Rupert Murdoch acknowledged for the first time publicly that his son James is not the preferred choice to succeed him as News Corp CEO, at least in the near-term.

In the clearest indication yet that the phone hacking scandal enveloping News Corp's UKoperations has damaged the succession ambitions of James Murdoch, his father endorsed top lieutenant Chase Carey for the job.

"Chase is my partner and if anything happened to me I'm sure he'll get it immediately - if I went under a bus," the elder Murdoch said in response to a question from a Reuters reporter about succession.

Although News Corp has often said that it has a succession plan in place, the company has never explicitly stated who would ascend to the CEO role should Murdoch step down.

In testimony before Parliament last month, Murdoch reiterated his long-held desire to see one of his children succeed him. Until recently, his youngest son James, 38, had been viewed as the likely successor after he was promoted to deputy chief operating officer in March.

The younger Murdoch has been under pressure since the phone hacking scandal, which came to a head last month at News Corp's UK operations, forcing the closure of its News of the World tabloid and the arrest of 12 ex-staffers. News Corp's UK business ultimately reported to the younger Murdoch.

James Murdoch has to submit a written statement to a British parliamentary committee by Thursday responding to accusations that he misrepresented statements in prior testimony.

（中国日报网英语点津 Helen 编辑）

About the broadcaster:

Nelly Min is an editor at China Daily with more than 10 years of experience as a newspaper editor and photographer. She has worked at major newspapers in the U.S., including the Los Angeles Times and the Detroit Free Press. She is also fluent in Korean.