BBC Two to show Murdoch committee appearance

BBC Two is clearing its afternoon schedules today to show the Murdoch’s appearance before the media select committee.

Rupert Murdoch.

Rupert and James Murdoch are due to appear before the common’s select committee this afternoon to answer questions from MP’s about the phone-hacking scandal that has engulfed News Corp. It’s uncertain how many questions the duo will be able to answer without infringing on the various other investigations that are now on-going regarding the hacking. Last week Rupert Murdoch, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, said he intended to use his appearance before the committee to address “total lies” which had been told about News International.

The Murdoch’s are due to appear before the committee at 2.30pm and their appearance will be shown on BBC Two which is dropping its daytime schedules – it will also be covered on BBC Radio Five Live and the BBC News Channel.

Rupert Murdoch on the launch day of Sky News in 1989, surrounded by the channel’s original presenters.

Appearing before the Murdoch’s will be Sir Paul Stephenson, at 12.00pm, and John Yates at 1.30pm – both of whom have now quit their respective jobs with the Metropolitan Police. Appearing after the Murdoch’s at 3.30pm will be Rebekah Brooks, who was arrested at the weekend, who until Friday worked News International .

In related news: Overnight The Sun and The Times were targeted by hackers with a page on The Sun re-directing, for a short while, to a false news story claiming Rupert Murdoch had died. The website later re-directed to a Twitter account of one of the hackers. The hackers, known as LulzSec, claim to have The Sun’s emails which they claim will release later today.

Rupert Murdoch is a major shareholder/owner in several media businesses in the UK and globally.