2011
of the media. Rupert Murdoch, his son James,
chairman of News International, and the orga-
nization’s chief executive (until her resignation)
Rebekah Brooks, are summoned for question-
ing by House of Commons select committees.
Their connections with the Murdoch press
made public, the Commissioner of the London
Metropolitan police, Sir Paul Stephenson, and
his deputy John Yates resign.• (^) Italy: November. Financial crisis in Eurozone
brings to an end the premiership of media mogul
Silvio Berlusconi, the country’s longest-serving
Prime Minister.
2011 Popular uprisings in a number of north
African and Middle Eastern countries are seen
to have been aided by Internet and mobile
communication.
• (^) US: Jill Abramson becomes the first female
editor of the New York Times in the paper’s
160-year history.
• (^) UK: Engulfed in a phone-hacking scandal, the
168-year-old News of the World, part of Rupert
Murdoch’s News International (UK wing of
News Corp), is shut down, its fi nal issue appear-
ing on Sunday 10 July. The UK government
sets up a public inquiry chaired by Lord Justice
Leveson to investigate hacking and regulation