BSkyB Board Backs James Murdoch Following Hacking Testimony

LONDON: James Murdoch has received the backing of BSkyB’s board of directors following a second phone-hacking hearing in front of British lawmakers.

Yesterday, Murdoch again faced questioning in front of parliament about his handling and knowledge of the phone-hacking scandal. He again insisted that he didn’t know until late last year the extent of the activities at News of the World. He denied that he misled the committee in a prior testimony in July and accused former News Corp. employees Colin Myler and Tom Crone of giving the misleading testimony.

A member of Parliament compared News Corp.’s British newspaper unit to organized crime: "You must be the first mafia boss in history who was not aware that he was running a criminal enterprise," said Tom Watson, a Labour politician.

The directors of BSkyB have since issued a letter to the company’s shareholders urging them to re-elect Murdoch as chairman. “We agreed that James Murdoch has done a first-class job,” said Nicholas Ferguson, BSkyB’s senior independent director, in a letter to investors. The letter added that the scandal has had “no effect on sales, customers or suppliers over the last five months.”

James Murdoch “has always acted with integrity in the eyes of both the board and the senior management,” Ferguson said. “If this was to change, clearly the independent directors would re-evaluate the position.”

James Murdoch will go before BSkyB investors at the annual general meeting on November 29.