Newscorp shuts down world famous News Of The World newspaper amid scandal

Intrepid Reporter · Jul 9, 2011

News Of The World, a 168 year old newspaper, was sacrificed in the midst of a phone hacking scandal which has been setting the British press on fire recently.

News International James Murdoch says he's satisfied that embattled executive Rebekah Brooks had no knowledge of phone hacking while she was editor of the scandal-ridden News of the World.
His comments came just hours after the Murdoch media empire unexpectedly jettisoned the News of the World on Thursday, the best-selling tabloid at the center of the phone hacking scandal.
The tabloid, long known for its dubious undercover reporting techniques, had gravely offended the British public by hacking into the cell phone voicemail of a missing teenage girl, possibly even interfering with the police investigation into her murder.
But Murdoch expressed confidence in Brooks' leadership during an interview broadcast on British media.

News of the World shutting down amid scandal - BusinessWeek

Facing calls for the firing of Rebekah Brooks, chief executive of News Corp.’s UK newspaper division, Murdoch has instead elected to shut down News of the World, the Sunday tabloid whose practice of obtaining information through illegal cell phone hacks is at the center of a rapidly-spiraling scandal with vast implications for the British press, and even the British government.

The last issue of News of the World will appear Sunday, announced James Murdoch, Rupert’s son and heir apparent, and chairman of News International.Any advertising revenues the final issue generates will be donated to charity. That amount is not likely to be much: Major marketers have been pulling their advertising from the paper in droves in an attempt to distance themselves from the scandal.

News of the World was founded in 1843; Murdoch acquired it in 1969. With a circulation of 2.6 million, it’s News Corp.’s most profitable U.K. paper, according to the Telegraph. But Michael White, an assistant editor for the Guardian — the paper whose reporting has been keeping the hacking story in public view — believes the company can hold onto all those profits and even reduce costs in the same stroke by transitioning NotW’s readership to a new, Sunday edition of the Sun.

News Corp. Shuts News of the World Amid Hacking Furor - Jeff Bercovici - Mixed Media - Forbes

Was this a smart move by Ruper Murdoch and Newscorp to make amends, or is it a calculated move offering up a scapegoat while protected more vested interests?

News Corp. is not making a big business sacrifice with this action. News of the World’s audited circulation is 2,657,000, the biggest of any English-language paper, the company claims, though its readership was declining. Though News Corp. does not break out the profitability of individual publications, I believe the paper operates in the black. Still, the paper is a fraction of a fraction of News Corp.’s business. Publications in the U.K., U.S. and Australia provide only 17 percent of the company’s revenues and some of the big money of the publishing division is in low-profile ventures like Dow Jones’ professional financial information.
News Corp. is essentially a cable and network television business — and that is where the financial stakes for the company could be high. For more than a year News Corp. has been trying to acquire all the stock of British Sky Broadcasting, of which it currently owns roughly 40 percent. The proposed transaction is receiving detailed regulatory scrutiny, which has been extended this week in reaction to the scandal. BSkyB is valued at $23.3 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. The decision to close News of the World could help stabilize the situation. Should the deal fall apart, that would be a huge negative for News Corp.
In addition, with News of the World closed, News Corp. could choose to take its other British tabloid, the Sun, to seven days a week (and earlier this week it registered the thesunonsunday.com domain name). Assuming the Sun has operated more soundly, that would make ethical and business sense.

Reeve of the Turks · Jul 9, 2011

I read that James Murdoch, who was being set up to take over the galactic empire, may face charges over this.

Skooch · Jul 10, 2011

You think it'd be on Rebekah Brooks' head since she was editor at the time if I've read it all right, but was James Murdoch directly running News Of The World?

Akari · Jul 10, 2011

LINKS EVERYWHERE!!!!!!!!!

President Zombie · Jul 13, 2011

Roger Ebert posted a blog about his experiences working in a paper which came to be owned by Murdoch for a while.

The Dirty Digger - Roger Ebert's Journal

Doesn't seem like he earned any fans during his stay.

Intrepid Reporter · Jul 13, 2011

The damage from this scandal has taken an additional toll on the future dealings of the Murdoch empire; his bid for the BSkyB fell through:
How will BSkyB bid's failure affect News Corp and Murdoch? | Media | guardian.co.uk

Sirsparrow · Jul 15, 2011

Looks like they've pulled out of the bid.

Edit: What? I thought this was the TV forum. What am I doing in politicis!?!??

Skooch · Jul 15, 2011

Ahhhh I feel so dirty!!

Skooch · Jul 19, 2011

Wow, so much has happened in the last few days.

Rebekah Brooks stepped down from her position, was then arrested, on bail, and meanwhile James and Rupert Murdoch were summoned to a hearing, where Rupert was also hit by a cream pie by a protester who somehow rushed the committee.

Neocloud · Jul 19, 2011

An ex journo for news of the world died yesterday. He claimed he'd known about the phone hacking before it was all released. News of the World was a terrible paper anyways.

Skooch · Jul 20, 2011

That's right, he committed suicide didn't he?

Sirsparrow · Jul 20, 2011

Yeah, the situation was deemed to be 'not suspicious'

Skooch · Jul 20, 2011

Because you know... the whistle blower who most likely knew intimate details about this whole scandal winding up dead is just a formality.

Also apparently a top cop had to step down after it was revealed he was talking nice little day spa trips for free courtesy of somebody who worked high up for News Ltd.

n33ch · Aug 16, 2011

Hmmmmmm.

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Newscorp shuts down world famous News Of The World newspaper amid scandal

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