Rupert Murdoch to Stop Bleeding by Closing News of the World

Rupert Murdoch is putting a stop to the bleeding by closing the disgraced News of the World, Britain's best-selling Sunday newspaper.

The move to close the newspaper is a result of the political and commercial reaction the tabloid is facing following allegations that journalists at the News of the World ordered private investigator Glenn Mulcaire to hack into voicemail messages belonging to murdered teenager Milly Dowler in 2002.

It also emerged that the relatives of British servicemen killed in Afghanistan and Iraq and survivors of the 7/7 terrorist attacks on London, were also target, according to the U.K.'s Guardian.

Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. shares dropped Wednesday as investigations continue into his newspapers alleged hacking into the voicemail belonging to a murdered teenager and others. The shares dropped about 4 percent during afternoon trading that day, while the overall stock market picked up, CNNMoney reported.

Big names in the car-manufacturing industry such as Ford and Renault, have said they won't advertise with the newspaper, resulting in loss advertising revenue, according to CNNMoney. Additionally, some consumer product makers such as Procter & Gamble is reviewing its options, according to the CNNMoney article.

News Corp., a global media company, had total assets approximately $60 billion and total annual revenues of approximately $33 billion as of March 31, according to its website.

But the allegations are seem to be loud to ignore, as there are increasing calls for public inquiries into the reporting practices of the journalists at News of the World. These calls have been supported by British Prime Minister David Cameron who waiting to see the current investigations completed.

Rupert Murdoch, who is the chairman of News Corp., has called the allegations deplorable and unacceptable and said the company must fully and proactively cooperate with police investigation. He also added that his executive Rebekah Brooks, a former editor at News of the World, will continue her leadership despite allegations of phone hacking and police payments.

We are committed to addressing these issues fully and have taken a number of important steps to prevent them from happening again, Rupert Murdoch said in a statement on Wednesday.

The U.K.'s Guardian reported that Rupert Murdoch's son James, who runs his UK titles, told the News of the World's 200 staff that Sunday's edition of the paper, which sells 2.6 million copies a week, would be its last.

That would end the 168-year history of the title Rupert Murdoch bought in 1969, introducing him to the British public for the first time, the Guardian reported, adding that the last News of the World will carry no commercial advertising.

The good things the News of the World does ... have been sullied by behaviour that was wrong. Indeed, if recent allegations are true, it was inhuman and has no place in our company, James Murdoch told the Guardian. The News of the World is in the business of holding others to account. But it failed when it came to itself.

The Guardian reported that the speculation now is that the paper will be replaced by a Sunday edition of the Sun which could be produced by staff at the daily. Furthermore, the domain names TheSunOnSunday.co.uk, TheSunOnSunday.com and SunOnSunday.co.uk were registered two days ago.

The Guardian report states that Colin Myler, the editor of the News of the World, said: Whatever price this staff are paying for past misdeeds, nothing should diminish everything this great newspaper has achieved.

READ: David Cameron Calls for New Probe in News of the World Scandal