News of the World Hits Front Pages Almost Everywhere

Written by Pat's Papers | Friday, 8 July 2011 6:31 AM

Rupert Murdoch’s decision to shutter his 168-year-old tabloid News of the World leads both the Washington Post and the New York Times this morning. The Wall Street Journal, another Murdoch-owned publication, doesn’t devote quite as much front-page space to the story, which was widely seen as an extraordinary step to take. The Washington Post calls the scandal the “most dire public-relations debacle of the Australian-turned-American’s storied business career.” (Also notable in coverage—the normally media-obsessed New York Post buries the story on page 29 with a total of about 8 inches of copy.)

Insiders say the decision was made to protect Murdoch’s $12 billion bid to takeover British Sky Television. It also gives Murdoch the opportunity to turn another one of his papers, the Sun, into a seven-day publication, which would “preserve his lucrative share in the Sunday newspaper market while decontaminating the brand by removing its association with The News of the World.”

The Journal says Andy Coulson, a former NOTW editor, who went on to serve as Prime Minister David Cameron’s chief communications strategist was just arrested, a move that shows “how close to home the scandal hits for Mr. Cameron.”

Check out how the story played on British front pages vs. US front pages: