Updated | 1:44 p.m. Since, remarkably, Rupert Murdoch’s personal letter of apology for the phone hacking scandal will run in its pages as a full-page ad on Saturday, The Guardian has obtained the complete text and posted it online.
The letter, which is signed by Mr. Murdoch, will be published in all of Britain’s national newspapers this weekend. It reads:
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
Later on Friday, Mr. Murdoch met with the family of Milly Dowler, a 13-year-old girl who was abducted and murdered in 2002, to apologize for the conduct of journalists at his newspaper, The News of the World, who broke into the girl’s voice mail account during the frantic search for her. This Sky News report includes remarks to the media from Mr. Murdoch and the family’s lawyer after the meeting:
The fact that Mr. Murdoch’s letter of apology will appear in The Guardian is striking, since it was that newspaper’s July 8, 2009, report which first suggested that phone hacking had been far more widespread at The News of the World than an initial police investigation had revealed.
As a Guardian interactive timeline explaining how the scandal unfolded reminds us, two days after The Guardian reported that the misconduct by News of the World journalists was apparently not limited to the actions of a single reporter, Clive Goodman, Mr. Murdoch’s British newspaper division, News International, issued a statement dismissing those allegations.
The full text of that statement remains on the News Corporation Web site. It began with the assertion that “News International has completed a thorough investigation into the various allegations made since the Guardian story broke on Wednesday.”
After a discussion of the illegal phone-hacking carried out by Mr. Goodman — the tabloid’s former royal correspondent who was jailed, along with a private investigator, for breaking into the voice mail accounts of members of the British royal family — the statement moved on to this detailed list of denials, most of which now ring hollow in light of the revelations of the past weeks:
From our own investigation, but more importantly that of the police, we can state with confidence that, apart from the matters referred to above, there is not and never has been evidence to support allegations that:
• News of the World journalists have accessed the voicemails of any individual.
• News of the World or its journalists have instructed private investigators or other third parties to access the voicemails of any individuals.
• There was systemic corporate illegality by News International to suppress evidence.
It goes without saying that had the police uncovered such evidence, charges would have been brought against other News of the World personnel. Not only have there been no such charges, but the police have not considered it necessary to arrest or question any other member of News of the World staff.
Based on the above, we can state categorically in relation to the following allegations which have been made primarily by the Guardian and widely reported as fact by Sky News, BBC, ITN and others this week:
• It is untrue that officers found evidence of News Group staff, either themselves or using private investigators, hacking into “thousands” of mobile phones.
• It is untrue that apart from Goodman, officers found evidence that other members of News Group staff hacked into mobile phones or accessed individuals’ voicemails.
• It is untrue that there is evidence that News Group reporters, or indeed anyone, hacked into the telephone voicemails of John Prescott.
• It is untrue that “Murdoch journalists” used private investigators to illegally hack into the mobile phone messages of numerous public figures to gain unlawful access to confidential personal data, including: tax records, social security files, bank statements and itemised phone bills.
• It is untrue that News Group reporters have hacked into telephone voicemail services of various footballers, politicians and celebrities named in reports this week.
• It is untrue that News of the World executives knowingly sanctioned payment for illegal phone intercepts.
All of these irresponsible and unsubstantiated allegations against News of the World and other News International titles and its journalists are false.
The Guardian has been selective and misleading in its coverage of the report and investigation by the Information Commissioner.