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Rupert Murdoch's Australian media company said Wednesday it will conduct a "thorough review" of all editorial expenditures over the past three years to confirm that payments were made for legitimate services.
Murdoch's
media empire in Britain has suffered a crippling blow in recent days following
allegations that his newspapers used fraudulent means to obtain information,
including paying bodyguards of Queen Elizabeth II for sensitive phone numbers
and travel plans.
In
Australia, Murdoch's company News Limited owns a string of newspapers and
websites. In an open letter to staff, News Limited's Chief Executive John
Hartigan said the company's conduct has been above board.
"I
have absolutely no reason to suspect any wrongdoing at News Limited," he
said in the letter, addressed to "All News Limited staff in
Australia."
"We
will be conducting a thorough review of all editorial expenditure over the past
three years to confirm that payments to contributors and other third parties
were for legitimate services," he wrote.
The
Australian-born Murdoch's reputation began to unravel following allegations
this month that employees of his News of the World tabloid hacked the phone of
Milly Dowler, a 13-year-old murder victim, and deleted several messages in
2002.
The
billionaire Murdoch shut down the tabloid on Sunday but could not stem the
outrage in Britain as new allegations emerged that his journalists used
fraudulent and criminal means to obtain confidential information about former
Prime Minister Gordon Brown's family.
Hartigan,
the Australian executive, noted that a local television station apologized for
an incorrect report that News Limited executives were suspects in the British
phone hacking scandal.
"Some
media outlets, certain commentators and some politicians have attempted to
connect the behavior in the UK with News Limited's conduct in Australia. This
is offensive and wrong," he wrote.
He said
News Limited has a robust code of editorial conduct, available to all
journalists.
"I
(have) asked divisional managers to publish the editorial code on each of our
masthead websites to neutralize even the most ludicrous assertions that we are
somehow afraid to disclose it," he said.
Murdoch
owns at least 20 newspapers, several news websites and cable television service
in Australia, where he began his media career in 1952 after inheriting
"The News" newspaper after the death of his father.
He gave up
his Australian passport and took up US citizenship in 1985 to meet legal
requirements for owning US television stations. His US-based News Corp., the
global media conglomerate, owns the Australian News Limited.
Gordon Brown must have felt the Sun was out to destroy him
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Cameron weakened by UK phone hacking scandal
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