News of The World
Background - The News of The World ceased production on 10th July 2011 after 168 years. At one point it was the biggest selling English-language newspaper.
In the 1980's the paper was bought by Rupert Murdoch and it became a Sunday tabloid that would buy up the lion's share of celebrity stories of the week and publish them all on Sunday. Its publications became increasingly controversial over time. This included the "name and shame" campaign of paedophiles and Mazher Mahmood the "Fake Sheikh"undercover campaign.
However, the paper's downfall was alleged phone hacking. In January 2007 the paper's Royal Editor and a private investigator were jailed for hacking royal aides for four months and six months.
Police have now published a list of 4,000 possible phone hacking targets and if it is found that News of The World editors authorised the phone hacking then they could face charges.
What are the victims doing about it? Several cases have been settled out of court for six-figure sums.
What are the Police doing about it? In itially the Metropolitan Police inquiry of 2006 only implicated a Royal Editor and a private investigator and in 2009 they chose not to relaunch the investigation. However in January 2011 the Met did reopen the investigation to look at significant new information. In May former Deputy Prime Minister Lord Prescott, Labour MP Chris Bryant, ex-Scotland Yard commander Brian Paddick and journalist Brendan Montague won a High Court bid for a judicial review into the police inquiry.
What is the Government doing about it? The Prime Minister has promised two inquiries into phone hacking. One will be led by a judge and the other will investigate newspaper ethics. The Prime Minister also said the press regulator, the Press Complaints Commission should be scrapped.
What is News International doing about it? News International owner Rupert Murdoch decided to close News of The World with the last edition published on the 10th of July 2011. In its final edition the News of The World apologised for phone hacking and said its past behaviour was a matter of genuine regret. News International has now set up a compensation fund of £20m to deal with "justifiable claims", and has already made several payouts. News International welcomes the Prime Minister's pledge for an inquiry into standards of the media.
What can I do if I think I have been hacked? The Metropolitan Police believe up to 4,000 people have been phone hacked, if you think you are one of those you would be best placed to contact Metropolitan Police directly. Contact Scotland Yard on 020 7230 1212.
