After 168 years the News of the World says goodbye

News of the Wold political editor David Wooding on guardian.co.uk: "The loss of the News of the World from our lives is a bombshell like the break-up of the Beatles, the collapse of Woolworths and the end of Concorde.

"Only this time, instead of reporting the story, we are it.

"Britain's crooks, thieves, conmen and fakers won't miss the News of the World. But everyone who loved a great story, well told, will."

Woman in my newsagent this morning: "It's absolutely shocking. My Mum wouldn't read any other paper. But he's [Murdoch] coming over today so he might start it again."

Hacked Off not hacked off with the Prime Minister

The Hacked Off campaign, which is calling for a full public inquiry into phone hacking and other illegal methods of intrusion, has welcomed the Prime Minister’s statement this morning.

David Cameron promised inquiries into media standards, which will focus on the culture, practices, and ethics of the press, and a judge-led inquiry into the "illegal and utterly unacceptable practices taking place at the News of the World – and possibly elsewhere".

However, Hacked Off said it is concerned about the relationship between the inquiries, the speed with which a full inquiry will be conducted, and the potential gaps between them and the ongoing police investigation.

It said: "There is still a risk that fundamental questions about the affair – as to whose phones were hacked, who authorised it, how long it went on, which newspapers did it, and the relationship between the press, the police and politicians – may never be answered".

Martin Moore, director of the Media Standards Trust which is coordinating the Hacked Off campaign, said: "The PM’s commitments are a great step forward but still leave plenty of wiggle room, particularly on the extent of the full inquiry. Hacked Off will continue to focus on getting the right inquiries, on the right terms, in the right time frame."

• More than 6,500 people have signed the petition for an inquiry at www.hackinginquiry.org

• Source: Hacked Off press release - 100% pure churnalism.

'Most people will think journalists are scum'

I've done a piece for InPublishing Weekly about the damage caused to the reputation of newspaper journalists by the News of the World hacking scandal.

When I was writing it I asked my daughter, a nurse, what she thought about the hacking story and what people would think of journalists.

She said: "Dad, most people know that all journalists wouldn't do it [hacking] but they will think you are scum."

Was this the News of the World's best headline?

'Nudist Welfare Man’s Model Wife Fell For The Chinese Hypnotist From The Co-op Bacon Factory'

I can't let the News of the World go without a tribute to one of its greatest - and longest - headlines.

Ex-News of the World reporter Roy Stockdill on Gentlemen Ranters told the story behind the headline and revealed it could have been even more bizarre.

He recalled: "The 15-word, four-deck header, sprawling right across a five-column broadsheet page, appeared above a story written by Ron Mount, one of the paper's veteran foot-in-the-door men. It had all the elements of a Whitehall farce and starred the welfare services chief of a large London borough who was a practising naturist and walked round his home in the buff.

"His wife, a part-time model, had had an extra-marital relationship with a gentleman of Oriental extraction who did indeed work in a Co-op bacon factory and was an amateur hypnotist and therapist in his spare time.

"The nudist welfare chief had actually encouraged his wife's friendship with her Chinese paramour in the belief that he was treating her for problems in their marriage – until, that is, one day he climbed into the loft, drilled a hole in the bedroom ceiling and observed his good lady and the hypnotist indulging in some practical therapy on the bed below."

Stockdill also revealed: "The one fact the otherwise admirable headline omitted was that the welfare chief had managed to get up into his loft despite having two artificial legs, so he was actually a legless nudist welfare man… Unfortunately, the sub later admitted, he couldn't work the word ‘legless’ into the headline for lack of space."

Let's see: "Legless Nudist Welfare Man’s Model Wife Fell For The Chinese Hypnotist From The Co-op Bacon Factory".

Quotes of the week: Hacking and death of the NoW

James Murdoch on the decision to close the News of the World: "The good things the News of the World does, however, have been sullied by behaviour that was wrong. Indeed, if recent allegations are true, it was inhuman and has no place in our Company.The News of the World is in the business of holding others to account. But it failed when it came to itself."

Guardian editor-in-chief Alan Rusbridger on the paper's phone hacking investigation: "The full truth of what was going on at the News of the World is dramatically being stripped bare. Some kind of mental dam has been broken. MPs, journalists, regulators and police are speaking confidently again as they should. The palpably intimidating spectre of an apparently untouchable media player has been burst."

Allison Pearson in the Telegraph: "The News of the World has made a fortune publishing righteous, mawkish stories about murdered children. Now, surprise, surprise, the paper itself turns out to have preyed on the dead."

Reed Business Information's editorial development manager Adam Tinworth: "From now on, I'm a blogger not a journalist. Don't want my credentials dragged down by association with newspaper hacks."

