Murdoch Axes Scandal-Plagued U.K. Tabloid
But is a replacement for the News of the World already in the works?
| Posted Thursday, July 7, 2011, at 4:50 PM
UPDATE: Britain's tabloid fans will lose the News of the World for good this weekend, but they may not have to look too hard to find a replacement to fill the gap.
Rumors are already swirling that another Rupert Murdoch-owned tabloid, The Sun, will expand from its current six-days-a-week publishing schedule to pick up the torch from the Sunday-only News of the World.
Those whispers only grew louder Thursday once news broke that someone snagged the online domain TheSunOnSunday.co.uk on Tuesday, two days before News International announced that it was shutting down the News of the World.
A spokeswoman for News International, the corporate parent of both papers, looked to squash those rumors Thursday, but didn't do a very good job at it.
"It's not true at the moment," spokesoman Daisy Dunlop told the Assoicated Press.
UPDATE at 11:54 a.m.: Rupert Murdoch's News of the World will close for good this Sunday, the paper's parent company announced Thursday.
News International chairman James Murdoch delivered the news to the 168-year-old tabloid's staff, telling them that while he is proud of the paper's history and journalism, the News and its corporate parent "failed to get to the bottom of repeated wrongdoing that occurred without conscience or legitimate purpose."
Profits from Sunday's paper will be given to charity.
Here's Murdoch's full statement to his staff:
"I have important things to say about the News of the World and the steps we are taking to address the very serious problems that have occurred.
It is only right that you as colleagues at News International are first to hear what I have to say and that you hear it directly from me. So thank you very much for coming here and listening.
You do not need to be told that The News of the World is 168 years old. That it is read by more people than any other English language newspaper. That it has enjoyed support from Britain’s largest advertisers. And that it has a proud history of fighting crime, exposing wrong-doing and regularly setting the news agenda for the nation.
When I tell people why I am proud to be part of News Corporation, I say that our commitment to journalism and a free press is one of the things that sets us apart. Your work is a credit to this.
The good things the News of the World does, however, have been sullied by behaviour that was wrong. Indeed, if recent allegations are true, it was inhuman and has no place in our Company.
The News of the World is in the business of holding others to account. But it failed when it came to itself.
In 2006, the police focused their investigations on two men. Both went to jail. But the News of the World and News International failed to get to the bottom of repeated wrongdoing that occurred without conscience or legitimate purpose.
Wrongdoers turned a good newsroom bad and this was not fully understood or adequately pursued.
As a result, the News of the World and News International wrongly maintained that these issues were confined to one reporter. We now have voluntarily given evidence to the police that I believe will prove that this was untrue and those who acted wrongly will have to face the consequences.
This was not the only fault.
The paper made statements to Parliament without being in the full possession of the facts. This was wrong.
The Company paid out-of-court settlements approved by me. I now know that I did not have a complete picture when I did so. This was wrong and is a matter of serious regret.
Currently, there are two major and ongoing police investigations. We are cooperating fully and actively with both. You know that it was News International who voluntarily brought evidence that led to opening Operation Weeting and Operation Elveden. This full cooperation will continue until the Police’s work is done.
We have also admitted liability in civil cases. Already, we have settled a number of prominent cases and set up a Compensation Scheme, with cases to be adjudicated by former High Court judge Sir Charles Gray. Apologising and making amends is the right thing to do.
Inside the Company, we set up a Management and Standards Committee that is working on these issues and that has hired Olswang to examine past failings and recommend systems and practices that over time should become standards for the industry. We have committed to publishing Olswang’s terms of reference and eventual recommendations in a way that is open and transparent.
We have welcomed broad public inquiries into press standards and police practices and will cooperate with them fully.
So, just as I acknowledge we have made mistakes, I hope you and everyone inside and outside the Company will acknowledge that we are doing our utmost to fix them, atone for them, and make sure they never happen again.
Having consulted senior colleagues, I have decided that we must take further decisive action with respect to the paper.
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.
We will run no commercial advertisements this weekend. Any advertising space in this last edition will be donated to causes and charities that wish to expose their good works to our millions of readers.
These are strong measures. They are made humbly and out of respect. I am convinced they are the right thing to do.
Many of you, if not the vast majority of you, are either new to the Company or have had no connection to the News of the World during the years when egregious behaviour occurred.
I can understand how unfair these decisions may feel. Particularly, for colleagues who will leave the Company. Of course, we will communicate next steps in detail and begin appropriate consultations.
You may see these changes as a price loyal staff at the News of the World are paying for the transgressions of others. So please hear me when I say that your good work is a credit to journalism. I do not want the legitimacy of what you do to be compromised by acts of others.
I want all journalism at News International to be beyond reproach. I insist that this organisation lives up to the standard of behaviour we expect of others. And, finally, I want you all to know that it is critical that the integrity of every journalist who has played fairly is restored."
Original Post at 11:40 a.m.: The News of the World hacking scandal continues to grow.
The Rupert Murdoch-owned British tabloid has already been accused of hacking into the phones of families of the victims of the so-called 7/7 bombings that targeted London’s public transport system in July 2005, as well as the phone of a 13-year-old girl who was abducted and murdered in 2002.
The Telegraph reported Thursday that the News may have also targeted families of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, and that details of the families were among the files of Glenn Mulcaire, an investigator working for the tabloid.
Military charities quickly lashed out at the News, calling the alleged hack a “disgusting and indefensible assault on privacy.” They are calling on police to release the names contained in Mulcaire’s 9,200-page trove of notes so that they can determine who was targeted.
The News of the World scandal has become front-page news across the Atlantic and resulted in calls for Rebekah Brooks, the former editor of the tabloid who is now CEO of its parent company, to step down. It also has caused headaches for a members of Parliament with ties to the paper, as well as Murdoch’s News Corp.
The Telegraph, meanwhile, also reports that among the tabloid’s 7/7 targets was Paul Dadge, who appeared in an iconic photograph helping a woman with a bandaged face at a Tube station after the bombings.
Dadge believes he was targeted because the woman in the photograph would not speak to the press. “The girl in the photo, Davinia Turrell, because she wasn’t talking to the press, they tried to get at her through me,” he said.
At least five other people were hacked after the bombings, including the father of a 22-year-old man killed in the attacks.
