Sen Rockefeller calls for News Corp probe

Sen Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), Chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, said the US should investigate whether News Corp papers had broken US laws following reports that victims of the September 11 attacks may have had their phones hacked by detectives working for the News of the World. “The reported hacking by News Corporation newspapers against a range of individuals – including children – is offensive and a serious breach of journalistic ethics,” said Chairman Rockefeller. “This raises serious questions about whether the company has broken [any] US law, and I encourage the appropriate agencies to investigate to ensure that Americans have not had their privacy violated.”

The Federal Communications Commission won’t involve itself in the U.K. probe of allegations that journalists at the now-defunct News of the World newspaper tapped phones and paid police for stories, FCC chairman Julius Genachowski said.