British parliamentary committee says Rupert Murdoch "not fit" to run international firm

At 81, Australian media mogul Rupert Murdoch has been told by a parliamentary committee in Britain that he’s not fit to run an international company, Reuters reports. Lawmakers in the committee were studying Murdoch’s News Corp. practice of illegal phone hacking and other irregularities at its many media subsidiaries, a scandal that has dragged on for months.

From the scathing report:

News International and its parent News Corporation exhibited willful blindness, for which the companies’ directors—including Rupert Murdoch and James Murdoch—should ultimately take responsibility.

Their instinct throughout, until it was too late, was to cover up rather than seek out wrongdoing and discipline the perpetrators.

Even if there were a ’don’t ask, don’t tell’ culture at News International, the whole affair demonstrates huge failings of corporate governance at the company and its parent, News Corporation.