James Murdoch has resigned from the boards of the publishing units within News Corp's British newspaper arm, which used to include the now-defunct News of the World tabloid at the centre of the phone hacking scandal, regulatory filings show.
Mr Murdoch, son of media mogul Rupert and deputy chief operating officer of News Corp, remains chairman of News International, the News Corp unit that houses its British newspapers, and a member of the Times editorial board.
James Murdoch survived a vote to remain on the News Corp board last month only thanks to support from his family and another loyal shareholder.
Next week, he faces shareholders of British satellite broadcaster BSkyB, who will have to decide whether he should remain as non-executive chairman.
McCanns 'verbally beat into submission'
Earlier today, the parents of missing child Madeleine McCann said they were "verbally beat into submission" by the News of the World's editor after they gave an interview to another publication.
Gerry and Kate McCann were giving evidence to the Leveson Inquiry, which is investigating press standards in Britain.
The couple said they agreed to speak to Hello! magazine around the first anniversary of their daughter's disappearance to promote a European alert system for missing children.
But when Colin Myler, then at the helm of the tabloid, found out that his newspaper had been spurned, he was "irate", Mr McCann said.
"He was berating us for not doing an interview with the News of the World and told us how supportive the newspaper had been," he said.
"He basically beat us into submission, verbally, and we agreed to do an interview the day after."
Sitting next to her husband and appearing to rest a hand on his knee, Mrs McCann added that this had come during "an extremely stressful time" for the couple.
"To get a call like this - you actually almost feel guilty", she said.
Mr McCann explained that they had chosen to give an interview to Hello! as it is sold across Europe and it was a European Amber alert system they were campaigning for.
Describing Mr Myler's reaction, Mr McCann wrote in a statement submitted to the inquiry: "In the end we were made to feel so guilty we agreed to give an interview to the News of the World, despite not really wanting to do so."
Madeleine McCann was nearly four when she vanished from her family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in the Algarve on May 3, 2007, as her parents dined with friends nearby.
Despite a massive police investigation and huge publicity worldwide, she has not been found.
The McCanns said they were hounded by the press as they finally left Portugal and after they arrived home.
Mr McCann said: "The journey to the airport was one of the most terrifying experiences anyone could have."
Cars were cutting in front of them and people were hanging out of windows, he said.
"It was just dangerous," he added.
And when the family got back to their house in Rothley, Leicestershire, the onslaught continued, the inquiry heard.
Journalists were camped outside and helicopters hovered overhead, the McCanns said.
"We were hemmed in the house for a couple of days before the police moved them to the end of our drive," Mr McCann said.
His wife added: "They would often wait for Gerry to go and would know I would have to come out the house at some point with the children."
Photographers would then either spring out from behind the hedge or, on several occasions, would bang on the windows, sometimes with their camera lenses, she said.
She added: "(Madeleine's younger sister) Amelie said to me several times 'Mummy, I'm scared'."
Discussing the pain caused by the false headlines about them that were splashed across some newspapers, Mrs McCann said: "We wanted to shout out 'It's not true', but when it's your voice against a powerful media, there's no point."
The inquiry, sitting at the Royal Courts of Justice in central London, heard evidence today from Sheryl Gascoigne, the ex-wife of former England footballer Paul Gascoigne.
Mrs Gascoigne said she had to put her house on the market to fund a libel action against a newspaper.
She also said paparazzi photographers followed her car and forced her to crawl around on her hands and knees at home to avoid having her picture taken.
It also heard from lawyer Mark Lewis, who represents phone hacking victims, and journalist Tom Rowland.
The inquiry will hear tomorrow from actress Sienna Miller, Harry Potter author JK Rowling and former F1 boss Max Mosley.
The first part of the Leveson Inquiry is looking at the culture, practices and ethics of the press in general.
The second part, examining the extent of unlawful activities by journalists, will not begin until detectives have completed their investigation into alleged phone hacking and corrupt payments to police and any prosecutions have been concluded.
