It has all the key ingredients of a holy grail story that would be right at home in the News of the World: secrets, politics, royalty, skullduggery, dubious ethics and alleged bribery. And yet the 168-year-old tabloid renowned for nabbing such stories closed on Sunday after it emerged it had hacked into the phones of murder victims and allegedly also 9/11 victims, royals and politicians. As you can imagine, there’s a whole heap of information, commentary and satire available online about the scandal. And we’ve collected the best of it so you don’t have to.
At the centre of the scandal is media mogul Rupert Murdoch, chairman and chief executive of News Corporation. As the man who increasingly appears to have the whole world in his hands, the most poignant coverage of the drama this week has questioned his hold not just on his own massive media organisations, but on politicians and others too afraid to speak out for fear of his wrath.
- Murdoch’s ruthless streak may prove to be his own undoing: how a 13-year-old schoolgirl, murdered almost a decade ago, has brought one of the world’s wealthiest individuals and his hugely powerful corporate machine to task, says The Sydney Morning Herald.
- What the papers won’t say: The omertà of Britain’s press and politicians on phone-hacking amounts to complicity in crime, says The Spectator.
- Who knew about the hacking report?: Top aide to Rupert Murdoch Les Hinton faces questions on whether he saw 2007 internal report on widespread hacking, says The Guardian.
- How the scandal escalated: Nick Davies, an investigative journalist for The Guardian, on Murdoch and News of the World.
- A tabloid shame, exposed by earnest rivals: The New York Times’ media reporter David Carr
- The final edition: The BBC’s take on the last run of “the world’s greatest newspaper 1843-2011”.
- Murdoch’s Watergate?: How an anything-goes approach has spread through journalism like a contagion and now threatens to undermine the influence Murdoch so covets.
- Puns galore: how other papers covered the closing on their front pages.
- Page One: documentary maker Andrew Rossi on what it means for other print media.
- Revenge: Best served cold (and in crosswords): some parting barbs from the News of the World staff.
- Journo Blabs: “Everybody knew”. Video of interview with ex-News of the World journalist Paul McMullen (includes a handy cheat sheet of the key people and events for those who need to catch up).
- Hitler: ‘I’m not switching to The Mirror’
- Comedian John Finnemore’s take on the week the World came to an end.