Rebekah Brooks resigned as chief executive of News International today, yielding to pressure over the phone hacking scandal that has shaken Rupert Murdoch's global media empire.
The 43-year-old Ms Brooks, a former editor of the scandal-hit News of the World and of flagship daily tabloid the Sun, was a close confidante of Mr Murdoch, who described her as his first priority when he flew in to London this week to manage the crisis at News Corp's British newspaper unit.
Mr Murdoch had backed Ms Brooks to remain as chief executive of the company's British newspaper arm despite her being editor of the News of the World when some of the gravest offences were alleged to have occurred.
However, her position became untenable after the company shut the News of the World, with many of the journalists saying they were losing their jobs just to protect hers. Politicians across the spectrum had also said she should go.
In her place, Mr Murdoch named a trusted News Corp veteran, New Zealander Tom Mockridge, who has spent the past eight years running the group's Sky Italia television interests in Italy.
Meanwhile, Les Hinton, the top executive of Rupert Murdoch's Dow Jones has also resigned after becoming one of the targets of criticism for the phone-hacking scandal that occurred when he oversaw News Corp's British newspapers.
News Corp owns Dow Jones and the Wall Street Journal, among other media properties in the US.
The public disgust that erupted over reports that the News of the World may have hacked into the voicemails of murder victims and other vulnerable people prompted Mr Murdoch to shut down the paper last weekend and pull a £7.8 billion bid to buy the 61 per cent of BSkyB he does not own.
Mr Murdoch gave a "full and sincere apology" to the family of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler today after meeting them in London over the News of the World's hacking of her mobile phone, the family's lawyer Mark Lewis said.
Speaking before Ms Brooks's resignation to the Wall Street Journal, which he also owns, Mr Murdoch defended the way his managers had handled the crisis. He spoke of "minor mistakes" and dismissed suggestions, floated by some shareholders, that he should sell off the troublesome newspaper businesses on which his empire was founded but which bring in only limited profits.
Prime minister David Cameron welcomed Ms Brooks's resignation. Mr Cameron often socialised with Mr Brooks and her husband in their country homes, but has sought to distance himself from her as the scandal tarnished his image. His judgment has also been in question for hiring her successor at News of the World as his spokesman. Andy Coulson was arrested last week in the affair.
Labour leader Ed Miliband said: "It is right that Rebekah Brooks has finally taken responsibility for the terrible events that happened on her watch, like the hacking of Milly Dowler's phone. No one in this country should exercise power without responsibility.”
Struggling to quell the crisis, News International chairman James Murdoch, 38-year-old son of the founder, said the company would take out adverts in rival newspapers this weekend to say sorry. "We will apologise to the nation for what has happened," James Murdoch said in a statement.
Rupert Murdoch (80), has been courted for decades by Britain's political elite as a kingmaker who could influence voters to shift left or right. He now faces a showdown with parliament on Tuesday when the powerful media committee question shim, his son and Ms Brooks. During an angry debate this week, one MP called him a "cancer on the body politic".
Ms Brooks, whose mane of red hair and sharp tongue have helped give her a high public profile in Britain, said in a message to staff: "My desire to remain on the bridge has made me a focal point of the debate. This is now detracting attention from all our honest endeavours to fix the problems of the past.
"Therefore I have given Rupert and James Murdoch my resignation. While it has been a subject of discussion, this time my resignation has been accepted."
She said she felt "a deep sense of responsibility for the people we have hurt".
This is being seen as an acceptance that the News of the World's invasions of private voicemails may have gone well beyond those of the royal aides whose complaints led to the jailing of royal reporter Clive Goodman and investigator Glenn Mulcaire in 2007.
Police say they are now investigating where another 4,000 people - including victims of notorious crimes, bombings and war - were targeted.
A week ago, Ms Brooks had told News of the World staff, who were sacked with the paper's closure, that she would remain to try and resolve the company's problems - causing anger among many of the 200 being laid off.
Ms Brooks became head of News International, which also publishes the Sun, Times and Sunday Times, in 2009 after serving as editor of the Sun for over six years.
Beginning her career as a feature writer for the News of the World in 1989, she rose through the ranks and was editor of that newspaper from 2000 to 2003.
News Corp declined to comment on her severance package, but analysts said it is expected to include a confidentiality clause.
Police in London have made at least nine arrests as part of the phone-hacking investigation, including that of Mr Coulson.
Meanwhile, investigations are progressing into the US operations of News Corp after the UK phone hacking scandal, US attorney general Eric H Holder said today. The FBI said it was looking into allegations News Corp tried to hack into the phones of 9/11 victims.
Agencies
