Rupert Murdoch: Brooks Back to Rebuild after Scandal

Everybody loves a good comeback story, and that’s what Rupert Murdoch is offering us. Along with that, Murdoch proves the ongoing support for Rebekah Brooks he’s claimed ever since her resignation in July 2011 from the now defunct News of the World. Brooks, for her part, has traveled the hard road and appears to be well on her way to redemption.

Before that resignation, Brooks, now 47, had accomplished a great deal in her career. She became the youngest editor of a British national newspaper, in 2000 she was placed in charge of News of the World, and in 2003 she became the first female editor of the Sun. It didn’t stop there.

In 2009, she became CEO of what was then called News International. The crisis hit in 2011 when Murdock closed News of the World in the midst of public outcry over a phone hacking scandal. Brooks was arrested.

Then last year Brooks was acquitted of all charges in the investigation including phone hacking, perverting the course of justice, and bribery regarding a scandal surrounding the murder of 13-year-old Milly Dowler.

Reporters were accused of hacking the family’s phones to gather information for more salacious stories.

Brooks has been quietly building back her career recently. Murdoch made that easier in a further show of his support. This year, she’s assisted a startup bought by News Corp in 2013, Storyful. The Dublin-based group helps newsrooms search the web for video content to vet.

Her latest accomplishment just announced, she’s been named CEO of the U.K. subsidiary of News Corp where she will handle development and acquisition of digital properties.

Brooks is out of the fray of the phone hacking scandal. But that does not mean the scandal is over. An evidence file relating to the police investigation of the case is being reviewed by U.K. prosecutors.

If that goes further, controlling officers who were members of the board of News of the World at the time could face prosecution. Also still under investigation are several reporters.

Some of the other news outlets owned by Murdoch include the Wall Street Journal, News Corp., U.K.’s The Sun and The Times, the New York Post, and 21st Century Fox. Since truly good PR is found in telling a good story, Murdoch and Brooks offer that, and as luck would have it, they have easy access to outlets that can herald this tale.