* Staff must keep docs on questionable reporting methods
* Asked to do this because of News Corp’s problems in UK
(Rewrites first paragraph)
NEW YORK, July 29 (Reuters) – Rupert Murdoch’s New York
Post has ordered newsroom staff to keep all documents related
to questionable reporting methods involving phone hacking or
unlawful payments to government officials in light of the fire
storm in the UK engulfing the newspaper’s owner, News Corp.
The company’s legal department said in a memo on Friday:
“As you have undoubtedly seen, there have been press accounts
of inquiries into whether employees or agents of News
Corporation or its subsidiaries have (a) accessed telephone
and/or other personal data of third-parties without
authorization, and/or (b) made unlawful payments to government
officials in order to obtain information.
“As you also know, these stem from the actions at The News
of the World in London, as well as unsourced, unsubstantiated
reports in one London tabloid.
“Starting today, all employees must preserve and maintain
all documents and information that are related in any way to
the above mentioned issues.
“Please know we are sending this notice not because any
recipient has done anything improper or unlawful. However,
given what has taken place in London, we believe that taking
this step will help to underscore how seriously we are taking
this matter.”
A copy of the memo was obtained by Reuters.
NEWS EDITOR REASSURES STAFF
In a separate memo on Friday, the New York Post’s
Editor-in-Chief, Colin Allan, told the staff they had been
asked to save documents “in light of what has gone on in London
at News of the World, and not because any recipient has done
anything improper or unlawful.”
The memo, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters, went on
to say: “As we watched the news in the UK over the last few
weeks, we knew that as a News Corp tabloid, we would be looked
at more closely. So this is not unexpected.
“I want to stress that your full and absolute cooperation
is necessary and you are expected to comply with this direction
from our legal department.
“At the same time, please know we understand and take very
seriously your concerns over the protection of legitimate
journalistic sources. While we have instituted this hold, we do
intend to protect from disclosure all legitimate and lawful
journalistic sources in accordance with the law.”
News Corp (NWSA.O) declined to comment on the memos.
News Corp’s now defunct U.K. tabloid News of the World is
at the center of a bitter scandal in which the newspaper has
been accused of hacking individual’s phones, including that of
a teenage girl who was murdered.
The scandal has embroiled some of News Corp’s most senior
executives, including Rupert Murdoch and his son James, and
British politicians and police.
It has grown increasingly more serious since the beginning
of July and has caused News Corp to drop its bid for the stake
of British pay TV company BSkyB (BSY.L) it does not already
own.
Murdoch and his son James, News Corp’s deputy chief
operating officer, have testified before a parliamentary
committee regarding the phone hacking. [ID:nL6E7II2FF]
John Rockefeller, chairman of the U.S. Senate commerce
committee, has called for an investigation to determine if News
Corp has broken any U.S. laws and the FBI is investigating
allegations News Corp might have hacked the phones of victims
of the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States.
Les Hinton, who was the chief executive of Dow Jones & Co,
which publishes the Wall Street Journal, resigned his post on
July 15. Hinton was head of News Corp’s British newspaper unit,
News International, when phone hacking was said to have
occurred.
Last week, Robert Thomson, managing editor of the Wall
Street Journal, sent a memo to staff reminding them that the
newsroom had set up a confidential hotline for any employee who
was concerned about journalistic practices at Dow Jones.
(Reporting by Jennifer Saba; editing by Andre Grenon)
Originally Published On: www.reuters.com – Original Article Here