梅鐸帝國旗下的小報，長期聘用私家偵探用電話竊聽、賄賂警察、收買個資等爭議性的手法取得獨家新聞，為報紙取得超高的銷售量，即便《衛報》從2009年開始為期兩年不斷追蹤報導電話竊聽案，還是難以撼動根深蒂固的利害關係網，直到2011年竊聽遇害女童Milly Dowler手機案爆發，才真正動搖梅鐸帝國。 擁有168年歷史的《世界新聞報》在爭議聲中被關閉，但媒體所有權過度集中、政媒關係分際不清、媒體自律功能喪失以及違法侵犯隱私等問題終於被正視。

The tabloids of the Murdoch empire pay large sums of money to obtain coveted information and unique news stories to promote sales in the British media market. A portion of this money was paid to employ private investigators on a long-term basis who would bribe police officers, engage in phone hacking and purchase private legal documents. In 2009, a rival publication, the Guardian, published a series of detailed reports investigating phone hacking, but was unable to instigate changes in the practices of the Murdoch empire. A breakthrough came in July 2011 when the Guardian exposed that, in 2002, the News of the World had hacked the mobile phone of a murder victim, Milly Dowler, and deleted her voice messages, which were evidence, giving the false impression that she was still alive. The Murdoch empire was eventually shaken by these revelations, causing widespread impact to its business and sphere of influence. After 168 years of publication, the News of the World was shut down almost immediately. The most influential topics of debate created by this incident and ongoing revelations involve: media ownership; the relationships among politicians, police, and journalists; self-regulation of the press; and issues of privacy. These topics are currently and seriously being discussed in the public realm in such spheres as Parliament, Media, Judiciary, Academia and by the general public.