Corporate governance, ethics and the all-important perceptions of both were highlighted this week in the UK Parliament during a select committee's grilling of News Corporation chair and CEO Rupert Murdoch, News Corporation (International) chair and CEO James Murdoch and former News of the World (NOTW) editor Rebekah Brooks.

Corporate governance, ethics and the all-important perceptions of both were highlighted this week in the UK Parliament during a select committee's grilling of News Corporation chair and CEO Rupert Murdoch, News Corporation (International) chair and CEO James Murdoch and former News of the World (NOTW) editor Rebekah Brooks.

Rupert Murdoch confirmed his repeated assertions News Corporation had "zero tolerance" to employee "wrongdoing". An uncorrected transcript said Rupert acknowledged he'd been clearly "misled" about phone hacking at NOTW but said he did not know who had misled him. "That is what the police are investigating, and we are helping them ..."

British House of Commons Culture, Media & Sport Select Committee member Tom Watson on July 19 said he accepted Rupert Murdoch had "many distinguished people" working for his company. Watson, a Labour MP, said "you are ultimately responsible for the corporate governance of News Corporation, so what I am trying to establish is who knew about the wrongdoing and what was involved at the time".

Later, during his oral evidence, James Murdoch clarified to Watson that "most" of the people involved or implicated in the allegations "had long since left the company". News Corporation had "set up in co-operation with the police to aid them with any of those things they wanted to do, but many of the individuals [who] were potentially implicated in those civil litigations and potentially in these criminal matters were not in NOTW at this time". In her evidence, newly departed News International chief executive Brooks said "if there is not constant review of conduct and ethics, the freedoms this press enjoys, which I believe in very strongly, are at risk".