ABSTRACT
The closure of News of the World (NOTW) and the exposure of the scandal brought to the fore the issue of ethical standards at News Corp and the lack of self-regulation. The tabloid NOTW was entangled in a series of controversies which included hacking the phone lines of celebrities and the royal family, and those of murder and terror victims. Public enquiry reports later showed that employees of NOTW had also tapped the phones of deceased British soldiers and their families, the victims of the London bombings and their relatives' phone and voice mails. The phone hacking scandal of News Corp came to light just two weeks before the proposed deal and the government declared that the bid would be put on hold due to the crisis and regulatory hurdles. In July 2011, the British police had also informed Prince Charles and his wife at Buckingham Palace that they might be targeted by NOTW.
