After the latest controversy broke in a string of revelations concerning phone hacking conducted by editorial staff, British newspaper News of the World is folding. News International’s chairman and deputy COO of News Corp. James Murdoch says that Sunday will be the last edition of the newspaper.
The phone hacking practice initially came to light earlier this year when celebrities like Sienna Miller and Jude Law, among others, came forward claiming that editorial staff has broken into their voicemail systems to obtain private information about the actors. Those who were identified as victims of the hacking were awarded monetary compensation by News Corp.
In the last week, it became clear that phone hacking extended beyond celebrity mailboxes, with voicemails of Milly Dowler (a teenaged murder victim) and relatives of military personnel killed in combat in Afghanistan among those tapped.
According to The Guardian, Murdoch broke the news to staff Thursday afternoon, “The News of the World is in the business of holding others to account. But it failed when it came to itself… Wrongdoers turned a good newsroom bad and this was not fully understood or adequately pursued.”
News Corp. has spent much of 2011 in headlines. Not all of them are negative, as the tablet-only news app “The Daily” was number one in “Top Apps” and “News Apps”, according to topappcharts.com, at its launch in February.
