Rebekah Brooks Back To News Corp.? Ex-News Of The World Editor Expected To Head Digital Operations For Rupert Murdoch

Nine months after her acquittal in the News Corp. phone-hacking trial, Rebekah Brooks is set to rejoin the media empire owned by Rupert Murdoch, the Daily Mail reported Sunday. Brooks, who headed the Murdoch-owned News of the World at the time of the scandal and was chief executive of News Corp.'s U.K. arm, is expected to help Murdoch acquire digital companies and expand the media conglomerate’s social media strategy, the New York Times reported.

“She is still trusted and very much held in high regard by Murdoch,” a News Corp. insider told the Daily Mail. “'This is a high-status job at the top of the business.”

Rumors of Brooks’ next move swirled in November when she was seen in News Corp.’s New York offices, the tabloid reported. The Financial Times reported Sunday Brooks would run Storyful, the social media agency bought by News Corp. for $25 million in 2013.

There were conflicting reports about where Brooks will be based in her new role. The Daily Mail reported she would be in New York while the New York Times said she would be based in Britain. The Guardian said she bought an apartment in New York City but her job would be in the U.K. According to the Financial Times, she would also spend part of her time in Dublin where Storyful has its headquarters.

Brooks resigned as CEO of News International, the U.K. division of News Corp., in 2011, when allegations surfaced News of the World had hacked the voicemail of missing teenager Milly Dowler, who was dead. The hack led her family and police to believe she was alive because they thought Dowler was the one accessing the messages. It was later revealed the paper also hacked into the voicemails of several celebrities and members of the royal family.

Brooks was cleared of all charges in the phone-hacking scandal in June. News of the World editor Andy Coulson was found guilty of conspiring to intercept communications.