Mockridge leaving embattled News International

Apparently passed over for the job heading up the soon-to-be-spun-off News Corp. print unit, Tom Mockridge is taking his leave of the company.

Mockridge, who took over the thankless task of overseeing the company’s embattled British newspapers after a phone hacking scandal forced the closure of the News of the World, said yesterday that he is stepping down from his post.

The move came a day after word broke that Wall Street Journal editor Robert Thomson will be tapped to lead the upcoming publishing spinoff of News Corp., a job that many had considered Thomson and Mockridge the frontrunners for.

News Corp. has not officially tapped Thomson, whose name leaked to The New York Times over the weekend.

Mockridge became head of News International last summer, taking over for Rebekah Brooks, who was charged in the ongoing investigation into phone hacking and bribery allegations at the NOTW and News Corp.’s other tabloid, The sun.

He had to answer to the Leveson Inquiry, the recently concluded investigation into British press ethics whose findings, released last week, didn’t cause much of a stir in the end.

Mockridge did not say where he will be going after News Corp.

The company plans to spin off its newspaper and publishing branches into a separate company next year.
 

Tags: leveson inquiry, news corp., news corp. scandal, news corp. spinoff, news international, phone hacking, publishing, rebekah brooks, robert thomson, tom mockridge, wall street journal, wsj