The Independent in a leader: "What the phone-hacking scandal has shown, as it has evolved, is that – for all the scum that sticks to some journalism – Britain still has a free, independent and ethical press, and it remains as essential to the nation's wellbeing as ever."

Peter Oborne on David Cameron in the Telegraph: "He should never have employed Andy Coulson, the News of the World editor, as his director of communications. He should never have cultivated Rupert Murdoch. And – the worst mistake of all – he should never have allowed himself to become a close friend of Rebekah Brooks, the chief executive of the media giant News International, whose departure from that company in shame and disgrace can only be a matter of time."

Times editor James Harding as reported by Media Week: "I think the issue for The Times is to report it [accurately] and clearly. I am more concerned simply of the fact that if what has alleged to have happened has happened, then it will shame not just the people involved, not just that particular newspaper, but newspapers in general. And the public will take a very, very dim view of journalism in general."

Jon Gaunt on Question Time: "The wrong red-top has gone. Rebekah should go".

Blogger Guido Fawkes: "Obviously a line was crossed, catching out a liar by listening to their voicemail can be sold to the public. Raiding the privacy of suffering citizens cannot. This crisis is monstrous for Murdoch, but the Telegraph, BBC and Guardian Media Group are having an absolute field day. Far from being a crisis for them, this is all their Christmases rolled into one."

Outraged NoW supporting journalist: "I'll never buy the Guardian again."

Rusbridger: 'How Nick Davies burst the NoW dam' The investigation that closed a rogue newspaper

Great tribute by Guardian editor-in-chief Alan Rusbridger on Comment is Free today to Nick Davies' dogged work in uncovering the News of the World phone hacking scandal, which came before the shock news that News International will close the title after this Sunday (see NI statement below).

Rusbridger notes: "Sometimes the forward momentum of newspaper investigations is virtually invisible to the naked eye. It's lucky that Nick Davies is an exceptionally patient reporter because there must have been times during the past two years when he felt no one wanted to hear what he was so clearly saying.

"Nick's first story on the full extent of the phone-hacking scandal was published almost exactly two years ago – on 8 July 2009. It was – or should have been – explosive. It reported that a major global media company - News International - had paid out £1m secretly to settle legal cases which revealed criminality within their business.

"With any non-media company this revelation would have led to blanket coverage, calls for resignations, immediate action by the regulator etc. Instead there was a kind of ghostly silence."

Rusbridger adds: "And so we settled in for the long haul. Week by week, story by story, column by column, doorstep by doorstep, Nick Davies prised open the truth.

"There were some other heroes: a handful of lawyers and MPs and a few journalists – on the New York Times, Independent, FT, BBC and Channel 4.

"But it was pretty lonely work for those at the heart of it. And there were plenty of people yawning from the sidelines, claiming it was all a bit obsessive. But investigative journalism is a bit obsessive. Sometimes it works by small, incremental, barely perceptible steps.

"Scroll forward two years and the full truth of what was going on at the News of the World is dramatically being stripped bare. Some kind of mental dam has been broken. MPs, journalists, regulators and police are speaking confidently again as they should. The palpably intimidating spectre of an apparently untouchable media player has been burst."

NI statement to staff on NoW closure: News International today announces that this Sunday, 10 July 2011, will be the last issue of the News of the World.

Making the announcement to staff, James Murdoch, Deputy Chief Operating Officer, News Corporation, and Chairman, News International said: “I have important things to say about the News of the World and the steps we are taking to address the very serious problems that have occurred. It is only right that you as colleagues at News International are first to hear what I have to say and that you hear it directly from me. So thank you very much for coming here and listening.

"You do not need to be told that The News of the World is 168 years old. That it is read by more people than any other English language newspaper. That it has enjoyed support from Britain’s largest advertisers. And that it has a proud history of fighting crime, exposing wrong-doing and regularly setting the news agenda for the nation.

"When I tell people why I am proud to be part of News Corporation, I say that ourcommitment to journalism and a free press is one of the things that sets us apart. Your work is a credit to this.The good things the News of the World does, however, have been sullied by behaviour thatwas wrong. Indeed, if recent allegations are true, it was inhuman and has no place in our Company.The News of the World is in the business of holding others to account. But it failed when it came to itself."

He added: "In 2006, the police focused their investigations on two men. Both went to jail. But the News of the World and News International failed to get to the bottom of repeated wrong doing that occurred without conscience or legitimate purpose.Wrongdoers turned a good newsroom bad and this was not fully understood or adequately pursued.

"As a result, the News of the World and News International wrongly maintained that these issues were confined to one reporter. We now have voluntarily given evidence to the police that I believe will prove that this was untrue and those who acted wrongly will have to face the consequences."

