What they said about … James Murdoch

Following his resignation as chairman of satellite TV company BSkyB, The Independent, leader column said: “The surprise is not that James Murdoch is stepping down as the chairman of BSkyB, but rather that it has taken him so long to go.

“Resigning from the chairmanship of News International was never going to be enough to prevent the fallout from the phone-hacking scandal spilling over on to BSkyB.”

Damian Reece, The Telegraph: “The board has made another misjudgment in allowing Murdoch to stay on as a non-executive director.”

Steve Hewlett, Media Commentator, quoted on BBC News: “The problem for James has always been he is either a fool or a knave. If he didn’t know [about phone hacking] and is therefore innocent – he should have done.”

Michael Wolff, The Guardian: “It is important to understand the cold war that existed between James and the rest of the company. He may have become one of his father’s closest advisers, but he was widely reviled by everybody else: he was the entitled, argumentative, haughty spoiler.”

Chris Bryant, Labour MP: “James Murdoch is running away with his tail between his legs.”

The Economist: “It is unclear whether the progressive stripping of the emperor-to-be’s old clothes is meant to prepare him for new ones, or to leave him naked.”