Today, News Corp mogul Rupert Murdoch addressed the latest distasteful revelation about his UK tabloid, News of the World. Employees of the paper allegedly hacked the voice mail of a murdered girl's phone. In a press release, he backed former World editor Rebekah Brooks and again denounced the ever-widening phone-hacking scandal (a good primer on the evolution of the scandal is here). From the statement via @nicksutton and Reuters:

Recent allegations of phone hacking and making payments to police with respect to the News of the World are deplorable and unacceptable. I have made clear that our company must fully and proactively cooperate with the police in all investigations and that is exactly what News International has been doing and will continue to do under Rebekah Brooks' leadership. We are committed to addressing these issues fully and have taken a number of important steps to prevent them from happening again. I have also appointed Joel Klein to provide important oversight and guidance and Joel and Viet Dinh, an Independent Director, are keeping News Corporation's Board fully advised as well.

The remarks arrive as News of the World sheds advertisers and UK prime minister David Cameron faces heat from critics who've taken outrage to previously unseen levels.

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Erik Hayden