Murdoch’s ‘Most Humble Day’ as He Defends News Corp. - Bloomberg

Rupert Murdoch defended News Corp. (NWSA)’s reputation over the phone-hacking scandal at his News of the World tabloid before U.K. lawmakers on what he told them was “the most humble day of my life.”

“The News of the World is less than 1 percent of our company,” the 80-year-old Murdoch, flanked by his son James, told Parliament’s Culture, Media and Sport Committee today. He said that he may have “lost sight’’ of the paper because it was “so small in the general frame of the company.’’

The News Corp. chairman’s appearance before the committee, something he refused to do until forced by a summons, is a sign of how much the phone-hacking allegations have damaged News Corp.’s British operations. In two weeks, the company has closed a profitable newspaper, pulled out of a bid to buy the rest of British Sky Broadcasting Group Plc (BSY), and lost two senior executives.

via bloomberg.com