News Corp. Settles 36 Hacking Cases

News Corp. has agreed to pay hundreds of thousands of
dollars to settle with 36 victims of phone hacking by its British tabloid News of the World, the Associated Press
reports.

The phone hacking scandal led Rupert Murdoch's media company
to shut down the newspapers and resulted in the departure of several top
officials. Murdoch and his son, James Murdoch, have been forced to testify
about the situation before British officials.

One of the settlements was with actor Jude Law, who received
about $200,000, but most of the settlements were in the five-figure range.

News Corp. has been sued by 60 people claiming their mobile
phone voicemails had been intercepted unlawfully.

"While congratulations are due to those [lawyers] and clients
who have settled their cases, it is important that we don't get carried away
into thinking that the war is over," said Mark Lewis, one of the first
lawyers to file a suit against News Corp., said to the AP. "Fewer than 1%
of the people who were hacked have settled their cases. There are many more
cases in the pipeline. ... This is too early to celebrate; we're not even at the
end of the beginning."

Some cases had been settled previously. Another batch is due to go
to court next month unless they are settled.

Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.