 2005.
The prime minister had told MPs on Wednesday that he would publish details of the contacts since he became prime minister but he later decided that this should cover all contacts since he became Tory leader.
Labour attacked Cameron's decision to invite Coulson to Chequers two months after his resignation in January, saying it showed an "extraordinary lack of judgment".
Ivan Lewis, the shadow culture secretary, said: "This is yet more evidence of an extraordinary lack of judgment by David Cameron. He hosted Andy Coulson at Chequers after, in the prime minister's own words, Mr Coulson's second chance hadn't worked out.
David Cameron may think that this is a good day to bury bad news but he now has an increasing number of serious questions to answer."
The prime minister has come under fire for what Ed Miliband described as a catastrophic misjudgment in taking Coulson into No 10 after the election.
Cameron said at a press conference in Downing Street last Friday that he had met his "friend" Coulson since his resignation but not recently or frequently.
News International has said a claim for alleged phone hacking which the actor Jude Law has taken against the Sun will be "defended vigorously".
The actor is already taking action against the News of the World, while the case will be heard in January at the High Court.
News Group Newspapers, the publishers of The Sun, said tonight in a statement: "We believe this is a deeply cynical and deliberately mischievous attempt to draw The Sun into the phone-hacking issue."
"The allegations made in this claim have been carefully investigated by our lawyers and the evidence shows that they have no foundation whatsoever."
"In particular, the claimant's solicitors have relied on a reference in documentation that they should be well aware has nothing to do with a case against The Sun.
"Also, another article complained of merely reiterated information which was already in the public domain.The claim will be defended vigorously."
A lawyer for Law said: "We have no comment to make about this claim which will be considered by the court in due course."
He added: "Accusations of cynicism and mischief making by News International are ridiculous. By their own admission, News International have misled the Police, Parliament and the public for nearly 5 years about the extent of the wrongdoing by their journalists and executives. Their record speaks for itself."
News is breaking that Les Hinton, chief executive of Dow Jones, is resigning. We are expecting a statement from Dow Jones.
Sara Schaefer Munoz, a reporter at the Wall St Journal's London bureau, has been tweeting:
Les Hinton in letter to Dow Jones staffers: "It is a deeply, deeply sad day for me."
Les Hinton says in a statement issued by News Corp:
I have watched with sorrow from New York as the News of the World story has unfolded. I have seen hundreds of news reports of both actual and alleged misconduct during the time I was executive chairman of News International and responsible for the company.
The pain caused to innocent people is unimaginable. That I was ignorant of what apparently happened is irrelevant and in the circumstances I feel it is proper for me to resign from News Corp and apologize to those hurt by the actions of News of the World."
When I left News International in December 2007, I believed that the rotten element at the News of the World had been eliminated; that important lessons had been learned; and that journalistic integrity was restored.
My testimonies before the Culture Media and Sport Select Committee were given honestly. When I appeared before the Committee in March 2007, I expressed the belief that Clive Goodman had acted alone, but made clear our investigation was continuing.
In September 2009, I told the Committee there had never been any evidence delivered to me that suggested the conduct had spread beyond one journalist. If others had evidence that wrongdoing went further, I was not told about it.
Finally, I want to express my gratitude to Rupert for a wonderful working life. My admiration and respect for him are unbounded.
He has built a magnificent business since I first joined 52 years ago and it has been an honor making my contribution.
In the News Corp statement, Rupert Murdoch comments on the departure of his lifelong lieutenant and closest adviser:
Les and I have been on a remarkable journey together for more than 52 years. That this passage has come to an unexpected end, professionally, not personally, is a matter of much sadness to me.
On this difficult day we should appreciate that his extraordinary work has provided a platform for the future success of Dow Jones. And his great contribution to News Corporation over more than five decades has enhanced innumerable lives, whether those of employees hired by him or of readers better informed because of him.
News Corporation is not Rupert Murdoch. It is the collective creativity and effort of many thousands of people around the world, and few individuals have given more to this Company than Les Hinton.
Les Hinton, who has worked for Rupert Murdoch for over 50 years told staff at the Wall Street Journal he had no option but to resign, writes Lisa O'Carroll.
Hinton headed Murdoch's British newspaper arm, News International, when the phone-hacking allegations the media empire first arose.
