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15 July 2011
Last updated at 05:10 ET
Rebekah Brooks, chief executive of News International, has resigned, the company has confirmed.
Her departure follows days of growing pressure for her to step down as the phone hacking crisis grew.
In a statement, she said she felt a "deep responsibility for the people we have hurt".
She was editor of the News of the World when murder victim Milly Dowler's phone was hacked.
Ms Brooks said she wanted to "reiterate how sorry I am for what we now know to have taken place".
Her statement went on: "I have believed that the right and responsible action has been to lead us through the heat of the crisis. However my desire to remain on the bridge has made me a focal point of the debate.
"This is now detracting attention from all our honest endeavours to fix the problems of the past."
Ms Brooks, who had been with News International for 22 years, bowed to the international pressure piling up on the company.
In the US, the FBI is investigating reports that News Corporation sought to hack the phones of victims of the 9/11 attacks.
The criminal probe follows calls from a growing number of senators and a senior Republican for an investigation.
Meanwhile, News Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch and his son James have agreed to answer UK MPs' questions on the hacking scandal next week.
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Her departure follows days of growing pressure for her to step down as the phone hacking crisis grew.
In a statement, she said she felt a "deep responsibility for the people we have hurt".
She was editor of the News of the World when murder victim Milly Dowler's phone was hacked.
Ms Brooks said she wanted to "reiterate how sorry I am for what we now know to have taken place".
Her statement went on: "I have believed that the right and responsible action has been to lead us through the heat of the crisis. However my desire to remain on the bridge has made me a focal point of the debate.
"This is now detracting attention from all our honest endeavours to fix the problems of the past."
Ms Brooks, who had been with News International for 22 years, bowed to the international pressure piling up on the company.
In the US, the FBI is investigating reports that News Corporation sought to hack the phones of victims of the 9/11 attacks.
The criminal probe follows calls from a growing number of senators and a senior Republican for an investigation.
Meanwhile, News Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch and his son James have agreed to answer UK MPs' questions on the hacking scandal next week.
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