July 7th, 2011
11:44 AM ET

News of the World shutting down after Sunday edition

[Updated at 12:00 p.m.] The scandal-hit British tabloid News of the World will shut down after Sunday's issue, its owner, News International, told CNN Thursday.

All revenue for Sunday's final edition of the scandal-hit tabloid the News of the World will go to good causes, News Corp. executive James Murdoch said Thursday in announcing the closure of the 168-year-old newspaper.

Journalists at News of the World, a tabloid that is the world's top-selling English-language newspaper, have been accused of hacking into the mobile phone account of missing British teenager Milly Dowler, intercepting messages in search of news.

They then allegedly deleted messages to keep her mailbox from filling up, giving her family and friends false hope that the schoolgirl - later found murdered - was still alive.

Police also are investigating suggestions the paper - known for its exposes of celebrities and politicians - may have targeted the relatives of other high profile crime victims, including at least one of those killed in the 2005 London bombings.

The news comes after the officer leading the investigation said they have identified nearly 4,000 potential victims of illegal eavesdropping by a private investigator working for the tabloid.

The illegal eavesdropping by Britain's scandal-hit News of the World tabloid "sullied" the newspaper and "has no place in our company," News International chairman James Murdoch said Thursday.

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soundoff (334 Responses)
  1. bob`

    Man Hugh Grant is POWERFUL!!!

    July 7, 2011 at 11:58 am | Report abuse |
  2. Byrd

    If everyone who holds even a single share of Murdock stock would dump it today and tomorrow, we could start next week of with a whole lot less evil in this world.

    Let It Be.

    July 7, 2011 at 11:59 am | Report abuse |
  3. si

    Rupert should be in JAIL

    July 7, 2011 at 11:59 am | Report abuse |
  4. CPW

    Justice is served....Finally

    July 7, 2011 at 12:01 pm | Report abuse |
  5. Keksi

    First Glenn Beck then News of world...whats next Fox News?

    July 7, 2011 at 12:01 pm | Report abuse |
    • jdog

      we could only hope

      July 7, 2011 at 12:02 pm | Report abuse |
    • madoshi

      Hopefully good things come in threes!

      July 7, 2011 at 12:04 pm | Report abuse |
  6. si

    Investigate Murdock. Did he give the orders?

    July 7, 2011 at 12:01 pm | Report abuse |
  7. Joe

    sic semper tyrannis

    July 7, 2011 at 12:01 pm | Report abuse |
  8. There is ...

    ... a lot more rubbish to chase out of Western Media.

    A lot of these "human shaped truds" will end up in prison.

    July 7, 2011 at 12:01 pm | Report abuse |
  9. Mike

    I do hope all those involved go to prison. This may be the downfall of Murdock's empire. I like Fox News. I hope they are not involved.

    July 7, 2011 at 12:01 pm | Report abuse |
    • gary davis

      fox OPINION IS THE AMERICAN VERSION OF CRAP LIARS

      July 7, 2011 at 12:06 pm | Report abuse |
  10. jim

    it is a common practice for british news folks to tap phones and hack voice mails. then they take the (dirty) information to bargain for other stuff such as interviews with celebrities. they got into trouble once for hacking the voice mail of the royalty (also discovered because of deleted messages), but apparently they were intelligent enough to have learned their lesson. good they are now shut down.

    July 7, 2011 at 12:02 pm | Report abuse |
  11. Rob Sterling

    @Byrd – If everyone who holds Murdoch stock sells it today and tomorrow, it will be quite a buying opportunity on Monday.

    July 7, 2011 at 12:02 pm | Report abuse |
  12. Scott B

    And nothing of value was lost.

    July 7, 2011 at 12:02 pm | Report abuse |
  13. BrianSoFla

    Boycott the companies that advertise on Fox and LET THOSE COMPANIES KNOW BY EMAILING THEM OR CALLING THEM. We need to shut these LIARS down! Kick RuPaul Murdock out of media for good!

    July 7, 2011 at 12:03 pm | Report abuse |
  14. Sara

    So, what does Piers have to say, being a former editor and all?

    July 7, 2011 at 12:03 pm | Report abuse |
  15. Jeff in Illinois

    Now if CNN would begin identifying iReports as such and segregating them from real news, it would be great. Otherwise, they are on the safe kind of track, straying further afield from journalism.

    July 7, 2011 at 12:03 pm | Report abuse |
    • madoshi

      Really? Not identifying iReports is akin to hacking into the cell account of a dead 13 year old and deleting her voicemail?

      July 7, 2011 at 12:05 pm | Report abuse |
    • Jeff in Illinois

      "same" not safe, typo

      July 7, 2011 at 12:05 pm | Report abuse |
    • Jeff in Illinois

      madoshi, not yet, they're working on it. Give it time.

      July 7, 2011 at 12:07 pm | Report abuse |
    • madoshi

      I'm sorry...thats just plain stupid. Thats a really dumb analogy and only proves a bias against iReports and a possible issue w/ you being unable to navigate to a different news site.

      July 7, 2011 at 12:11 pm | Report abuse |
    • Jeff in Illinois

      It's not stupid. It is a dumbing down of the site that is easily taken care of by simply identifying content in a better fashion. iReports are not vetted or generally reliable. I don't want to waste my time clicking on misidentified news stories. I wish to choose to click on an iReport on purpose, not as a surprise. It's not against the iReport, it's against the way in which they are presented.

      July 7, 2011 at 12:17 pm | Report abuse |
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