His resignation comes just hours after his successor in the UK Rebekah Brooks fell on her sword as Murdoch made attempts to draw a line under the phone-hacking that was threatening to engulf his worldwide empire.
Hinton had come under increasing scrutiny recently as a cascade of allegations indicated the problems at the centre of the scandal were more widespread than he had twice led a parliamentary committee to believe.
In 2007 and 2009, Hinton told a select committee that the company had carried out a full investigation into the matter and was convinced just one of its journalists was involved.
The felling of Les Hinton is far more significant in global terms for News Corporation than the resignation of Rebekah Brooks, writes Matt Wells in a snap analysis of the Dow Jones chief executive's desparture:
Hinton has worked as a journalist and executive for News Corp for more than 50 years, and was Rupert Murdoch's key lieutenant in the UK for more than a decade as executive chairman of News International.
Hinton was at the helm of NI – the holding company for his UK newspapers including the News of the World and the Times – when it seemed that everyone who was in sniffing distance of a significant news story found their phones being hacked.
In 2007 he was made CEO of Dow Jones and Company, of which the Wall Street Journal is the most important asset. It was a controversial purchase -- the Bancroft family which owned the Journal was pressured to resist the offer -- but Murdoch won with high prices and promises to maintain the WSJ's editorial standards.
The questions being raised over his involvement in the hacking scandal - what he knew and when - meant these questions had global ramifications. His evidence marked the beginning of the deny everything, rogue reporter defence.
The problem for News Corp now is that, at every stage, its attempts to contain this story have failed. The decision to close the News of the World was motivated in part to save the chief executive of NI, Rebekah Brooks.
That decision failed and Brooks resigned today. The decision to sacrifice Brooks was an attempt to contain the story in the UK.
That failed, too. Now Hinton, who has been more significant to the company's fortunes and to Murdoch personally for far longer than Brooks, has been thrown to the wolves.
Will that be enough? Our experience of this story so far suggests not.
Following Hinton's departure, News Corps says that Dow Jones President Todd Larsen will report to News Corporation Deputy Chairman, President and COO Chase Carey.
Some more now on the career of Hinton, who served for 12 years as Executive Chairman of News International.
Before that, he spent 20 years working in the US, first as a correspondent for the company's newspapers in the UK and Australia and later in a series of senior management positions at its publishing and television business units.
The News Corp statement issued this evening also says that he president and chief executive of News America Publishing, with responsibility for the company's US. publishing operations, and was chairman and chief executive at Fox television.
Hinton became a US citizen in 1985 but started his media career as a reporter at the Adelaide News, rising through the ranks until he was tapped to run News International in 1995.
Lisa O'Carroll has more on the man himself and his career-long link to Rupert Murdoch:
Tall, trim and debonair, with rimless glasses and waves of silver hair, Hinton has a reputation for being level-headed and insightful, and has won praise for balancing out some of the stormier personalities within including Murdoch himself.
"He runs interference for Rupert," said one source who knows both men. "He's a very nice guy – congenial, easy going and smart."
Hinton lives in an elegant townhouse in Manhattan – fitted out with a jacuzzi and a deck – on Manhattan's upper east side with his wife, Kath, a former aide to Gordon Brown.
He started his career as a teenager checking copy at Murdoch's first paper, the Adelaide News in Australia. Among his duties were fetching the boss's lunch.
Rising through the ranks until he was tapped to run News International, he was equally at home with the celebrity culture of the tabloids as he was with spreadsheets and boardroom power-plays.
He was liked by staff, particularly by journalists who felt he understood their trade, but he rarely courted publicity. His motto was: "The lower your profile, the longer your longevity in Rupert's court."
It was with reluctance the 67-year-old executive went to the US in 2007. He was given little choice by Murdoch, who rewards loyalty handsomely.
As Murdoch crossed the globe over the next 50 years acquiring newspapers and TV stations, Hinton was never far away.
You can read that News Corp statement in full on Les Hinton's resignation here.
