From WNYC in New York, this is On the Media. I'm Bob Garfield.

And I'm Brooke Gladstone.

You're familiar with the word of the mafia?

Yes, Mr. Watson.

This week, News International Executive James Murdoch was roughed up by British MP Tom Watson

and the Parliamentary Committee investigating his company's phone

hacking scandal. For those who watched the previous round of hearings, Murdoch's performance

was familiar. He continued to claim to have been in the dark about the pervasive culture

of skullduggery at News Corp, the company he runs, which led Watson to compare him to

a clueless Capo.

Mr. Murdoch, you must be the first mafia boss in history you didn't know he was running a criminal

enterprise.

So how did a global media magnate's son come to be slammed as an Aussie Don Corleone,

or maybe Fredo.

It started last July when the Murdoch-owned British tabloid news of the world was shuttered

after the paper was found to have routinely hacked into voicemails to get scoops.

Since then, a broader picture of misconduct has emerged.

It seems that many more people were eavesdropped on than anyone

knew. The estimate is now around 5,000, and not just public figures, but ordinary Britons, too.

The resulting outrage has put the entire British media on trial, and a panel has been appointed

to look into stricter regulations for the newspaper industry.

Alan Rusbridger is editor of The Guardian, the paper that broke the phone hacking story.

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