The story of the News of the World
NUMBERS
The readership of the News of the Worldwas about 7.5 million for each edition between July and December. The number of copies sold was about 2.6 million in April 2011.
OVERVIEW
The News of the Worldis part of News Group Newspapers, a subsidiary of News International, owned by the News Corporation group of Rupert Murdoch.
The News of the Worldwas generally considered to have a centre-right political stance, but it supported the Labour Party under Tony Blair at his three general election wins (1997, 2001 and 2005.)
ORIGINS
The News of the Worldwas founded by John Browne Bell and the first edition of the paper was published on October 1st, 1843, in broadsheet format.
It was launched with the statement: “Our motto is truth, our practice is the fearless advocacy of the truth”.
The newspaper was sold at the low and affordable price of three pence. The aim was to secure circulation among the poor, as well as the rich, given that the working classes were newly literate as a result of Victorian education reforms.
The News of the Worldbecame the world's biggest-selling English-language newspaper and had an average circulation of 8,441,966 copies in 1950. It merged with The Empire Newson October 23, 1960. The Empire Newswas a Sunday newspaper for citizens of the British Empire or Commonwealth, with a circulation of more than 2.5 million copies.
MURDOCH ERA
Rupert Murdoch bought the News of the Worldin 1969.
The paper changed from broadsheet to tabloid format on May 20th, 1984.
SCANDAL
The closure comes after a growing raft of revelations about phone hacking. The main accusations are that journalists, or their hired investigators, listened to messages left for celebrities, politicians or people involved in major stories. – (Reuters)