News of the World to close amid hacking scandal

[dipsydoodle]

Source: BBC News

This Sunday's issue of the News of the World will be the last edition of the paper, News International chairman James Murdoch has said.

In the past few days, claims have been made that the paper authorised hacking into the mobile phone of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler, the families of 7/7 bombing victims and bereaved military families.

Sky News said proceeds from the paper's last edition would be given to good causes.

In a statement made to staff, Mr Murdoch said the good things the News of the World does "have been sullied by behaviour that was wrong - indeed, if recent allegations are true, it was inhuman and has no place in our company".

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14070733

---

That is / was the UK's biggest selling Sunday newspaper

[brooklynite]

1. Liveblog of developments at the Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/blog/2011/jul/07/news-of-the-world-phone-hacking-live-coverage

[dipsydoodle]

3. Oddly enough

It may not necessarily have affected its sales too much. What has screwn the Murdoch's is the loss of advertising revenue. Most UK newspapers would sell at a loss in the absense of advert revenues - been like that here for at least 20 years.

Its circulation figure April / May was 2,606,397

[jmowreader]

49. ALL newspapers sell at a loss in the absence of ad revenue

The largest department at any newspaper is Advertising Sales, because a newspaper's cover price doesn't come close to covering expenses.

[quakerboy]

69. I dont think this was a money choice

This is trying to get out in front of something bigger by shutting it all down and getting people the hell outa dodge. The lawyers must have said it was about to get Really really ugly.

[calimary]

73. My husband was saying that earlier this evening - that's one way to destroy all the evidence.

Close down the company. All gone! Problem solved. The cupboard is bare. Nothing more to see. Move along now!

I thought something Michael Wolff said on Olbermann tonight was MOST interesting and likely true. The firing of those 300 reporters just means there are that many new sources for other reporters. Makes you wonder if Andy Coulson or perhaps even Rebekah Brooks might find something to start singing about. Wolff speculated that, in Coulson's case, here's a guy who was at the top of the pyramid - in Murdoch's publishing empire, and then moved into the top of the heap of the British government by Prime Minister David Cameron appointed him director of communications. If he's being arrested and held for his role in this mess, that's an awfully steep fall from positions so high up. And it changes you a lot.

[salin]

2. "if recent allegations are true.... no place in our company" - James Murdoch

I get the attempt at distancing ... but completely unbelievable given the investigations and have been going on for quite some time. To feign shock and surprise at the most recent revelations and to take the stand that this is a ... *gasp* shock if true... unbelievable. Let the dominoes keep tumbling.

[bahrbearian]

7. Exactly, and the Buck stops where James?

[WhiteTara]

23. Too bad his signature is on the hush money checks!

These people think they can do anything. Talk about entitlements.

[salin]

26. and that should continue to be a big deal

[Lucky Luciano]

4. News International Says Sunday News of the World to be Last Issue

Source: Bloomberg Terminal headline

Headline only

No link yet.

[No Elephants]

5. In fairness, hacking wasn't the only scandal.

Smart move, though. If it's at all possible for Murdoch to get this behind him, this will help, like amputating a gangrenous limb.

Problem is, Murdoch is the source of the gangrene.

[bemildred]

6. The search for scapegoats begins. nt

[nolabear]

8. Dive! Dive!

[denem]

9. BREAKING: Murdoch closes News of the World

Source: The Daily Telegraph

(Statement by James Murdoch)

This Sunday will be the last issue of the News of the World. Colin Myler will edit the final edition of the paper.

In addition, I have decided that all of the News of the World’s revenue this weekend will go to good causes.

While we may never be able to make up for distress that has been caused, the right thing to do is for every penny of the circulation revenue we receive this weekend to go to organisations – many of whom are long-term friends and partners – that improve life in Britain and are devoted to treating others with dignity.

Read more: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/phone-hacking/8617707/News-of-the-World-phone-hacking-live.html

---

Guardian reports that a number of News editors and journalists may be arrested today

[tekisui]

10. Awesome! They need to follow this through to Murdochs other rags

and teevee stations.

