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'Everybody blames James' says Guardian writer

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By Noel Young, Correspondent

March 1, 2012 | 2 min read

Quite the toughest comment on James Murdoch's exit from the UK newspaper business comes from columnist Michaell Wolff in the Guardian.

James Murdoch

He describes James as "hopelessly tarred by the phone-hacking scandal."

He says Rupert Murdoch's description of James's new role in New York - "a variety of essential corporate leadership mandates, with particular focus on important pay-TV businesses and broader international operations" - as "a fig leaf."

Says Wolff, "James Murdoch does not have a role at News Corp. He is the shadow man. Nobody talks to him – not even, at least not meaningfully, his father. His siblings shun or pity him. He has not existed as a force, and hardly as presence, since the meltdown of the News of the World last summer."

And, to say the least, adds Wolff, "there is no possibility that he will inherit the top job.

"The reality is stark: everybody in the company blames James for the terrible things that have happened in London."

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