News of the World Phone Hacking and More of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. Scandals

The News of the World phone-hacking scandal was enough to topple the newspaper, as Rupert Murdoch announced Thursday the paper would publish its final edition Sunday. Murdoch went into damage-control mode. He has typically responded to scandals by waiting out the criticism or quickly moving to contain the damage, The New York Times reports. Before Thursday, the scandal’s impact on the company’s stock price had been minimal—only 17 percent of News Corp.’s revenue comes from publishing, and the News of the World is only one of the many successful papers the company publishes in Britain. But it was becoming clear that sordid details emerging about the News of the World could jeopardize British government approval of News Corp.’s complete takeover of the satellite-TV company BSkyB. Murdoch convened what some called a “war council” in Idaho, where he was attending a media conference with his wife. Speaking about the scandal for the first time, he said the News of the World’s practices had been “deplorable and unacceptable.”

Even beyond the newspaper, the scandal has some serious legal implications. British police say they’ll arrest former News of the World editor Andy Coulson on Friday over the phone-hacking scandal that’s rocked Murdoch’s tabloid, according to The Guardian. Coulson is allegedly suspected of knowing about and having directly been involved in hacking mobile phones during his editorship at the News of the World. The Guardian also claims that a second arrest of another senior journalist will be made in the next few days. Coulson resigned as Prime Minister David Cameron’s director of communications in January, and the arrest will be embarrassing for the administration. Already arrested is the News of the World’s former private investigator, Glenn Mulcaire.