The phone hacking scandal involved News of the World employees hacking into voicemail accounts of celebrities, politicians, victims of crime, and a murdered school girl to obtain stories. Investigations from 2005-2007 initially found hacking was limited to celebrities, but later revelations showed a wider range of victims. Rupert Murdoch, head of News Corporation which owns News of the World, faced allegations and investigations that phone hacking was widespread and approved within his companies. A public inquiry led by Brian Leveson investigated the culture and ethics of the press in relation to phone hacking and their relationships with police and politicians.

1. Phone Hacking
Scandal

2. What?
• The News International phone-hacking scandal is an on going
controversy involving the defunct News of the World and other
British newspapers published by News International, a subsidiary of
News Corporation. Employees of the newspaper were accused of
engaging in phone hacking just to publish the top stories.
• Investigations conducted from 2005–2007 concluded that the
paper's phone hacking activities were limited to
celebrities, politicians and members of the British Royal Family. In
July 2011, it was revealed that the phones of murdered schoolgirl
Milly Dowler, relatives of deceased British soldiers, and victims of
the 7/7 London bombings were also accessed, resulting in a public
outcry against News Corporation and owner Rupert Murdoch.

3. Rupert Murdoch
• Keith Rupert Murdoch is an Australian American media mogul. Murdoch became
managing director of Australia's News Limited, inherited from his father, in 1952.
He is the founder, Chairman and CEO of global media holding company News
Corporation, the world's second-largest media conglomerate. In the 1950s and
'60s, he acquired various newspapers in Australia and New Zealand, before
expanding into the United Kingdom in 1969, taking over the News of the World
followed closely by The Sun.
• In July 2011 Murdoch faced allegations that his companies, including the
News of the World, owned by News Corporation, had been regularly
hacking the phones of celebrities, royalty and public citizens. He faces
police and government investigations into bribery and corruption by the
British government and FBI investigations in the US. On 21 July
2012, Murdoch resigned as a director of News International.

4. Timeline
These are the major events in the phone-hacking scandal over the last 18 months as the inquiry by Lord Justice
Brian Leveson:
• July 4, 2011 - A lawyer for the family of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler says police have told
him her voicemail messages were hacked in 2002, possibly by a News of the World
investigator.
• July 8 - Andy Coulson, a former News of the World editor, who also served as Prime Minister
David Cameron's chief media adviser, is arrested on suspicion of conspiring to intercept
communications
• July 13 - News Corp withdraws its bid for BSkyB. Tom Crone, legal manager at News
International, resigns. Two days later Rebekah Brooks, a former News of the World
editor, resigns as chief executive of News International.
• July 19 - Rupert Murdoch, questioned by parliament's Culture, Media and Sports
committee, says he was "shocked, appalled and ashamed" when he heard about the Dowler
case. His son James Murdoch and Brooks are also questioned.
• November 14 - A public inquiry, chaired by Lord Leveson, begins its investigations into media
ethics.
• March 13, 2012 - James Murdoch, in a letter, apologizes to those affected by the hacking
scandal but says he was let down by senior staff on whom he had relied. He severs all ties with
News Corp's British newspaper business on March 24 and resigns as chairman of BSkyB on
April 3.
• May 10 - Coulson appears at the Leveson inquiry and says Cameron's Conservative Party had
asked few questions about his past and not carried out full security checks. Brooks appears on
May 11 and provides colourful details of her friendships with the cream of British politics.
• May 15 - Brooks is charged with interfering with a police investigation into a phone hacking
scandal.
• November 20 - Coulson and Brooks are charged with conspiring to make illegal payments to
officials for information for stories.

5. The Leveson Inquiry
The Leveson Inquiry into the culture, practices and
ethics of the press is running in four modules. These
are:
• The relationship between the press and the public and looks
at phone-hacking and other potentially illegal behaviour.
• The relationships between the press and police and the
extent to which that has operated in the public interest.
• The relationship between press and politicians.
• Recommendations for a more effective policy and regulation
that supports the integrity and freedom of the press while
encouraging the highest ethical standards