“Nobody at the Guardian wanted the News of the World to close down,” said Nick Davies, the reporter who exposed the phone hacking scandal. By Thursday, owner Rupert Murdoch had concluded his 168-year-old tabloid had became politically toxic and threatened his takeover of broadcaster Sky. Paul McMullan, a former News of the World reporter, described a typical sting: “[A celebrity] checked into a hotel room in Paris with a new girlfriend who wasn’t his wife. Fifteen years after the first phone hacking conviction, tens of millions of pounds are still being spent by News UK every year settling claims from phone-hacking victims. The biggest UK tabloid that never admitted hacking voicemails is the Sun, the News of the World’s sister newspaper.

Source: The Guardian July 10, 2021 06:00 UTC