Last updated April 12, 2019
The scandal over the hacking of used cell phones belonging to murder victims has brought about the end of the notorious and long running United Kingdom tabloid newspaper The News of the World. More than 200 employees will lose their jobs when the tabloid publishes what will be its final issue this coming Sunday, in a move that has stunned the newspaper industry in the UK.
“Wrongdoers turned a good newsroom bad,” claims James Murdoch, the son of media magnate Rupert Murdoch, when announcing the surprise decision, “and this was not fully understood or adequately pursued.”
The newspaper has been running for 186 years but the scandal over the hacking of used cell phones belonging to murder victims and their families was only compounded by the revelation that the paper had also been hacking the phones of deceased soldiers, leading to widespread condemnation from public, politicians and the army alike. “If these actions are verified, then I am appalled,” notes the head of the British armed forces, General David Richards.
With advertisers abandoning the paper in droves, British Prime Minister David Cameron announcing an investigation into the scandal and police investigations also well underway, and with arrests expected in the next few days, the paper’s luck after years of sleazy journalism and unethical tactics appears to have finally run out, although whether there will be any further ramifications for Murdoch’s media empire as a whole remains to be seen.