Amid the hacking scandal, the News Corp. mogul steps down from a number of boards overseeing his print newspapers, further distancing himself from the publishing business he once cherished.
Rupert Murdoch has told friends that he feels hurt by the leak of secret recordings of his private conversations with staffers at his Sun tabloid, first made public by British investigative website ExaroNews.
Murdoch said he was shocked by the disclosure of comments from a private meeting with arrested Sun reporters and executives in which he seems to indicate that he knew about his journalists bribing public officials.
“I feel hurt by what has happened,” the News Corp mogul told Sun editor David Dinsmore, according to ExaroNews.
PHOTOS: Rupert Murdoch’s Family Photos
Murdoch talked to Dinsmore about the leak, asking who provided ExaroNews with the recordings. Dinsmore said he didn’t know but had his suspicions. Murdoch added that he felt “betrayed” that journalists at The Sun turned on him, ExaroNews reports.
Since the leak, ExaroNews has turned over its recordings to the police, and Scotland Yard is investigating Murdoch’s knowledge of bribes at his publications.
Detectives are not planning to interview Murdoch immediately, ExaroNews reported. They first plan to listen closely to the recordings to assess their relevance.
Murdoch will also appear before a committee of the British parliament to answer questions about his recorded comments.
After ExaroNews’ first recording was released, News Corp said in a statement: “Mr. Murdoch never knew of payments made by Sun staff to police before News Corporation disclosed that to U.K. authorities. Furthermore, he never said he knew of payments. It’s absolutely false to suggest otherwise.”
