The News of the World had published continuously for 168 years, and James Murdoch has refused to rule out closing The Sun, the country’s largest daily newspaper by circulation, if it should become embroiled in the phone hacking scandal, as some of those who believe that their phones were hacked have alleged. At least 16 former News International employees, including Rebekah Brooks, the former chief executive, have been arrested in police investigations.

Two News Corporation officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity in return for discussing internal company matters that they described as confidential, said the board moves were “housekeeping” measures. The decision was made, one said, because Mr. Murdoch “will be spending more time in the United States” in his role as a News Corporation executive. His position on the two boards was assumed by Tom Mockridge, the new chief executive of News International, who was appointed to the position after his predecessor, Ms. Brooks, resigned over the phone hacking scandal.

The news of Mr. Murdoch’s departure from the two boards, two months after the moves occurred, broke when a reporter for The Evening Standard, which is not a Murdoch property, examined filings at Companies House, the government agency where privately owned businesses in Britain file financial statements and other corporate documents.

Mr. Murdoch’s decision to step down from the two boards followed his appearance with his father in July before a House of Commons committee conducting televised hearings into the long-running scandal.

James Murdoch made a second appearance this month before the panel, known as the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, where he faced further questioning about his role in the scandal, in particular his approval of a $1.3 million financial settlement with Gordon Taylor, a soccer executive whose cellphone messages were among those intercepted by a private investigator working for The News of the World. Mr. Murdoch testified that the settlement was not a payment to cover up the extent of the wrongdoing at the newspaper, as some members of the committee suggested.

Although James Murdoch has rejected any hint of wrongdoing, it is widely expected that he will come in for criticism, and possibly harsher censure, when the parliamentary committee makes its report, expected before the year’s end.

Media analysts in the City of London financial district said they saw the board changes as part of a broader strategic repositioning by the News Corporation, and as a possible preliminary to a decision by the Murdochs to abandon their British newspaper holdings. “It feels like they’re loosening the ties,” said Alex DeGroote, an analyst at Panmure Gordon. “Over all, I don’t think News Corporation will own News International in the next 14 months or so. This is slowly withdrawing family interest from the U.K. titles, which are a marginal asset and increasingly became a distraction of management time.”