News Corp. to Shutter 168-Year-Old U.K. Paper

LONDON: Amid a continued phone-hacking scandal that is threatening its proposed takeover of BSkyB, News Corporation has announced that the 168-year-old U.K. tabloid News of the World will print its last issue this weekend.

The announcement was made today by James Murdoch, the company’s deputy COO and the chairman of its U.K. newspaper publishing arm, News International. It comes as the phone-hacking scandal involving News of the World intensified in the U.K. this week over allegations that a private detective hired by the paper had hacked into the voicemail of a 13-year-old murdered girl. There have also been accusations of bribes to police officers.

"The News of the World is in the business of holding others to account," Murdoch said to staff today. "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."

Murdoch added that there had been other failings. "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."

Murdoch noted that the company is fully cooperating with two ongoing police investigations and has set up a compensation scheme for civil suits brought against the paper. "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."

Plus, all of the News of the World’s revenues this weekend will go to charitable organizations, and, Murdoch added, "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."

The phone-hacking scandal comes as News Corp. seeks government approval for its takeover of satellite platform BSkyB. The fallout is likely to delay the proposed merger, with regulators receiving a reported 130,000-plus messages a day from people opposing the takeover.