Video: Brooks was good 'troubleshooter', says first boss Phil Hall was close friends with Rebekah Wade - as she was then known - and would often rely on her to break the bad news to people who were about to be exposed in the newspaper. "She was very good at getting involved in what was the most difficult and, in many ways the most valuable, tasks of the week, " said Mr Hall. Ms Brooks became a close confidante of the Murdoch family and went on to be the first female editor of The Sun, then chief executive of News International until she resigned over the phone hacking scandal. Hall, who was editor of the News of the World for five years from 2000 and now runs his own public relations company, thinks the Murdoch family could soon end up leaving the UK newspaper industry for good as they see themselves as "victims of a an establishment and media coup."