Here is a round-up of the UK national newspaper front page headlines that focus on the fall-out from the hacking scandal:
• 'Murdoch finally says sorry as Brooks and Hinton quit (The Guardian)
• 'Day of Atonement' (The Times)
• 'Cameron, Coulson and a weekend at Chequers' (The Daily Telegraph)
• 'Murdoch regrets hacking response' (The Financial Times)
• 'Revealed - Cameron's 26 meetings in 15 months with Murdoch chiefs' (The Independent)
Incidentally, the Independent's front page has an interesting off-lead about pay-outs to departing News International executives which are said to total £8.5m so far.
Rebekah Brooks alone walked out of the company with a severance package estimated by senior colleagues at £3.5m, it reports.
'Dow Jones CEO Hinton Resigns; Move Follows Brooks' Exit' says the Wall St Journal, covering the two resignations.
It reports:
Mr. Hinton, a 52-year veteran of News Corp., had come under increasing media scrutiny recently as a cascade of allegations indicated the problems at the center of the scandal were more widespread than he had twice testified to a parliamentary committee.
In 2007 and 2009, Mr. Hinton told the committee that the company had carried out a full investigation into the matter and was convinced just one of the company's journalists was involved.
The New York Times, arch rival to the Wall St Journal, meanwhile reports that Hinton has joined an "exodus of top officials from Rupert Murdoch's media empire".
A New York Times profile of Hinton says that he is a skilled dancer, known for being the centre of attention at Christmas parties, and he has proved popular among his employees at The Wall Street Journal.
Apparently, they use the phrase "Les is more" to express their affection, according to the profile, which also states:
Even in a company noted for its loyalty, Mr. Hinton stands out both for his length of service — he has worked for Rupert Murdoch for more than 50 years — and for his wide experience within the News Corporation.
He has worked in almost every part of the company and is chief executive of Dow Jones, publisher of The Wall Street Journal and the crown jewel of Mr. Murdoch's American news media empire.
It can seem difficult to square Mr. Hinton's 12-year run at News International — a company whose papers ran pictures of nude women and paid sources for information — with his leadership of Dow Jones and The Journal, a paper that until recently preferred sketches over photographs.
Here is a summary of the events of today:
• Les Hinton, the chief executive of Dow Jones and Rupert Murdoch's right-hand man, has resigned from News Corp.
Hinton, who led Murdoch's News International when the phone-hacking allegations first arose, quit hours after Rebekah Brooks, News International's chief executive, resigned. Their departures came on the day the phone-hacking scandal engulfing Murdoch's empire led him to issue a widespread apology for what he described as "serious wrongdoing".
• Murdoch made a "full and humble" apology in person to the family of the murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler at a private meeting held at a central London hotel.
The global head of News Corporation "held his head in his hands" and repeatedly told the family he was "very, very sorry", according to the Dowlers' lawyer Mark Lewis.
"He was very humbled and very shaken and very sincere," said Lewis.
• James Murdoch announced that News International would run advertisements in all British national newspapers this weekend to "apologise to the nation for what has happened". The new and very contrite tone was in marked contrast to the editorial in Sunday's final edition of the News of the World.
• It emerged that Andy Coulson was a guest of David Cameron's at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat, in March, two months after the No 10 director of communications and former News of the World editor resigned over renewed phone-hacking allegations. Ivan Lewis, the shadow culture secretary, said this was "yet more" evidence of an extraordinary lack of judgment on the part of the prime minister.
• Ed Miliband turned his fire on Murdoch, who the Labour leader says "still doesn't get it". Miliband attacked Murdoch for not having apologised to the victims of phone hacking. Miliband said he hoped when the News Corp chief appeared before the media select committee on Tuesday he started "taking some responsibility for what has been happening in his organisation".
• Miliband also said Sir Paul Stephenson, the head of the Metropolitan police, had questions to answer about his hiring of Neil Wallis, a former News of the World executive who advised him last year and was arrested yesterday as part of the police phone-hacking inquiry. Stephenson will appear before the Commons home affairs committee on Tuesday .
• In the US, attorney general Eric Holder said that, in response to requests for members of Congress that the phone-hacking allegations be investigated, "we are progressing in that regard using the appropriate federal law enforcement agencies in the United States". The FBI has launched in investigation into allegations that News of the World journalists tried to hack into the phones of 9/11 victims, as has been reported by the Daily Mirror.
This blog is being wrapped up now but you can keep track of the Guardian's coverage of the phone hacking scandal and its continuing fall out here.