News of the World staff cheer as they leave offices for last time

IN a moment of celebration tinged with sorrow and no little anger, the staff of Britain’s best-selling News of the World tabloid cheered as they left their offices for the last time.

Reporters, editors and production staff walked out of the building in east London en masse, and lined up before the world’s cameras waiting to capture a piece of media history.

The headline of the last edition was simple and unusually low key. It read: “THANK YOU & GOODBYE” and underneath in smaller print added: “After 168 years, we finally say a sad but very proud farewell to our 7.5 million loyal readers.”

The words appeared over a montage of some of the paper’s most famous front pages, most of them involving celebrities, members of the royal family and politicians. Inside, the paper ran several editorials charting its successes over the years, in addition to the usual fare of celebrity gossip, showbiz and other news. The only adverts the last issue carried were for charities.

The owners of News of the World made the shock decision to close the title on Thursday in the face of mounting criticism of its newsgathering techniques. Staff at the paper, where some 200 people are losing their jobs, with another 22 at the paper’s Dublin office, have voiced anger and disbelief at the sudden move to shut it down, believing they were sacrificed to save the BSkyB deal.

The collapse in advertising in the wake of the latest hacking claims may also have played a part in the decision.

“Goodbye Cruel News of the World,” read the words on one employee’s T-shirt on Saturday evening.

Outgoing editor Colin Myler addressed the media gathered outside his offices, watched by his staff who cheered him loudly.

“It’s actually our 8,674th edition after 168 proud years,” he said, holding aloft a copy of the front and back pages of the closing edition.

“I want to pay tribute to this wonderful team of people here who after a really difficult day have produced in a brilliantly professional way a wonderful newspaper. This is not where we wanted to be and it’s not where we deserve to be, but, as a final tribute to 7.5 million readers, this is for you and for the staff. Thank you.

“And now,” he added, “in the best traditions of Fleet Street, we’re going to the pub.”

At the Cape pub nearby, some employees shed tears.

“Both my wife and I worked there, so it’s going to hit us hard tomorrow,” reporter John Roe said.

Galling for many employees was the fact that Rebekah Brooks, a Murdoch executive and editor of News of the World when an investigator working for the paper hacked into the voicemail of missing schoolgirl Milly Dowler, remains in her post.

The print run for the last News of the World has been bumped up to five million copies, nearly double the normal number, in anticipation of a spike in demand for the historic edition.