Sky News has admitted hacking into emails on two occasions but said today the actions had been justified and were in the public interest.
On one occasion, the news channel of British broadcaster BSkyB - part of Rupert Murdoch's media empire - authorised a journalist to access the emails of a man accused of faking his own death.
The broadcaster said the emails belonged to John Darwin - who faked his own death in a canoe - and his wife Anne.
Sky News head John Ryley said Sky provided the e-mails to police to assist in the prosecution of the couple.
"Sky News is committed to the highest editorial standards. Like other news organisations, we are acutely aware of the tensions that can arise between the law and responsible investigative journalism," Mr Ryley said in a statement.
"We stand by these actions as editorially justified and in the public interest."
The company has also sent reporters to buy illegal weapons and penetrate airport security in the name of public-interest journalism, Mr Ryley said.
The channel said it commissioned both an external review of e-mail records at Sky News and an internal audit of payment records. No grounds for concern have been found so far, it said.
Murdoch's News Corp is the biggest shareholder in BSkyB with a 39 per cent stake. BSkyB is the subject of scrutiny by Britain's broadcasting regulator as to whether its executives and owners make it a "fit and proper" owner of a broadcast