This Sunday will mark the last edition of popular British tabloid News of the World ever as James Murdoch, chairman of News International and son of Rupert Murdoch, confirmed that the paper will close its doors due to the scandal that has taken center stage in the business.
The paper has been in the spotlight due to allegations that the tabloid, which has been around since the late 1800’s, was illegally possessing voice mails of famous celebrities and politicians as well as hacking into phones of young murder victims.
The tabloid sold 2.8 million copies a week and the earnings from this last edition will be donated to charity.
Rebekah Brooks, who was editor of News of the World during the time of the more serious allegations of hacking, is keeping her job as News International’s chief executive amid the turmoil.
The scandal shook the company hard and the paper began losing major advertisers, which is why Murdoch has decided it is in the company’s best interest to shut it down.
200 staff members will lose their jobs. The staff was shocked by the news and most were not even employed at the tabloid during the time of the alleged incidents that took place.
Some will be given jobs at The Sun Murdoch’s daily tabloid.
The public is calling for the resignation of Brooks and will not accept the dismantling of the paper without the ousting of the News International’s chief executive, explains IBTimes.
The paper was famous for bringing injustice to light and taking down people who have abused power or performed any transgressions, however, now it seems that they are very similar to those whose faces were brandished across their front page.
ABC News notes that police have collected 11,000 pages of documents that contain 4,000 names of those whose privacy has allegedly been invaded by the paper. The tabloid lost supporters and gained enemies as the thousands of possible victims attempt to bring those responsible to light.
They reported that the paper is thought to be run by money hungry reporters that were willing to sacrifice good journalistic morals in order to have the story that no one else had.
The blame game has certainly begun, with Murdoch claiming the incident was caused by only one reporter who hacked, bribed, and lied through it all.
The ex-editor of NOW, Brooks, placed the blame on her staff and insisted that she had nothing to do with any of the phone hacking or police payoffs.
