News Corp. Scandal: Dow Jones Committee Says 'Absolutely No Sign of Journalistic Misconduct'

NEW YORK - Following a request for information from two U.S. senators amid the phone hacking scandal, the Dow Jones Special Committee said it has found "absolutely no sign of journalistic misconduct such as is at the heart of the scandal in London" at News Corp.'s U.S. media operations, Reuters reported.

The five-member committee was established in 2007 to address concerns of the Bancroft family when it sold Dow Jones to Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. Its mission is to police editorial independence and integrity.

"Our focus from the outset has been on insuring that the highest standards of journalistic ethics are being met at the Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires," Tom Bray, chair of the special committee, said in a statement, according to Reuters. "In conversations with countless present and former Dow Jones employees we have found absolutely no sign of journalistic misconduct such as is at the heart of the scandal in London."

Democratic Senators Barbara Boxer and Jay Rockefeller had on Wednesday asked for assurances that there had been no misconduct in the U.S. and for information on Les Hinton, the former head of News Corp.'s U.K. newspaper unit who stepped down Friday as Dow Jones CEO and publisher of the Wall Street Journal.

"We did not investigate former Dow Jones chairman Les Hinton's activities in London, which were investigated there in the past and are the subject of renewed focus now," the special committee said, according to Reuters.

Bray said the committee will respond further to the senators' letter in "due course."

The response came as News Corp. has been facing a potential spillover of the U.K. phone hacking scandal to the U.S. where it is headquartered.