"This Report examines whether or not there is good evidence to suggest that the Committee and its predecessor Committees have been misled by any witnesses during thecourse of their work on the phone-hacking scandal, which continues to reverberate around News International and to have major repercussions for the British newspaper industry as a whole."

Today the British Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee released their report on the Murdoch’s News International phone-hacking scandal.

In the aftermath of the News of the World phone hacking scandal, the British government launched an investigation known as the Leveson Inquiry to look into the practices and ethics of the British press. This week, one of the most shocking testimonies of the inquiry came from former NOTW reporter Paul McMullan. Brooke speaks to McMullan about his testimony and why he thinks deceptive reporting tactics are necessary.

In the aftermath of the News of the World phone hacking scandal, British Prime Minister David Cameron declared that a public government inquiry would look into the practices and ethics of the British press. For weeks now, the Leveson Inquiry has been hearing testimony from witnesses like Hugh Grant, J.K. Rowling and the parents of Milly Dowler, the 13-year-old murder victim whose phone was hacked by NOTW back in 2002.

On Tuesday, one of the most shocking and eye-opening testimonies was given by former NOTW deputy features editor Paul McMullan, who openly talked about some of the questionable techniques he utilized as a tabloid reporter, like posing as a teenage prostitute to entrap a priest. We managed to track down McMullan, who spoke to Brooke by phone from the cellar of a pub he owns in Dover, England.

Since last week, the British tabloid phone hacking scandal has worked its way into the highest levels of power in England.  The Metropolitan Police Commissioner has resigned, and even British Prime Minister David Cameron has come under intense public pressure.  The Murdoch family, however, seems to have survived, mostly unscathed. Reuters’ finance blogger Felix Salmon talks to Bob about Rupert and James Murdoch’s unlikely endurance. 

Earlier this week, Rupert Murdoch joined a long list of powerful people who’ve had pies thrown in their face. Thomas Friedman, Bill Gates, and Anita Bryant have all been victims of the classic prank. Brooke talked with Jacques Servin (a.k.a. Andy Bichlbaum) of The Yes Men, a group with a long history of executing public pranks on the mighty, about why pie-rs pie and what pie-ing does to the pie-d.

As a Brit sitting here in New York watching News International implode I found myself reliving a bit of my youth. Murdoch’s influence was so pervasive, and so intertwined with my memories of growing up in London in the 80’s. In those days the nightly news was all IRA bombings, the miners’ strike and of course, Wapping.

Here's a little-known (at least here in the US) tidbit that's re-emerged in the News of the World scandal. British singer Billy Bragg has weighed in on the scandal engulfing Rupert Murdoch's media empire with his new song "Never Buy The Sun."

The song is a broad critique of British media practices ("someone's hiding in the bushes/ with a telephoto lens") but one line of the refrain requires a bit of historical context. Bragg sings "The Scousers never buy The Sun."

The who? Why do they never buy The Sun?