From 2006, allegations of phone hacking began to engulf the newspaper. These culminated in the revelation on 4 July 2011 that, nearly a decade earlier, a private investigator hired by the newspaper had intercepted and deleted the voicemail of missing British teenager Milly Dowler, who was later found murdered. Amid a public backlash and the withdrawal of advertising, News International announced the closure of the newspaper on 7 July 2011. The scandal deepened when the paper was alleged to have hacked into the phones of families of British service personnel killed in action.
Senior figures on the newspaper have been held for questioning by police investigating the phone hacking and corruption allegations. Arrested on 8 July 2011 were former editor Andy Coulson and former News of the World royal editor Clive Goodman, the latter jailed for phone hacking in 2007. The former executive editor Neil Wallis was arrested on 15 July 2011 and former editor Rebekah Brooks, the tenth person held in custody, on 17 July 2011.
History of News of the World
Front page of the first issue of The News of the World.
News of the World 1843 to 1968
The newspaper was first published as The News of the World on 1 October 1843, by John Browne Bell in London. Priced at just three pence (equal to £1.04 today), even before the repeal of the Stamp Act (1855) or paper duty (1861), it was the cheapest newspaper of its time and was aimed directly at the newly literate working classes. It quickly established itself as a purveyor of titillation, shock and criminal news. Much of the source material came from coverage of vice prosecutions, including transcripts of police descriptions of alleged brothels, streetwalkers, and "immoral" women.
Before long, the News of the World established itself as the most widely read Sunday paper, with initial sales of around 12,000 copies a week. Sales then suffered because the price was not cut following the abolition of newspaper taxes and the paper was soon no longer among the leading Sunday titles, selling around 30,000 by 1880, a greater number but a smaller proportion, as newspaper sales had grown hugely. The title was sold by the Bell family in 1891 to Lascelles Carr who owned the Welsh Western Mail. As editor, he installed his nephew Emsley Carr, who held the post for 50 years. But the real engine of the paper's now quick commercial success was George Riddell, who reorganised its national distribution using local agents. Matthew Engel, in his book Tickle the Public: One Hundred Years of the Popular Press (Gollancz, 1996), says that the News of the World of the 1890s was "a very fine paper indeed". The paper was not without its detractors, though. As one writer later related:
Frederick Greenwood, editor of the Pall Mall Gazette, met in his club one day Lord Riddell, who died a few years ago, and in the course of conversation Riddell said to him, "You know, I own a paper."
"Oh, do you?" said Greenwood, "what is it?"
"It's called the News of the World—I'll send you a copy," replied Riddell, and in due course did so. Next time they met Riddell said, "Well Greenwood, what do you think of my paper?"
"I looked at it," replied Greenwood, "and then I put it in the waste-paper basket. And then I thought, 'If I leave it there the cook may read it'—so I burned it!"
By 1912, the circulation was two million and around three million by the early 1920s. Sales reached four million by 1939. This success encouraged other similar newspapers, of which the Sunday People, the Daily Mail, the Daily Express and the Daily Mirror are still being published.
In 1928, the paper began printing in Manchester on the presses of the News Chronicle in Derby Street, moving in 1960 into Thomson House, Withy Grove (formerly known as Kemsley House) when the News Chronicle closed. The move to Thomson House led to the immediate closure of the Empire News, a paper printed there and mainly circulating in the North of England and Wales with a circulation of about 2.5 million. Officially the Empire News and News of the World merged but Thomson House was already printing the Sunday Pictorial (to become the Sunday Mirror) and Sunday Times and did not have any further capacity with the News of the World arriving.
The paper's motto was "All human life is there". The paper's name was linked with sports events as early as 1903 when the golfing tournament The News of the World Match Play Championship began (now under British PGA auspices). The News of the World Darts Championship existed from 1927 on a regional basis and became a national tournament from 1947 to 1990. There was also a News of the World Championship in snooker from 1950 to 1959 which eclipsed the official professionals' competition for a number of years. In athletics, the Emsley Carr Mile race was started in 1953 in memory of the former editor, and was still run in recent times. The paper's Football Annual was a long-standing publication, and a Household Guide and Almanac was also published at one time.
By 1950, the News of the World had become the biggest-selling newspaper in the world with a weekly sale of 8,441,000 and individual editions sold over 9 million copies.
Murdoch ownership
The newspaper passed into the hands of Rupert Murdoch's News Ltd. in 1969, following an acrimonious year-long struggle with Robert Maxwell's Pergamon Press. Maxwell's Czech origin, combined with his political opinions, provoked a hostile response to his bid from the Carrs and from the editor of the News of the World, Stafford Somerfield, who declared that the paper was—and should remain—as British as roast beef and Yorkshire pudding.
News Ltd. arranged to swap shares in some of its minor ventures with the Carrs and by December it controlled 40 percent of the NOTW stock. Maxwell had been supported by the Jackson family (25% shareholders), but Murdoch had gained the support of the Carr family (30%) and then-chairman William Carr.
