By now you are probably familiar with the chaos surrounding Rupert Murdoch’s empire of media companies, including the hacking scandal that has seen “The News of the World” shut its doors after more than 150 years.

If you’re not familiar with the whole story, here’s what Wikipedia has to say on the matter:

The News International phone hacking scandal is an ongoing controversy involving the News of the World, a now-defunct British tabloid newspaper published by News International — a subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation — and the allegations that individuals working for the newspaper engaged in phone hacking. The scandal came to prominence in the midst of an attempted takeover of British Sky Broadcastingby News Corporation, which was forced to abandon the acquisition.

While the affair originally appeared to be limited to the hacking of celebrities, politicians and members of the British Royal Family, further revelations that victims of the phone hacking included murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler, relatives of deceased British soldiers, and victims of the 7/7 London bombings generated widespread public outrage in the United Kingdom. Advertiser boycotts contributed to the closure of the News of the World, which published its final edition on 10 July 2011 after 168 years of publication.

On 6 July 2011, British prime minister David Cameron declared that a public government inquiry would convene to investigate the affair, once police inquiries had been completed. On 13 July, Cameron named Lord Justice Leveson as chairman of the inquiry, with a remit to look into the specific claims about phone hacking and police bribery by the News of the World, while a separate inquiry would consider the culture and ethics of the British media. He also said the Press Complaints Commission would be replaced “entirely”.

The affair has resulted in several high-profile resignations and arrests. Staff who quit News Corporation in the wake of the scandal have included Les Hinton, a subsidiary chief executive, News International’s legal manager Tom Crone, and its chief executive Rebekah Brooks. The Metropolitan Police Service’s commissioner and Britain’s most senior police officer, Paul Stephenson, also resigned his post. Former News of the World editor Andy Coulson, the paper’s former executive editor Neil Wallis, and Brooks were all arrested. Rupert Murdoch and his son James were summoned to give evidence in parliament.

The scandal eventually garnered attention in the United States, where News Corporation is headquartered and operates a multitude of media outlets. On 14 July the Federal Bureau of Investigation launched its own investigation into News Corporation, focusing on claims that its newspapers had violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and accessed voicemails of victims of the 9/11 attacks. On 15 July, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the Department of Justice had also opened an investigation into the company.

So it’s only a matter of time before someone makes a movie out of the whole debacle. This is what it would look like.

[Source : Gizmodo, Wikipedia]