London, July 10
Media baron Rupert Murdoch flew into London today to tackle a telephone-hacking scandal that has sent tremors through the British political establishment and may cost him a multi-billion dollar broadcasting deal.

Murdoch, 80, swept into his London headquarters in the front passenger seat of a red Range Rover car, holding up the last edition of the best selling newspaper, the News of the World, that he had closed hours earlier in a bid to contain the crisis.

Wearing a white panama-style hat, he ignored reporters massed at the entrance, focusing his attention on the newspaper he bought in 1969 as the cornerstone of a vast media empire. His car sped out of the complex again 15 minutes later but it was not clear what meetings he had planned.

Best known for its lurid headlines exposing misadventures of the rich, royal and famous, the last News of the World said simply “Thank You & Goodbye” over a montage of some of its most celebrated splashes of the past 168 years. For admirers it had been a stock feature of lazy Sundays, for critics it had become a symbol of craven irresponsibility in the British media.

There were tears and hugs as journalists left their office last night after producing the final edition of what is described as an "astonishing paper (that) became part of the fabric of Britain, as central to Sunday as a roast dinner." Rupert, 80, is expected to deal with the crisis prompted by latest revelations about News of the World's hacking into the phones of victims of crime and terrorism, and kin of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, for information to be used in sensational stories in the tabloid.

“All human life was here,” the News of the World declared. Murdoch had seemed on the point of clinching approval for a cherished prize, the buyout of broadcaster BSkyB , only last week; but revelations phone-hacking had extended beyond celebrities to relatives of a murdered girl, of victims of 2005 London bomb attacks and of soldiers killed in action stirred broad public anger.

Editor Colin Myler told media massed outside the newspaper’s offices he deeply regretted the newspaper’s closure. “This is not where we wanted to be and it’s not where we deserve to be, but as a final tribute to 7.5 million readers, this is for you and for the staff, thank you.”

The scandal has raised questions about relations between politicians, including Prime Minister David Cameron, who hired a former editor of the paper as his spin doctor, and media barons such as News Corp chairman and chief executive Murdoch.

“Quite simply, we lost our way,” this is what the final editorial in Britain’s most selling tabloid, ‘News of The World’, had to say to its 7.5 million loyal readers on winding up its operations. For well over a century-and-a half, the tabloid had became part of the fabric of Britain, as central to Sunday as a roast dinner, the editorial noted.

The paper has covered six monarchs and 168 years. “We lived through history, we recorded history and we made history - from the romance of our old hot-metal presses right through to the revolution of the digital age,” it noted.

“We also recorded the death of Queen Victoria, the sinking of the Titanic, two World Wars, the 1966 World Cup victory, the first man on the moon, the death of Diana... the list goes on,” the final editorial pointed out.

“But we also recorded and most often revealed the great scandals and celebrity stories of the day. Many of them are recalled in this final edition of the News of the World. In sport, too, we have led the way with the best, most informed coverage in the country,” it said.

“But we touched people’s lives most directly through our campaigns,” it said, citing one of its campaigns which forced computer giants to police their sites to protect children.

“We praised high standards, we demanded high standards but, as we are now only too painfully aware, for a period of a few years up to 2006 some who worked for us, or in our name, fell shamefully short of those standards,” it noted.

“Quite simply, we lost our way,” the paper admitted. — PTI 

The death of the mass market British tabloid newspaper that closed down on Sunday was the byproduct of political revenge carried out on behalf of former Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown, political analysts in London claim.

Brown himself has denied he sanctioned any kind of retribution against the News of the World, closed down by Rupert Murdoch, because it’s equally influential sister newspaper, The Sun, belonging to the same News International group, switched its support to the then opposition Conservatives.

But unnamed friends of Brown have been quoted as telling how angry Brown became after The Sun ended its traditional support for the Labour by switching to the Conservatives in 2009. At the time an infuriated Brown reportedly told Murdoch that he had made his choice politically. Shortly afterwards, the Labour was defeated and power moved to a Conservative coalition headed by David Cameron.

The significance of these shifts and changes is that Brown’s team declared open season on Murdoch’s News International empire, which was deemed fair game for suitable political retaliation, including demands for full inquiry into telephone hacking by News of the World reporters.

Demands for an inquiry into unsavoury News of the World investigative tactics, including telephone hacking and illegal payments made to police officers, were subsequently led by a Labour MP, Tom Watson, who also happens to be a key Brown ally.

During his two-year crusade, Watson used his parliamentary privilege to make strongly-worded allegations against News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks, a former News of the World editor, and chairman James Murdoch. It was Watson who also led calls for ex-News of the World editor Andy Coulson to resign as Press adviser to Prime Minister Cameron.

Watson’s allegations in Parliament that Brooks “was responsible for wrong doing”, and that News International “paid people to interfere with police officers on behalf of known criminals” all added to the pressure on the Murdoch family to pull the plug on the News of the World.

His relentless campaign has so far contributed to the demise of the News of the World and two forthcoming public inquiries, one looking into the specifics of telephone hacking and the other into the regulation and activities of the media. Other casualties of the process are likely to include key journalists and police officers who end up in prison, as well as Murdoch’s hopes of buying a controlling share of the profitable BSkyB television channel.