‘News of the World’ Sends Out Final Edition
Copies of scandal-sunk British tabloid hit stands with “sorry” issue.
| Posted Sunday, July 10, 2011, at 10:46 AM ET
No news is bad news for Britain’s best-selling paper.
Sunday saw the final edition of News Corp.-owned tabloid News of the World hit the stands, with a large type headline that read “Thank You & Goodbye,” according to CNN.
Notably missing on the sensational publication’s front page — any big hint of the scandal that has ended its existence. Instead of the usual juicy tidbits, the cover declared: “After 168 years, we finally say a sad but very proud farewell to our 7.5m loyal readers.” On the inside, an unsigned editorial apologized, saying, “Phones were hacked, and for that this newspaper is truly sorry.” The back page of the publication featured quotes from fans of the paper like George Orwell.
Rupert Murdoch headed to London Sunday in an apparent effort to oversee damage control in a corporate crisis that has forced the close of the publication and resulted in the arrest and investigation of people who worked there. Rebekah Brooks, chief executive of the paper's parent company News International, has resisted calls to step down despite her apparent involvement in the publication's demise.
Revelations that reporters paid off police and allegedly hacked into voicemail accounts of murder and terrorism victims’ cell phones, and the resulting outcry, has put the company’s political influence in Britain under the microscope, and threatened a deal to purchase pay-television giant British Sky Broadcasting. Former editors have been arrested or asked to come to Scotland Yard, while others have been veritable fugitives.
Even Rupert’s son James Murdoch could potentially be arrested and face criminal charges in the U.S. and U.K., according to The Guardian.
But there is evidence that even as the scandal develops further, the company is trying to reposition. Some 200 former employees of News of the World have been told they can re-apply for new jobs within the parent company, and there is wide speculation that a new domain name, www.sunonsunday.co.uk, could be part of the company’s plan to have another of its properties, the Sun, take up where it left off.
