Murdoch Named PATRIOT Act Architect to Mop Up Paper's Eavesdropping Scandal; 'News of the World' to Close

By Adele M. Stan, AlterNet
Posted on July 7, 2011, Printed on July 10, 2011

UPDATE: Since this story first published, Rupert Murdoch's News International announced that it will close the doors on its scandal-plagued paper, News of the World, publishing its final issue on Sunday, July 10. The announcement was made by James Murdoch, Rupert's son and deputy chief operating officer of parent company News Corporation, and chairman of the U.K.-based News International. The Guardian, whose dogged reporting blew the lid off the scandal, has the full text of James Murdoch's statement. This updated version of the story includes new information, as well, in the body of the piece.

A scandal involving phone-hacking by a right-wing newspaper tabloid owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation is threatening the administration of British Prime Minister David Cameron. So deep, apparently, does the scandal run in the culture of the News of the World -- a 168-year-old publication with the largest English-language readership in the world, according to its publisher -- that News Corporation executives announced their intention to shutter the paper for good on Sunday, July 10. Now the scandal is boomeranging back to New York, engulfing the top executive at the largest-circulation newspaper in the United States, the Wall Street Journal.