[onehandle]

11. Wow! Look at the home page. It looks like a porn site.

Is covering half your site with scantily clad females what it will take to save America's newspapers?

http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/notw/public/home

[devilgrrl]

22. Totally inappropriate for viewing at work too!

A lot of intellectually stimulating articles in that there fish wrap.

[mwooldri]

29. So inappropriate, it is blocked on my employers' network. nt

[mwooldri]

27. Looks just like "The Sun" - NotW's "sister paper". nt

[onehandle]

31. Headline: 'Girl evicted after noisy sex'

Ah, yes. 'The Sun.' Home of the 'Page 3 Girl.'

Seems like something Tina Brown might use to save Newsweek.

[Dappleganger]

33. Looks like nothing but a trashy gossip paper.

Nothing that I would ever pay any attention to over here in the US.

[T_i_B]

40. That's because it is/was a trashy gossip rag

The problem is that it was prepared to break the law in order to procure trashy celebrity gossip.

The scandal has taken on a new dimension after it was discovered to have hacked a murdered girl's mobile phone, and deleted mobile phone messages in order to free up space on the phone for more voice mail messages to hack into.

And also hacking into phones of relatives of dead soldiers, especially given how much of a big deal it makes over "supporting our troops".

To be honest it got to the point where you half expected to hear that they's been hacking into the voicemail of Anne Frank.

[Bluenorthwest]

36. A poet once wrote: She's the kind of a girl

who makes the News of the World....

[tclambert]

57. That poet was John Lennon.

Polythene Pam. You could say she was attractively built.

[tclambert]

58. Dammit, you made me look. Where's the eye-scrubbing brush?

[marions ghost]

12. Excellent News

:applause:

[PATRICK]

13. Tactically

the problem is Murdoch blackmail and treason. The Royals and "public persons"(pols) are fair game. Have to dig uncomfortably hard to even stop future practices much less win a court case. Blackmail of important non-public figures who, like Murdoch, own the government in something like stock shares, never want themselves in the fray. So bring them down by populist outrage that portay a standard tabloid totally out of control.

But it is hardly a tabloid totally out of control for mere sensationalism. It is primarily a power machine under corporate control. The firewall is the appearance of merely going beyond the pale of normal tabloid entertainment.

I will bet, whatever the consequences, that the powers that be will contain the case to that, and either leave it with the chastisement of the demise of one outlet or make deals behind the scenes to contain Murdoch's influence in mutually beneficial ways- which is a mistake, but there are all those juicy files on the government and other high ups to ensure J. Edgar Murdoch's survival. The exposure of the son is one interesting pressure point, because he is to inherit the realm after all.

[meegbear]

14. Holy Polythene Pam Batman!

[Erose999]

Now if we could just get him to shut down his other tabloid rag, Fox News....

[Liberal Veteran]

15. Prediction: Murdoch announces premier of new paper called "Reports of the Earth"

....in offices previously occupied by News of the World

[caseymoz]

16. We wondered who would be thrown overboard . . .

Turns out the Murdoch's have decided to scuttle and man the lifeboats.

My question: it's minor by comparison, but why couldn't BP have done this? It goes to show the Murdochs are morally better than oil companies, which is like boasting about being less slimy than a slug.

[PaulaFarrell]

52. not morally better

just trying to save the bksyb deal and his pet rebekah wade

[Bosonic]

17. Probably window dressing

No surprise "The Sun" is rumored to become a 7-day a week paper.

[Tony_FLADEM]

18. News of the World to close amid hacking scandal

Source: BBC News UK

This Sunday's issue of the News of the World will be the last edition of the paper, News International chairman James Murdoch has said.

In the past few days, claims have been made that the paper authorised hacking into the mobile phones of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler and the families of 7/7 bombing victims.

Mr Murdoch said proceeds from the last edition would go to good causes.

Downing Street said it had no role or involvement in the decision.


Read more: www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14070733?OCID=fbwin

[xchrom]

19. Jail should be next. Nt

[Whoa_Nelly]

20. Closing down does not stop the previous crimes

Am hoping this continues, especially with the WSJ connections
link to that here: http://www.alternet.org/news/151552/did_wall_street_journal_honcho_cover_up_murdoch_phone-hack_scandal

[meegbear]

21. Holy Polythene Pam Batman!

[Blacksheep214]

24. What's that old saying?

A fish rots from the head down.

