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This article is about the British tabloid. For the Queen album, see News of the World (album). For the Jam song, see News of the World (song). For other uses, see News of the World (disambiguation).
The News of the World is a British tabloid newspaper published every Sunday. It is published by News Group Newspapers of News International, itself a subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, and can be considered the Sunday sister paper of The Sun. The newspaper concentrates on celebrity-based scoops and populist news. Its fondness for sex scandals gained it the nicknames "News of the Screws" and "Screws of the World". With sales averaging 3,445,459 copies per week in October 2006,[1] the News of the World is the largest selling English-language newspaper in the world.[2] The editor Andy Coulson resigned on 26 January 2007 over the royal phone tapping scandal.[3] He was succeeded by Colin Myler, a former editor of the Sunday Mirror who had latterly worked at the New York Post. Previous editors of the paper include Piers Morgan and Rebekah Wade who replaced Phil Hall in 2000.
[edit] HistoryThe newspaper was first published on 1 October 1843, in London by John Browne Bell. Priced at just three pence, 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 even so-called "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. The paper was not without its detractors, though. As one writer later related:
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. Its motto was "All human life is there". [edit] Murdoch purchaseThe newspaper passed into the hands of Rupert Murdoch's News Ltd. in 1969, snatching the paper from Robert Maxwell's Pergamon Press after an acrimonious year-long struggle. Maxwell's foreign 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 has often had to defend itself from libel charges and complaints to 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.[5][6] [edit] Anti-paedophile campaignThe paper began a controversial campaign to name and shame alleged paedophiles in 2000 following the abduction and murder of Sarah Payne. The paper's decision led to angry mobs terrorising those they suspected of being child sex offenders,[7] which included several cases of mistaken identity, including one instance where a paediatrician had her house vandalised[8] and another where a man was confronted because he had a neck brace similar to one a paedophile was wearing when pictured.[9][10] The campaign was labelled "grossly irresponsible" journalism by the then Chief Constable of Gloucestershire, Tony Butler.[11] The paper also campaigns for the introduction of 'Sarah's Law' to allow public access to the Sex Offenders Register. [edit] Libel actions brought against the News of the World
[edit] 2006 reward for informationOn 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 murders in Suffolk. The reward went unclaimed since the culprit, Steve Wright, was arrested on suspicion of murder on the 19th of the same month using unrelated information. [edit] Phone tapping scandal[edit] 2006: original scandalThe News of the World's royal editor Clive Goodman and his two associates were arrested on 8 August 2006. They were charged with allegedly tapping the phones of members of the royal family, political figures and celebrities[13]. The arrests were the result of a seven month investigation by Scotland Yard. The News of the World's London office was searched by the police during their investigations. Goodman was also suspended[14] by the newspaper. The investigation began as a result of an article published on 13 November 2005 by Goodman. The article claimed that Prince William was in the process of borrowing a portable editing suite from ITV royal correspondent Tom Bradby. Following the publication the Prince and Bradby met to try and figure out how the details of their arrangement had leaked out, as only two other people were aware of the situation. Prince William noted that another equally improbable leak had recently taken place regarding an appointment he had made with a knee surgeon[15]. After some discussion, the two men concluded someone was breaking into mobile phone answering machine messages.[16] The compromised voice mail accounts were found to belong to his aides, and not the Prince himself.[17] Their concerns were passed along to the police, whose investigation began as a localized incident involving staff at Clarence House. The list of possible victims has broadened to include ministers, a Member of Parliament, military chiefs, a leading media figure, top footballers and celebrities.[18] On 26 January 2007 Clive Goodman was jailed[19] for four months having pleaded guilty to the phone message interception charges. On the same day, it was announced that Andy Coulson had resigned as the editor of the News of the World, having given in his notice a fortnight earlier. He was immediately replaced by Colin Myler. [edit] 2009: further revelationsThe Guardian reported on 8 July 2009 that News Group - the News of the World's parent company - paid out more than £1m to settle legal cases that threatened to reveal evidence of News of the World journalists using criminal methods (accessing mobile phone voicemails of various public figures) to obtain stories.[20] The article further reported sources as stating that News Group staff used private investigators to access several thousand mobile phone accounts. It is claimed that celebrities and public figures whose phones were tapped included former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott,[21] football manager Sir Alex Ferguson, public relations guru Max Clifford and even Rebekah Wade, the editor of the News of the World's sister-paper The Sun.[22] Prescott in particular was outraged at the fact that the police did not inform him of the phone tapping, but Assistant Commissioner John Yates stated that there was no actual evidence that Prescott's phone had been tapped.[23] The Conservative Party was quick to stand by its communications director Andy Coulson, who was editor of the News of the World at the time the alleged buggings took place.[24] [edit] Famous scandals reported by the News of the World
[edit] Editors
[edit] Current editors
[edit] Current journalists and writers
[edit] See also[edit] References
[edit] External links
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