In January 1969, Maxwell's bid was rejected at a shareholders' meeting where half of those present were company staff, temporarily given voting shares. It was Murdoch's first Fleet Street acquisition. Maxwell accused Murdoch of employing "the laws of the jungle" to acquire the paper and said he had "made a fair and bona fide offer... which has been frustrated and defeated after three months of cynical manoeuvring." Murdoch denied this, arguing the shareholders of the News of the World Group had "judged his record in Australia."
Illness removed Sir William Carr from the chairmanship in June 1969, and Murdoch succeeded him.
The newspaper often had to defend itself from libel charges and complaints to the Press Council (later the Press Complaints Commission) as a result of certain news-gathering techniques, such as entrapment, and contentious campaigns. Some of the best-known cases have been the "Bob and Sue" case with reporter Neville Thurlbeck, and various cases involving journalist Mazher Mahmood.
From 1981 a magazine (Sunday) was included with the paper, and in 1984 the paper itself changed from broadsheet to tabloid format. The paper was printed in Hertfordshire, Liverpool, Dinnington near Sheffield, Portsmouth and Glasgow, with a separate edition produced in Belfast. It was also printed at a number of sites abroad including Dublin, Madrid, Brussels, Cyprus and Orlando in Florida, USA.
In 1985, the News of the World moved out of Thomson House when the building was bought by the tycoon Robert Maxwell (and renamed Maxwell House) and after a short spell on the Daily Express presses in Great Ancoats Street moved to a new plant at Knowsley on Merseyside.
End of publication
It was announced on 7 July 2011 that, after 168 years in print, the newspaper would print its final edition on 10 July 2011 following revelations of the ongoing phone hacking scandal, with the loss of 200 jobs. The paper announced that all profits from the final edition – 74 pence out of the £1 cover price – would go to "good causes", and advertising space would be given to charities; the remaining 26 pence for each copy went to retailers selling the paper and to wholesalers.
Downing Street said it had no role in the decision. James Murdoch has claimed that the company is fully co-operating with ongoing police investigations.
The 10 July 2011 edition of the News of the World carried its final headline, "Thank You and Goodbye", superimposed on top of a collage of past front pages. The back cover featured a quote from George Orwell in 1946, and a recent quote from a NotW reader. The final edition also included a 48-page pullout documenting the history of the paper. On 9 July 2011, after production of the final edition wrapped, editor Colin Myler led the staff out of the building, where he held a press conference thanking the staff and its readers, concluding, "In the best tradition, we are going to the pub." In the paper's final editorial, the unsigned statement says that "Phones were hacked, and for that this newspaper is truly sorry... there is no justification for this appalling wrongdoing." The final edition sold 3.8 million copies, about a million more than usual. The company subsequently announced it would be giving revenues from the last edition, some £2.8 million, to charity.
There is speculation that News International will launch a Sunday edition of The Sun to replace the News of the World. The internet URLs sunonsunday.co.uk, thesunonsunday.co.uk and thesunonsunday.com were registered on 5 July 2011 by News International Newspapers Limited. A similar URL sunonsunday.com is not affiliated, having been registered in Italy on 24 September 2007.
Controversies
Anti-paedophile campaign (2000)
The paper began a controversial campaign to name and shame alleged paedophiles in July 2000 following the abduction and murder of Sarah Payne in West Sussex (when her killer Roy Whiting was found guilty of the murder 17 months later, it emerged that he had a previous conviction for abduction and sexual assault against a child). The paper's decision led to some instances of action being taken against those suspected of being child sex offenders, which included several cases of mistaken identity, including one instance where a paediatrician had her house vandalised and another where a man was confronted because he had a neck brace similar to one a paedophile was wearing when pictured. The campaign was labelled "grossly irresponsible" journalism by the then Chief Constable of Gloucestershire, Tony Butler. The paper also campaigned for the introduction of 'Sarah's Law' to allow public access to the Sex Offenders Register.
News of the World phone hacking scandal
In 2006, reporters at the paper used private investigators to illegally gain access to hundreds of mobile phone voicemail accounts held by a variety of people of interest to the newspaper. In 2007 the paper's royal correspondent, Clive Goodman, pleaded guilty to illegal interception of personal communication and was jailed for four months; the paper's editor, Andy Coulson, had resigned two weeks earlier. In 2009/2010, further revelations emerged on the extent of the phone hacking, and how it was common knowledge within the News of the World and its News International parent. According to a former reporter at the paper, "Everyone knew. The office cat knew," about the illegal activities used to scoop stories. On 17 January 2011, The Guardian reported that Glenn Mulcaire, a private investigator paid by the paper, testified that he had been asked by the newspaper's leadership to hack voicemail accounts on its behalf. In April 2011, attorneys for the victims alleged that as many as 7,000 people had their phones hacked by the News of the World; it was further revealed that the paper's owner, Rupert Murdoch, had attempted to pressure Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Labour Party MPs to "back away" from investigating the scandal. Three journalists on the newspaper were initially arrested: Ian Edmondson and Neville Thurlbeck on 5 April and James Weatherup on 14 April. The newspaper "unreservedly" apologised for its phone hacking activities during April 2011. On 4 July 2011, it was disclosed that potential evidence had been deleted in spring 2002 from the hacked voicemail account of Milly Dowler, then missing, but later found to have been murdered.
