Reporter accuses Murdoch editors in privacy row
* Guardian reporter implicates News International editors
* Accuses News International of cover-up
* Press watchdog says illegal practices less common now
LONDON, July 14 (Reuters) - Senior editors at Rupert Murdoch's British newspaper arm asked a private investigator to obtain information on public figures from confidential databases, a rival journalist told British lawmakers on Tuesday.
Reporter Nick Davies was giving evidence to a parliamentary committee after writing in The Guardian last week that Murdoch journalists had tapped the cellphone messages of thousands of celebrities and obtained other secret personal information by deception.
Davies showed the committee a list of what he said were thousands of requests from journalists, including senior staff at the News of the World tabloid, to a private investigator to obtain information from confidential databases.
"There are a number of senior editorial executives whose names clearly show up on that list making requests which would be illegal if they didn't have public interest on their side," Davies said.
The allegations, particularly over phone-tapping, have grabbed headlines in Britain, where the tabloids compete for scoops on sex and showbiz scandals.
News International, the British newspaper arm of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp (NWSA.O) and owner of the Sun and News of the World tabloids as well as The Times and Sunday Times, denies the reports but had no immediate further comment on Tuesday.
It said last Friday that after a full examination and apart from two already acknowledged cases, the Guardian's allegations were not true.
POLICE FILE CLOSED
Police last week declined to reopen a 2005 investigation that led to the jailing of News of the World journalist Clive Goodman, who reported on the royal family, and private investigator Glen Mulcaire for phone tapping.
They said that while the pair's potential targets may have run into the hundreds, police inquiries found they only actually used the tactic against a far smaller number of people. Continued...
