Rupert Murdoch’s son, James Murdoch, has stepped down as executive chairman of News International, the British newspaper group that publishes News Corporation’s British tabloids. As we have extensively reported, those newspapers have been the subject of major scandals and extensive government investigations in England. Most recently, a British inquiry found that the company had bribed British police, government and military officials “hundreds of thousands of dollars” for news. According to the investigation, the payments were authorized “at a very senior level within the newspaper.” We again join Free Press’ effort in calling for an American inquiry into News Corporation.

The New York Times noted in its report on Murdoch’s resignation:

The Murdoch empire seemed to face fresh trouble on Monday when a senior police officer told a judicial inquiry that the daily Sun had systematically paid large sums of money to “a network of corrupted officials” in the British police, military and government.

…The police officer, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Sue Akers, who is leading the criminal investigation into Mr. Murdoch’s newspapers, said The Sun had illegally paid the unidentified officials hundreds of thousands of dollars in exchange for news tips and “salacious gossip.” She said the payments had been authorized “at a very senior level within the newspaper.”

Free Press has also been keeping an eye on the investigation and has renewed its calls for Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate whether the media conglomerate has broken any U.S. laws under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.  I have previously offered up reasons to suspect that hacking may have occurred here, too. You can sign the Free Press petition to Attorney General Holder here.