The revelation last year that journalists at the News of the World, a Sunday paper, owned by News Corp., had been involved extensively in hacking into the mobile phones and the voice mail of celebrities led to the closure of this populist paper. Since such hacking is illegal in Britain, News Corp. has been forced to pay large sums in compensation to famous people whose phones were hacked.
Rupert Murdoch, chairman of News Corp. (incorporated in the United States) and his son, James Murdoch, chairman of Sky TV in Britain, were summoned by a parliamentary committee to account for the company's handling of the scandal. They apologized, but the scandal has continued to reverberate.
David Cameron, the British prime minister was embarrassed. Andy Coulson, a former editor of the News of the World, had been appointed as his press secretary. Coulson had to resign this position and was one of the News International executives arrested for their role in these illegal activities.