Rupert Murdoch and James Murdoch appeared before British MPs at a House of Commons Select Committee meeting on July 19th, 2011 after the News of the World newspaper was closed by the Murdochs after a phone hacking scandal.
The meeting started at about 14.30 GMT, but was sensationally interrupted at about 16.53 GMT when a man, reportedly a member of the UK Uncut protest movement, tried to throw a foam pie at Rupert Murdoch. The meeting re-convened for a short time soon afterwards, until the chair, John Whittingdale, was satisfied that they had asked the Murdoch's a sufficient amount of questions.
BBC Politics Show Special Started with Political Opinion
A BBC Politics Show Special started with quotes from the leaders of the Labour and Liberal Democrat political parties.
Ed Miliband, Labour leader, said he hoped the committee would show whether the Murdochs have true remorse for the way the News of the World used phone hacking to acquire stories.
Nick Clegg, Liberal-Democrat leader, said he hoped that it would be the start of a shift in the politics and media relationship, with politicians no longer kowtowing to media owners in the hope that they will support their political parties.
Rupert Murdoch Questioned by Tom Watson of Labour
Rupert Murdoch said it was the most humble day of his life at the start of the meeting, and at the end apologised to the victims of crime that had had their phones hacked, and especially to the Dowler family. He also said that they had not repaid the trust shown in them by their readers.
Tom Watson of the Labour party opened the questioning of the Murdochs, and aimed his questions directly at Rupert Murdoch.
Rupert Murdoch seemed a little disorientated at the start of the meeting, and James Murdoch tried to intervene several times, but Watson said he wanted to hear Rupert Murdoch's answers, and that he'd interview James later.
Watson asked if they were suffering from a collective amnesia, and if they knew phone hacking was endemic in the News of the World.
Rupert Murdoch said they were not, and that the word endemic was too hard.
The Murdochs, Other Questioners and Questions
The Murdochs were asked by Jim Sheridan of Labour about their relationship with David Cameron, and why Rupert Murdoch entered a Downing Street meeting through the back door soon after the Conservative leader was elected Prime-minister in 2010.
Murdoch said that he was asked to attend that way, and he'd done the same thing with other Prime-ministers.
Louise Mensch of the Conservative Party asked Rupert Murdoch if he'd considered resigning, and Murdoch replied no, the fault and responsibility lay with people employed lower down in the company.
The BBC Panel's Verdict on the Murdoch Questioning
The BBC Politics Show panel thought the select committee had performed well, asking many testing questions.
They thought that Rupert Murdoch relied on a defence of being too high in the company to have known about any wrongdoing, while James Murdoch claimed ignorance because he joined the company just after the phone hacking took place.
Marc Latham - Doctor of Philosophy and experienced freelance writer searching for truth and meaning, and reporting it in clear and concise copy.
