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British Prime Minister David Cameron appears before an inquiry into media ethics that is likely to investigate his ties to media tycoon Rupert Murdoch.

(SOUNDBITE)(English) BRITISH PRIME MINISTER DAVID CAMERON SAYING:

"I think a lot of the evidence that has been put forward in the session you've had in which people have talked about the growth of 24-hour news culture, the fact that things move so fast, means that I think newspapers have been put in a difficult position because the news has been made and reported long before they've reached their deadlines and they publish their papers the next day. So I think newspapers have moved more towards trying to find impact, trying to find an angle on a story, rather than - as would have been the case before 24 hour news and all the rest of it - just reporting on what had happened the day before."

Cameron's once cosy ties with Murdoch's inner circle mean he is under pressure to pull off a virtuoso performance at the inquiry.

Cameron, who set up the Leveson Inquiry into media ethics himself last year after a newspaper phone-hacking scandal erupted, is due to be questioned for at least five hours, streamed live on television.