By Chris Hughes
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

The challenge to James Murdoch’s credibility remains serious.

Two former senior staff have repeated assertions that News Corporation’s European boss was made aware, in 2008, of evidence that phone hacking at his UK newspapers involved more than just a single rogue reporter. Murdoch has strongly rejected that claim. The truth of the matter remains unclear.

By Chris Hughes
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

The phone hacking scandal at News Corp burst back to life on Tuesday. New evidence emerged suggesting that top executives were warned four years ago the illegal interception of voicemail messages went beyond one rogue reporter. James Murdoch, who returned to the company to run European and Asian operations in December 2007 after the matter appeared to have been resolved, continues to protest ignorance. But the sheer scale of what he didn’t know raises fresh questions of how he handled the affair.

By Chris Hughes

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

Don’t be yourselves. That’s probably the best tip for Rupert and James Murdoch as they prepare to face UK lawmakers over the phone hacking scandal engulfing the UK newspaper arm of News Corporation.

By Chris Hughes
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

James Murdoch should stage his own tactical retreat and resign from News Corporation. The heir apparent to his father Rupert’s media empire has lost authority. That may not be entirely his fault. Underlings seem to have let him down, and his father has undermined him by backing Rebekah Brooks, the head of the group’s scandal-ridden UK newspapers, who reports to James. The best way for Murdoch jnr to regain control of his own destiny is to leave.

By Chris Hughes
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

To the independent directors of News Corporation,

Your company is in a grave crisis and you, its independent directors, have a pivotal role to play in taking control of the situation. I realise that your ability to act is ultimately constrained by the fact that the chairman and chief executive, Rupert Murdoch, owns the single largest block of voting shares. But you have a duty to act in the interests of all stock holders. And your own reputations are at stake.

By Chris Hughes
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

For News Corp shareholders, the penny has dropped. The phone hacking crisis engulfing the U.S. media group’s UK Sunday tabloid comes with a price. The stock opened down 3.2 percent on July 6, erasing $2.3 billion of market value.

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

By Chris Hughes

The latest allegations in the phone hacking scandal at News Corporation’s tabloid have shocked the British public. But they should also alarm investors in News Corporation. The U.S. media group’s handling of this crisis has been inexcusably weak. If the allegations now being made are true, they strongly reinforce the impression of chronic weakness in the governance of Rupert Murdoch’s empire.

By Chris Hughes and Antony Currie
The authors are Reuters Breakingviews columnists. The opinions expressed are their own.

LONDON/NEW YORK — The London Stock Exchange has paid a bearable price for misjudging its proposed merger with Canada’s TMX. It was naive to think the C$3.6 billion deal, which collapsed on June 29 amid opposition from TMX’s shareholders, would be plain sailing. The LSE is now damaged and vulnerable. But it doesn’t need a deal and its next transaction — whether as bidder or target — probably won’t happen in a hurry.

By Chris Hughes
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

LONDON — It’s back to the classroom for Glencore investors. Just when they were getting their head around its moving parts, the commodity trader has shown it can be unpredictable.