This rant by Piers Morgan should live on in infamy.
C&L has been covering the Rupertgate story for a while now and finally there have been consequences for News Corp over this huge and ugly scandal. Will FOX News even cover it? And how much of a hit will Rupert Murdoch take here in America?
News of The World is closing down Sunday:
In the past few days, claims have been made that the paper authorised hacking into the mobile phones of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler and the families of 7/7 bombing victims.
Mr Murdoch said proceeds from the last edition would go to good causes. Downing Street said it had no role or involvement in the decision.
The News of the World is the UK's biggest selling newspaper and has been in circulation for 168 years.
No advertisements will run in this weekend's paper - instead any advertising space will be donated to charities and good causes. In a statement made to staff, Mr Murdoch said the good things the News of the World does "have been sullied by behaviour that was wrong - indeed, if recent allegations are true, it was inhuman and has no place in our company".
"The News of the World is in the business of holding others to account. But it failed when it came to itself."
He went on: "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. This was not the only fault. "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."
He reiterated that the company was fully co-operating with the two ongoing police investigations.
He added: "While we may never be able to make up for distress that has been caused, the right thing to do is for every penny of the circulation revenue we receive this weekend to go to organisations - many of whom are long-term friends and partners - that improve life in Britain and are devoted to treating others with dignity."
The Guardian has more:
• News International closes paper in wake of scandal
• Government announcement on BSkyB will take several weeks
• News of the World paid £100,000 bribes to Met police officers
• Miliband questions Cameron's 'close relationships with NI
• Met police going through 11,000 pages containing 4,000 names
"The News of the World is in the business of holding others to account," the deputy chief operating officer of News Corporation told staff of the 168-year-old newspaper.
"It failed when it came to itself.
"The good things the News of the World does ... have been sullied by behavior that was wrong. Indeed, if recent allegations are true, it was inhuman and has no place in our company."
News Corporation has been rocked in the last week by claims that its best-selling Sunday tabloid hacked in to the phones of relatives of British soldiers killed in action, of missing children and those caught up in the July 2005 London bombings.
UPDATE: And now a second paper under Rupert's umbrella is under suspicion for doing the same thing.
Today, The Independent reported that hacking allegations have engulfed a second publication of Rupert Murdoch's -- The Sun -- his "best-selling" daily paper in the U.K. Previously, the scandal was confined to Murdoch's News of the World tabloid. From The Independent:
Detectives are looking into allegations that a second newspaper at Rupert Murdoch's News International may have used hacked voicemails to publish stories about the private life of a prominent public figure.
Andy Gilchrist, a former union leader, has asked Scotland Yard to investigate his belief that interception of his mobile phone messages led to negative stories about him appearing in The Sun at the height of an acrimonious national strike by the Fire Brigades Union (FBU).
He is the first public figure to suggest that the illegal technique was carried out for stories that ran in News International's best-selling daily title, rather than its Sunday red-top, the News of the World (NOTW).
One of the stories, headlined "Fire strike leader is a love cheat", appeared in The Sun during the first week of its editorship by Rebekah Brooks following her transfer from the NOTW.
As News International's chief executive, Ms Brooks, née Wade, is leading the company's defence against claims that phone hacking was rife at its headquarters in Wapping, east London.
