Rupert Murdoch's News of the World newspaper could lose major advertisers following allegations that the tabloid hacked into the phones of murder victims.
It has been revealed that private detective, Glen Mulcaire, who was hired by the newspaper, hacked the message bank of a missing girl who was later found murdered in 2002. Mulcaire is alleged to have cleared messages from Milly Dowler's phone to make room for more.
News of the World journalists are also believed to have hacked into Dowler's phone in order to obtain information for stories. Phones belonging to two other murdered school girls may also have been hacked.
The United Kingdom has responded with outrage. According to a report on ABC's AM program this morning, members of the public, together with British Prime Minister David Cameron, former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott and high profile celebrities including Hugh Grant, are calling for News International to undertake a full investigation.
The revelations have sparked concern amongst the newspaper's advertisers, including Ford, who has reportedly suspended all advertising activity until an inquiry into the scandal is complete.
Other advertisers, including electricity provider npower, travel group TUI, supermarket chain Morrisons, The Co-operative Bank, Virgin media and Virgin Holidays, are also said to be reconsidering their commitments to the newspaper.
Social media site Twitter has been flooded with comments from disgruntled members of the public, some claiming they “are never going to buy a copy of News of the World ever gain”.
The scandal is grim news for Murdoch, who last week looked as though he'd secured approval from culture secretary Jeremy Hunt for a full take over satellite broadcaster British Sky Broadcasting (BskyB). Murdoch's News Corp already owns a 39% share.
News Limited in Australia said the incident would not impact on the organisation. A spokesperson told AdNews, “The recent events in London are entirely separate from, and unrelated to, News’ operations in Australia."
Ford Australia would not comment on the UK advertisers' decision to pull out.
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