James Murdoch quits as director of News Group
23 Nov 2011
James Murdoch, son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch, has finally quit as a director of the companies that publish UK's `The Sun' and `The Times' newsapers, according to regulatory filings.
James Murdoch, 38, who has stepped down from the boards of News Group Newspapers – owners of the Sun and the now defunct News of the World, and Times Newspapers Ltd, will relocate from London to New York, ending ties with the UK newspaper group.
However, James Murdoch will remain chairman of News International, which is under probe for a phone hacking scandal that led to the closing of its News of the World newspaper, according to sources.
The news comes amidst the biggest inquiry into the phone-hacking incident with actors Hugh Grant and Steve Coogan, renowned author JK Rowling and the parents of kidnapped child Maddie McCann all giving evidence against the press for privacy breach.
The McCanns raised concerns about newspapers going wild with false headlines alluding to their daughter Maddies' murder, just for boosting circulation figures.
Maddie, who was four years old vanished from her family's vacation apartment in Praia da Luz in the Portugal on 3 May 2007, while her parents dined with friends nearby.
Insiders, however, say the changes are only an eyewash and that James Murdoch remains on the board of a holding company NI Group Ltd.