2006 reward for information on murders
On 13 December 2006 the newspaper announced that it was offering up a record breaking reward of £250,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the murder of five prostitutes around Ipswich. Suffolk. The reward went unclaimed; Steve Wright was arrested on suspicion of murder six days later following the use of unrelated information to link him to the murders. He was found guilty of all five murders at his trial 14 months later and sentenced to life imprisonment.
"Fake sheikh" cricket scandal
All about: Mazher Mahmood
All about: Pakistan cricket spot-fixing controversy
In August 2010, News of the World reporter and undercover journalist Mazher Mahmood posed as a "Fake Sheikh" to expose a cricket bookie named Mazhar Majeed who claimed Pakistani cricketers had committed spot-fixing during Pakistan's 2010 tour of England. In November 2011, Mohammad Amir, Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif were found guilty by a London court on criminal charges relating to spot-fixing. Mohammad Amir and Mahjeed had entered guilty pleas on the same charges.
Links to police corruption
In a September 2010 interview broadcast on 7 July 2011 on the BBC Radio 4 news programme The World at One, former News of the World features editor Paul McMullan made an admission relating to police corruption. He told of having used material obtained by a colleague's bribery of a police officer as the basis of a series of articles published over several years on Jennifer Elliott, the daughter of the actor Denholm Elliott. He stated, 'The going rate for that kind of thing might have been two to five hundred pounds and that would have been authorised, and he i.e. the police officer would have been paid... and he would have been on the lookout for another story...' The articles described Ms Elliott's destitute situation and stated that she had worked as a prostitute. Jennifer Elliott killed herself in 2003. In Mr McMullan's opinion the News of the World – specifically, his own articles – contributed significantly to her suicide. In 2011, the paper knowingly used private investigators to gain stories from corrupt police officers.
Libel actions
Max Mosley won damages for the newspaper's invasion of privacy and incorrect assertion about the Nazi theme in Mosley v News Group Newspapers Limited
In 2005, England footballer David Beckham and his wife Victoria brought a legal action against the paper seeking libel damages over an article that carried the headline "Posh and Becks on the Rocks"; suggesting that their marriage was under pressure. The legal action was withdrawn in 2006 and "resolved on a confidential basis," according to the couple's spokeswoman Jo Milloy.
In April 2006, England footballer Wayne Rooney received £100,000 in damages from the publishers of the News of the World and its sister paper The Sun over articles falsely reporting he had slapped his fiancée Coleen (now his wife). Both had always denied the reports.
In June 2006, England footballer Ashley Cole received damages from the publishers of the News of the World over articles incorrectly alleging the footballer had used a mobile phone as a gay sex toy, just weeks before his marriage to pop star Cheryl Tweedy. Together with its sister paper The Sun, the News of the World paid Cole £100,000 to settle the case.
In July 2006, a libel action brought by the Scottish politician Tommy Sheridan came to court in Edinburgh. Sheridan denied allegations, made by the newspaper in November 2004 and January 2005, that he had an affair, engaged in group sex and attended a swinger's club in Manchester. Sheridan won the case and was awarded £200,000 in damages. The newspaper intends to appeal against the jury's decision, and has refused to pay out the money; Sheridan and his wife Gail were charged with perjury; the court case commenced on 4 October 2010. Charges against Gail were dropped and she was acquitted on 17 December 2010. Tommy was subsequently convicted on 23 December 10. The case was the longest perjury trial in Scottish history.
In 2008 in the invasion of privacy case Mosley v News Group Newspapers Limited the President of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile Max Mosley challenged the News of the World newspaper which had alleged on 30 March 2008 that he had been involved in a sadomasochistic sex act involving several female prostitutes, when they published a video of the incident recorded by one of the women, and published details of the incident. The case resulted in Mosley being awarded £60,000 (approx. ) in damages.
In January 2010 Norwich City Football Club started legal proceedings against the News of the World after they published an article, "Canaries on Brink" on 24 January 2010 claiming that the club had begun the processes of going into administration.
In February 2010, the Hollywood couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie made plans to sue the News of the World after it published allegations about their relationship.
In June 2011, the UK Press Complaint Commission (PCC) gave Yasir Hameed, Pakistani Cricketer, a victory by ordering the News of the World to remove a video and story about Yasir Hameed from its website.
Also in 2011, footballer Artur Boruc won an out-of-court settlement against the News of the World after the newspaper made untrue allegations about the goalkeeper being unfaithful to his girlfriend. Mr. Boruc was paid £70,000 and a full apology was issued.
All about Pakistan, London, 2010 Pakistan cricket spot-fixing controversy, Mazhar Majeed, Sialkot, Mohammad Amir, Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif, Mazher Mahmood
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