Rebekah Brooks had plan B for self-preservation REBEKAH Brooks attempted to pin the blame for phone-hacking on fellow executives at News International, a court has been told. As the company became "extremely anxious, if not panic stricken" in the dying days of the News of the World, its chief executive embarked on a campaign of self-preservation, the Old Bailey heard. Three days before the final edition of the Sunday tabloid, Mrs Brooks wrote to James Murdoch, then the chairman of News International, setting out a "Plan B."