Rupert is without a doubt the head.

[alp227]

25. Biggest-selling? Disgusting how The Observer couldn't get more

(The Observer = The Guardian's Sunday edition)

[valerief]

28. So if illegal activity has been done in one Murdoch enterprise, what about all the others? nt

[alfredo]

34. Is Fox News hacking our phones, or spying on our government?

[valerief]

35. I thought Fox News WAS our government! nt

[alfredo]

38. Then our government is run in part by a Saudi Sheikh.

[valerief]

Right. nt

[Downwinder]

30. A question that needs to be answered.

What is News Corp. doing on this side of the pond?

[closeupready]

32. Not good enough, IMHO.

nt

[musiclawyer]

37. They must be scared.

The lawyers must have told them the deep doo they are.
The crimes probably extend into the United Staters. If I was Eric Holder....oh wait...

[Turborama]

39. Mail on Sunday Next to Close Please! n/t

[robbob]

41. Heard about this on NPR

Funny how no matter how many times they mention Murdoch by name they never make any reference to Fox News. Even after mentioning that the News of the World had been accused of having too much influence in British politics. Sometimes I wonder how they can keep from laughing out loud...

[The Green Manalishi]

42. slimey paper, but I feel for the press operators, drivers, and

other working stiffs who are now out of a job.

[T_i_B]

44. Same here

People at the bottom are losing their livlihood because of gross misconduct by those at the top. :grr:

[dana_b]

45. that is true

and it's not a great time to get a job here, the UK and most places. Well, maybe if the Times and other papers' circulations pick up due to this paper closing, they will be hiring. Fingers crossed.

[T_i_B]

46. The Times is LOT more upmarket then the News Of The Screws

NOTW readers are more likely to go for the People, The Daily Star Sunday, Maybe the Sunday Mirror if they are OK with more left wing politics and perhaps the Mail On Sunday if they want bitchy right wing nastiness.

It had a huge readership, but it wasn't the sort of people who go for broadsheets.

[dana_b]

47. oh I know that

I was just mentioning the Times because I'm an ignorant American (lol) but yeah, you're right. Maybe some of the other papers will pick up.
I feel for those folks. Nothing like finding out that you'll be out of work in less than a week.

[jmowreader]

50. It looks like the "working stiffs who are now out of a job"

need to be.

He owns three dailies in England: The Times, The Sun and this sleazy piece of shit they're closing. One press crew can print and insert three newspapers--yes, they'll have shorter hours but they'll be working. Murdoch's pressmen are members of the National Graphical Union, and they don't play; I am certain Murdoch has already been informed that since it is not the Union's fault this paper has to close there shall be no reduction in personnel or salaries for Union members.

[T_i_B]

51. NOTW is not a daily. It's a Sunday paper.

There's not just journalists but also those selling advertising space and so on. And a large part of those being laid off will have been those who had no involvement with any of the criminal activities.

[jmowreader]

54. Do you really think they've got a separate advertising department for a weekly paper?

I mean, seriously: they've got an ad sales department. One. For the whole of England.

This is how my company's ad sales department is set up: We have twenty reps. Each one has a territory--we've got one person who works Athol and Rathdrum, one who works Post Falls, a bunch who work Coeur d'Alene, and so on. We have a few reps who handle specific companies; one person does nothing but real estate advertising, for instance. The rep calls on all the businesses in her territory and sells them advertising in as many papers as she can. It would make no sense to do it otherwise--I am pretty certain Tesco, say, has neither the time nor the inclination to speak to one rep for The Sun, one for The Times and a third for NOTW.

And now that I know NOTW is a weekly, worries about the press department have been further relieved--Murdoch undoubtedly runs commercial jobs during the day and newspapers at night as presses only make money when the cylinders are turning, and NOTW is just slotted as another commercial job. That's how we deal with the six weeklies we run, and probably everyone else in the business does the same thing. From an economic standpoint he'll make more money by running grocery store circulars or something than he will running THIS rag...the sick thing is, Rupert Murdoch might come out of this thing in better financial shape than he is now.

[The Green Manalishi]

55. Interesting, thanks

[muriel_volestrangler]

60. "National Graphical Union"?

