(Credit: Flickr, "Pete Prodoehl")

Forbes‘ Jeff Bercovici reported that Wall Street Journal managing editor Robert Thomson defended the newspaper’s coverage of the UK phone hacking scandal during his speech at a Columbia Journalism School dinner.  The hacking scandal has led to the closure of one News Corp newspaper and investigation into UK press tactics, specifically an investigation into accusations of hacking and bribery by UK News Corp journalists.

Thomson argued that the Wall Street Journal, a News Corp-owned newspaper, has been “absolutely honorable” in its reporting on the story, whereas “some of our competitors have been a tad less virtuous.”

Bercovici noted that “Thomson didn’t name names” in criticizing competitors.  Read more here.

As we wrote in July, the Wall Street Journal was criticized by a Dow Jones special editorial committee for its soft interview with News Corp owner Rupert Murdoch admist the growing accusations of hacking at UK News Corp newspapers.