Murdoch executive defends UK paper in hacking row

* Says phone hacking not widespread

* Says Murdoch very concerned

* Says paid ex-reporter as part of settlement

LONDON, Sept 15 (Reuters) - The practice of hacking into the mobile phones of public figures to secure sensational stories was not widespread at Britain's News of the World tabloid, one of Rupert Murdoch's most senior executives said on Tuesday.

Les Hinton, chief executive of Dow Jones and previously the executive chairman of Murdoch's newspaper arm in Britain (NWSA.O), told a committee of legislators any problems with phone hacking was limited to one, already well publicised case.

Hinton, who was speaking via video link from New York to the select committee, was asked to testify after allegations from a rival paper that News of the World journalists conspired to hack into the phones of thousands of people.

The suggestion from the Guardian newspaper earlier this year reignited the debate on media ethics after the jailing in 2005 for phone hacking of Clive Goodman, who reported on the royal family for the News of the World.

It also cast a spotlight on the tactics of tabloid papers which compete fiercely to land scoops on celebrities and scandal.

Hinton, who told the committee Murdoch had been very concerned about the hacking allegations, said the company appointed a new editor and conducted a wide review to investigate what went wrong in the Goodman case.

He said the paper had paid for stories in the past but said this too had been reduced under the new editor Colin Myler.

"No evidence delivered to me suggested that the conduct of Clive Goodman spread beyond him," he said, adding that since the Guardian reported its story on hacking, no new details had come to light.

"No new evidence has arisen and I think it's fair to say that, since no new evidence has come of this, it would be hard to find any because there are lots of very capable people I'm sure at establishments such as the Guardian looking for it."

Hinton said he had authorised a payment to Goodman after the trial as part of an unfair dismissal claim but rejected questions from the committee that this had been intended to buy the reporter's silence.

"I don't know what silence was left," he said.

(Reporting by Kate Holton; Editing by David Cowell)