He also admitted: "This was not the only fault. The paper made statements to Parliament without being in the full possession of the facts.This was wrong."

Murdoch added: "The Company paid out-of-court settlements approved by me. I now know that I did not have a complete picture when I did so. This was wrong and is a matter of serious regret.

"Currently, there are two major and ongoing police investigations. We are cooperating fully and actively with both. You know that it was News International who voluntarily brought evidence that led to opening Operation Weeting and Operation Elveden. This full cooperation will continue until the Police’s work is done.

"We have also admitted liability in civil cases. Already, we have settled a number of prominent cases and set up a Compensation Scheme, with cases to be adjudicated by former High Court judge Sir Charles Gray. Apologising and making amends is the right thing to do."

There is speculation that we will see a Sun on Sunday emerge from the ashes of the News of the World.

NUJ condemns closure of the News of the World

NUJ General Secretary Michelle Stanistreet said “This shows the depths to which Rupert Murdoch and his lieutenants at News International are prepared to stoop. The announcement James Murdoch should be making today is the dismissal of Rebekah Brookes as chief executive of News International.

"The shocking revelations this week show beyond doubt the systemic abuse and corruption at the top of the operation ran by both Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson. Yet News International has persistently lied about the extent of this scandal and tried to pass it off as a problem created by a couple of rogue reporters.

“Closing the title and sacking over 200 staff in the UK and Ireland, and putting scores more freelances and casuals out of a job, is an act of utter cynical opportunism. Murdoch is clearly banking on this drawing a line under the scandal, removing an obstacle to the BskyB deal, and letting his senior executives off the hook. That simply won’t wash. It is not ordinary working journalists who have destroyed this paper’s credibility – it is the actions of Murdoch’s most senior people.

“James Murdoch was absolutely right when he said in his statement today that ‘Wrongdoers turned a good newsroom bad.’ Yet those wrongdoers are still there today, at the top of the News International empire and ordinary staff at the paper are paying with their livelihoods.

“The closure of the News of the World – a newspaper that has been in print now for 168 years – is a calculated sacrifice by Rupert Murdoch to salvage his reputation and that of News International, in the hope that readers will switch allegiance to a new seven-day operation at The Sun, the government will wave through the BskyB deal and he will widen his grip on the UK’s media landscape."

She added: “It is ironic that 25 years after the Wapping dispute it is the behaviour of Rupert Murdoch and his management that has caused the closure of the newspaper. The NUJ will offer all support to its members at the News of the World facing compulsory redundancies and will be organising an emergency meeting of all journalists at the title to offer advice and support.”

Hacked Off Statement on Closure of News of the World

The announcement by News International that this Sunday’s News of the World will be the last does not alter the need for a full public inquiry into phone hacking and related matters.

Indeed James Murdoch’s statement raises further questions about the conduct of senior figures at the company. We feel that the closure of a 168-year-old title, with the consequent loss of jobs, is a destructive act which actually underlines the need to get to the truth.

Hacked Off will continue to press for a judge-led public inquiry, with full powers to establish:

· The extent of the use of illegal information-gathering methods by the press, directly and through intermediaries;

· The conduct of the Metropolitan Police Service in investigating these matters, and its relations with the press;

· The communication between press and politicians in relation to these matters;

· The conduct of the Press Complaints Commission and of the Information Commissioner, and of other relevant parties such as mobile telephone companies;

· The lessons to be learned from these events and actions to be taken to ensure they are not repeated.

We are currently preparing proposals on what should be the remit, the timing and the composition of a public inquiry.

The Hacked Off campaign is committed to ensuring that the public find out the details and scale of illegal intrusion employed over a sustained period and that those responsible are exposed.

Sun subs in walk-out

According to the NUJ, in solidarity with colleagues at the News of the World, tonight sub-editors at the Sun walked out in protest.

The union claimed: "At the same time as the protest, inside the building, News of the World staff were being told about the redundancies. The company has told staff they will receive a 90 day payment which covers the legally required consultation period for job cuts.

Pic: Nick Davies at City University (Jon Slattery) and his Guardian splash two years ago on the hacking scandal.

South Yorkshire NUJ journalists vote to strike

South Yorkshire Newspapers NUJ chapel has voted 100% in favour of strike action on a 90% turnout.

It follows the move by Johnston Press to make half of the South Yorkshire Times' editorial staff in Mexborough redundant. The editor, the editorial assistant and a reporter, out of a staff of six, are facing losing their jobs.

South Yorkshire Times editor Jim Oldfield has been praised by the NUJ for giving space to the dispute in his paper.

• Via Lawrence Shaw on Twitter