Les Hinton, the top executive of Rupert Murdoch’s Dow Jones & Co, resigned on Friday after becoming a target of criticism for the phone-hacking scandal that occurred when he oversaw News Corp’s British newspapers.
Hinton stepped down as the British phone-hacking scandal surrounding News Corp began to spread to the US. He is the highest-ranking executive yet to resign over a crisis that closed down the News of the World tabloid.
“I have watched with sorrow from New York as the News of the World story has unfolded,” Hinton wrote in a memo to staff after resigning as chief executive of Dow Jones and publisher of the Wall Street Journal.
“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 the News of the World,” he added.
At the Wall Street Journal, news of Hinton’s departure was greeted by gasps and a stunned silence, despite much speculation in both London and New York that he could be toppled by transgressions that occurred on his watch.
Hinton’s resignation came on the same day another top Murdoch confidante, Rebekah Brooks, stepped down as chief of News International, which is responsible for all of Murdoch’s British papers. Brooks worked under Hinton when she was News of the World’s editor and he ran News International.
A person close to the company described Hinton as “the ultimate company man” who had come to the conclusion that someone had to take full responsibility for the hacking that occurred under his watch.
The decision was made over the past few days, following back-and-forth discussions with Murdoch, the person said, adding that the final say came down to Hinton.
“Les saw the hurt that was happening with the company and wanted to ameliorate the situation,” the person said.
Hinton, 67, has worked alongside Murdoch for more than five decades, rising through the ranks until he was tapped to run News International in 1995, and later Dow Jones after News Corp bought the publisher of the Wall Street Journal.
On two occasions starting in 2007, Hinton addressed British parliamentary committees about the News of the World phone hacking, testifying both times that a full internal investigation had been carried out.
That testimony has resurfaced in press reports over recent days as new questions have been made about the depth of phone hacking at the tabloid.
“Les fell on his sword for Murdoch,” said Jeff Jarvis, a journalism professor at City University of New York who had worked for Hinton when News Corp owned TV Guide.
News Corp is not seeking a replacement for Hinton at present, the person close to the company said.
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