Another probe into Murdoch media in UK

In yet another blow to media baron Rupert Murdoch’s empire, Britain’s communications regulator today opened an investigation after one of his outlets, Sky News, admitted to hacking into the private email accounts of a member of the public.

Unethical news gathering practices at Murdoch’s media outlets in Britain have sparked off a raft of inquiries, including the Leveson Inquiry, where Murdoch and his son James Murdoch are due to appear later this week. Regulator Ofcom’s spokesperson said: “Ofcom is investigating the fairness and privacy issues raised by Sky News’ statement that it had accessed without prior authorisation private email accounts during the course of its news investigations. We will make the outcome known in due course.” 

Earlier this month, Sky News admitted that it accessed the accounts of John Darwin and his wife Anne, who allegedly feigned John’s death to secure insurance money.

A suspected paedophile’s email was also reportedly hacked by the news channel.
Sky News had defended its hacking of the email by claiming that it was in public interest and represented what it called “responsible journalism”.