After Murdoch's epic fight with unions in the 80s, I think he doesn't recognises any TUC unions; but I'm not sure who the National Graphical Union are at all (National Graphical Association? They merged with other unions years ago, and so are currently part of Unite; but I don't think they have members at News International; their statement today doesn't mention any members there: http://www.unitetheunion.org/news__events/latest_news/statement_from_unite_the_union.aspx

On edit: the NUJ does have members there, but it doesn't have the power to stop compulsory redundancies: http://www.nuj.org.uk/innerPagenuj.html?docid=2152

[joshcryer]

65. The UK's tabloid industry is massive, if anyone gets fired they'll move on or create new tabloids.

[dana_b]

43. excellent news!!

and Murdoch - you knew everything so stfu.

[Bette Noir]

48. Alas, our celebrations appear to be premature.

The company has registered another name, and another of its papers is expanding to Sunday publication. It's the old shell game.

edited to add link: http://webwhois.nic.uk/cgi-bin/whois.cgi?query=thesunonsunday.co.uk

[dipsydoodle]

59. I thought maybe they'd name it after the first line of Plaistow Patricia

Ian Drury : Plaistow Patricia http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtuVBPwzstM

[joshcryer]

66. I figured that would happen. Yeah there's a shakeup, for sure, but otherwise...

...it'll keep breathing.

No way in hell they allow their weekly news (edit: tabloid) stand position to be taken by someone else.

[tiny elvis]

68. +++

that snake oil seller with the handlebar mustache
sounds just like the one we ran out of town last week

[karynnj]

53. Am I the only one who immediately thought of the the Beatles "Polythene Pam"

reference to the newspaper?

ANy Murdoch paper that goes is a good thing. The actions here seem unconscionable.

[efhmc]

56. Closing the barn door.

[thereismore]

61. Awesome. nt

[snot]

62. Meaningless unless senior management & all reporters involved in the hacking

are prosecuted. Otherwise, they'll just end up working again -- probably for Murdoch -- under a different shingle.

We have to be alert to re-brandings designed to throw us off the trail.

[larwdem]

63. good newz

[Thor_MN]

64. Cut and Run

I don't know how British law works, but I think both Civil and Criminal penalties should be in play. Several years revenue split amongst their targets and prison time for execs all the way up the chain.

[blueclown]

67. Don't fall for Murdoch's games.

Next week, Rupert will relaunch this tabloid under a different name, with the same staff, and the same sensationalist garbage that we've come to know from News Corp.

[Mosaic]

70. Murdock World Class Criminal

An arch zionist con who wants to turn the whole world into a kiss israel's ass media zombie zone. Fuck him and all like him. We must stop them.

[Name removed]

71. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[LeftishBrit]

72. Glad that vile rag is closing..

though as others have said, it seems unfair that many people at the bottom of the heap will lose their jobs, while Murdoch, Rebekah Brooks and others continue to do very nicely.

It is a bad thing and against democracy for a government to control its country's media, but it is also a bad thing and against democracy for a country's media to control the government - and there is no doubt that our mostly right-wing press has had a lot of control over this country and successive governments. Murdoch is the most pervasive; but also Lord Rothermere and successive editors of the Daily Mail; the Barclay Brothers of the Torygraph; Desmond of the 'Express' and 'Star'; etc.

I would like to see Murdoch in prison, or at least with his entire Empire in ruins; but that won't happen; the best we can hope for is that the scandal will prevent him from taking over BSkyB, but even that is not certain.

[SemperEadem]

74. murdoch means the "good things have been sullied by that which he endorsed"

playing the nut role after the fact doesn't absolve him of one bit of blame and responsibility in this.

This is on his head. Rot at the top.

[Botany]

75. Bribery, hush money, civil suit payments, phone taps, &

corruption of both public and private organizations ..... I might not know British law but
I don't think closing one sunday tabloid will make these problems go away.

[fedsron2us]

76. Cockroaches rarely appear alone

Maybe some one should have a look at what Uncle Ruperts US media interests have been upto over the past decade.

If these practises was being condoned at the highest level in NI then its unlikely that just the NOTW operations in the UK that were involved