by: Peter Wilson | The Australian

RUPERT Murdoch insisted last night that he had never used his newspaper empire to curry favour with politicians or to advance his own business interests.

In fact, many News Corporation shareholders believed his newspapers were harming the business and wanted him to get rid of them, Mr Murdoch told the Leveson inquiry into press ethics.

The News Corp chairman was asked about decades of dealing with prime ministers ranging from Margaret Thatcher to Paul Keating but said he had done no deals with Australian or other governments.