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"We are ceasing to be a sensational tabloid. The paper's name has been changed to just The News. No more will we lurk in alley ways, peak in windows or hide in restrooms trying to get news that the public will read, avidly, but no one else but another tabloid wants.
We will investigate the practices of everyone working here and get rid of those who cheated. We will get rid of the supervisors who allowed this kind of thing to go on or who should have taken responsibility for finding out earlier and stopping it. We will never again employ outside investigators to get scoops that we are ashamed to get ourselves.
I, James Murdoch, will travel, if they will see me, to meet with the family of the murdered child, whose cell phone people in our employ hacked, to offer my direct apologies. My lawyers will be prepared to meet with them at any time, at any place of their choosing, to arrange for a cash settlement of a substantial size, even though that, too, is only a gesture which cannot remove the harm that was done. We are today announcing a fund of 10 million pounds in her name and that of her family. This fund will be used to provide educational opportunities for children from poorer family backgrounds and to assist in preventing crimes of violence against children. We will do more in the future, as we become better aware of what is needed.
Finally, we will also withdraw from playing favorites in politics and endeavor to have a more even hand in our news coverage. We will serve the people first and entrenched power not at all. We realize that what has happened is our fault, brought about by a culture within the company of disregarding standards of journalistic and human decency.
We ask not for forgiveness, because we don't deserve it, but a chance, however small, to regain the trust of the public. We know we will have to earn that trust every day by our work and by simply being trustworthy, good citizens, something we have failed to do heretofore. These failures are not merely mistakes, they are failures of an entire business enterprise, the managers and supervisors and, lastly, those who put immediate gain ahead of our social and human responsibilities. Everyone who participated shares some blame, but none more so than people, such as myself, who take on the responsibility of demanding compliance with limits, rules and, again, simple decency. "
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