News International has embarked on a marketing campaign to repair its brand image, in the aftermath of the phone-hacking scandal.

The beleaguered media giant has placed full-page apology ads in all its national newspapers as well as rival titles such as the Daily Mail and The Mirror. 

This comes as news breaks of Rebekah Brooks’ resignation, who quit her job as CEO of News International today (15 July), and the fallout from the scandal spreads to the US and beyond. 

News Corps shares are down about 15% since early last week and chief executive Rupert Murdoch has published his first significant comments on the scandal on the Wall Street Journal’s website (a New Corps-owned title). Murdoch said the company has handled the crisis “extremely well in every possible way”, making only “minor mistakes”. 

Murdoch has also said he will set the record straight when he appears before MPs next week: “We think it’s important to absolutely establish our integrity in the eyes of the public… I felt that it’s best just to be as transparent as possible.” 

However, he insists that the damage to the company is “nothing that will not be recovered”. 

The company has also called in PR agency Edelman to help it handle public outrage and pressure from political parties over the phone-hacking scandal. 

Edelman is the world’s largest PR firm and handles the reputations of brands such as Pepsi, Burger King and Starbucks. 

Posted by

Nicola Carpenter