News Corp. Counsel Gets More Responsibility

Zweifach to oversee investigations into phone hacking scandal

By Jon Lafayette -- Broadcasting & Cable, 6/18/2012 1:54:42 PM

News Corp. has shifted more responsibility for its investigation into its phone hacking scandal to its new general counsel.

The company said that it has changed its reporting structure and that its Management and Standards Committee will now report directly to Gerson Zweifach, senior executive VP and group general counsel.

Zweifach had been a member of the committee since February.

Joel Klein, who had been overseeing the Management and Standards Committee, will transition back to his full-time role as executive VP and CEO of News Corp.'s education division.

The company said the change will enable it to "consolidate its efforts with respect to ongoing U.K. and related investigations within its legal group, which Mr. Zweifach has led since joining News Corporation since February."

The hacking scandal arose when it was discovered that News Corp. employees listened in on messages on the cellphones of people in the news ranging from celebrities to crime victims. The fallout has included the closure of the British tabloid News of the World and the scuttling of the company's acquisition of British Sky Broadcasting. It has also led to the resignation and arrest of several executives and clouded the likelihood that James Murdoch will succeed his father Rupert as CEO of News Corp.