Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation will close its tabloid News of the World

Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation will close its tabloid News of the World after this Sunday’s edition, as a result of an escalating phone hacking scandal, James Murdoch said today.

“The News of the World is in the business of holding others to account,” the deputy chief operating officer of News Corporation told staff. “But it failed when it came to itself.”

Several advertisers, including the Ford Motor Company, have pulled their advertising from News of the World in the wake of reports that its employees hacked more than just the phones of celebrities.

“I can’t think of any jam that Murdoch has gotten into that’s tighter than this one,” Slate’s Jack Shafer wrote. “As long as the victims of the phone-hacking were rich people and big shots, Murdoch didn’t have to worry too much about public opinion dragging him and his newspapers down. But Dowler’s parents are neither rich nor big shots.”

Via Reuters