Embattled media mogul Rupert Murdoch vowed Wednesday that News Corp. would bounce back from the phone-hacking scandal, after telling British lawmakers he was not to blame for the crisis. “I want all of you to know that I have the utmost confidence that we will emerge a stronger company,” the 80-year-old Australian-born company chief said in a message to staff. “It will take time for us to rebuild trust and confidence, but we are determined to live up to the expectations of our stockholders, customers, colleagues and partners.” Murdoch said it was “not an excuse” but that with a company of 53,000 staff he could not be blamed for failing to uncover the scandal. Asked whether “ultimately you are responsible for this whole fiasco”, Murdoch tersely replied: “No”. When pressed over who he blamed, Murdoch said: “The people that I trusted to run it and then maybe the people they trusted.” But he said he was “absolutely shocked, appalled and ashamed when I heard about the Milly Dowler case two weeks ago,” referring to a murdered teenager whose phone was allegedly hacked by the News of the World. His son James was also quizzed, with proceedings overshadowed by a protester attacking the elder Murdoch with a foam pie, which saw his Chinese-born wife Wendi Deng leap up and slap the assailant, who was dragged off by police.
