News of the World Shutting Down Amidst Phone Hacking Scandal

The News of the World will shut down after the Sunday edition amidst accusations that its reporters hacked into the cell phones of various crime victims.

After 168 years, the Sunday edition will be the last issue of the News of the World, edited by Colin Myler, James Murdoch, deputy chief operating officer at News Corporation and chairman of News International, said in a statement.

"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," Murdoch said. "We will run no commercial advertisements this weekend. Any advertising space in this last edition will be donated to causes and charities that wish to expose their good works to our millions of readers."

Earlier this week, the News of the World was accused of hacking into the voicemail of a young murder victim while the investigation into her disappearance was still ongoing. The paper allegedly deleted voicemail messages, giving her parents false hope that she was alive and accessing her phone. The Daily Telegraph later reported that the newspaper also hacked the phones of family members whose relatives were killed or injured in the July 7, 2005 London bombings. There were also reports that the paper paid off London police officers for information.

Complicating the matter was the fact that this was not the paper's first offense. In April, the paper issued an apology for voicemail hacks that took place between 2004 and 2006.

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