News Corp UK & Ireland Limited (trading as News UK, formerly News International and NI Group) is a British newspaper publisher, and a wholly owned subsidiary of the American mass media conglomerate News Corp. It is the current publisher of ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'', ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, w ...

'', and '' The Sun'' newspapers; its former publications include the ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now'' * Current era, present * The current calendar date Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 ...

'', '' News of the World'', and '' The London Paper'' newspapers. Until June 2002, it was called News International plc.The Times Online Style Guide
– see entry for News International for change from plc to Ltd On 31 May 2011, the company name was changed from News International Limited to NI Group Limited, and on 26 June 2013 to News UK.

History

Between 1987 and 1995, News International owned, through its subsidiary News (UK) Ltd, ''

'', the first UK national newspaper to be printed in colour. All of News International's newspapers (with the exception of '' The London Paper'', launched in 2006) were founded by other owners, in some cases hundreds of years ago. In October 2005, News International sold TSL Education, publisher of ''

Times Higher Education ''Times Higher Education'' (''THE''), formerly ''The Times Higher Education Supplement'' (''The Thes''), is a British magazine reporting specifically on news and issues related to higher education. Ownership TPG Capital acquired TSL Education ...

'', ''

Times Educational Supplement ''Tes'', formerly known as the ''Times Educational Supplement'', is a weekly UK publication aimed at education professionals. It was first published in 1910 as a pull-out supplement in ''The Times'' newspaper. Such was its popularity that in 19 ...

'', and other education titles, for £235m ($415m). ''

The Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication ...

'', previously part of TSL Education, was retained by News International as part of the deal. Darwin Ltd, which had taken over the company, continued to produce the same product.

Phone hacking allegations

In July 2009, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', a newspaper owned by

Guardian Media Group Guardian Media Group plc (GMG) is a British-based mass media company owning various media operations including ''The Guardian'' and ''The Observer''. The group is wholly owned by the Scott Trust Limited, which exists to secure the financial and e ...

, reported that News Group Newspapers paid in excess of £1m to settle legal cases that threatened to reveal News Group journalists' use on repeated occasions of illegal methods in the pursuit of stories. It has been alleged that News Group staff were accused of engaging in

phone hacking Phone hacking is the practice of exploring a mobile device often using computer exploits to analyze everything from the lowest memory and central processing unit levels up to the highest file system and process levels. Modern open source toolin ...

, including

Clive Goodman Clive Goodman (born 17 September 1957, in Hammersmith, London) is an English journalist, former royal editor and reporter for the ''News of the World''. He was arrested in August 2006 and jailed in January 2007 for intercepting mobile phone messa ...

, illegally accessed

voicemail A voicemail system (also known as voice message or voice bank) is a computer-based system that allows users and subscribers to exchange personal voice messages; to select and deliver voice information; and to process transactions relating to ind ...

for the mobile phones of thousands of public figures, including politicians and celebrities. Goodman was jailed in 2007 for tapping the mobile phones of three members of the royal staff; this is an offence under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act. It was stated by News International at the time that Goodman had acted without its knowledge, and that no other News International journalists made use of such methods. The evidence uncovered by ''The Guardian'' showed that many more figures were in fact the subject of phone-taps, including

Nigella Lawson Nigella Lucy Lawson (born 6 January 1960) is an English food writer and television cook. She attended Godolphin and Latymer School, London. After graduating from the University of Oxford, where she was a member of Lady Margaret Hall, Lawson st ...

Lenny Henry Sir Lenworth George Henry (born 29 August 1958) is a British actor, comedian, singer, television presenter and writer. Henry gained success as a stand-up comedian and impressionist in the late 1970s and early 1980s, culminating in '' The Le ...

, Gwyneth Paltrow,

John Prescott John Leslie Prescott, Baron Prescott (born 31 May 1938) is a British politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and as First Secretary of State from 2001 to 2007. A member of the Labour Party, he w ...

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...

, and

Tessa Jowell Tessa Jane Helen Douglas Jowell, Baroness Jowell, (; 18 September 1947 – 12 May 2018) was a British Labour Party politician and life peer who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Dulwich and West Norwood, previously Dulwich, from ...

. In 2008, the ''News of the World'' paid in excess of £400,000 in damages to Gordon Taylor, the chief executive of the

Professional Footballers' Association The Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) is the trade union for professional association footballers in England and Wales. Founded in 1907, it is the world's oldest professional sport trade union, and has over 5,000 members. The aims of ...

, who was suing the newspaper for its involvement in the illegal interception of messages to his mobile phone. According to ''The Guardian'', this payment, made in exchange for Taylor's silence, "prevented the public from knowing anything about the hundreds of pages of evidence which had been disclosed in Taylor's case". In contrast to News International's earlier denials of knowledge, ''The Guardian'' cites suppressed evidence revealing that ''News of the World''s editorial staff were involved with

private investigator A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI and informally called a private eye), a private detective, or inquiry agent is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private investigators of ...

s who engaged in illegal phone-hacking, and that both reporters and executives were commissioning purchases of confidential information; this is illegal unless it is shown to be in the public interest. Apparently these activities were well known within the ''News of the World'', being "openly paid for by the accounts department with invoices which itemised illegal acts". The paperwork was alleged to show the above occurred during the tenure of Andy Coulson, who was chief press advisor to David Cameron, leader of the UK's Conservative Party, until his resignation on 21 January 2011. On 4 July, ''The Guardian'' reported that a private investigator at the ''News of the World'' had hacked into the phone of murdered teenager Milly Dowler, causing both her parents and police investigating her murder to wrongly believe she was still alive. This occurred during the period that

Rebekah Brooks Rebekah Mary Brooks (; born 27 May 1968) is a British media executive and former journalist and newspaper editor. She has been chief executive officer of News UK since 2015. She was previously CEO of News International from 2009 to 2011 and w ...

('' née'' Wade) was editor. On 7 July, British newspaper ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' alleged that the families of dead British service personnel were targeted by private investigators working for the ''News of the World''. This led to

The Royal British Legion The Royal British Legion (RBL), formerly the British Legion, is a British charity providing financial, social and emotional support to members and veterans of the British Armed Forces, their families and dependants, as well as all others in n ...

severing ties with the paper until such allegations are proved false. On the same day,

James Murdoch James Rupert Jacob Murdoch (born 13 December 1972) is a British-American businessman, the younger son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch, and was the chief executive officer (CEO) of 21st Century Fox from 2015 to 2019. He was the chairman and CEO fo ...

announced the ''News of the World'' would be shut down after the publication of one more edition on 10 July 2011, due to the allegations. The newspaper had already been faced with the withdrawal of a number of sponsors which had advertised their products and services in the newspaper, not to mention the inevitable fall in sales that the newspaper would have faced had it remained in circulation. On 15 July, Rebekah Brooks resigned as chief executive of News International. She commented thus on her departure:

Rebekah Brooks £10m payout

'' newspaper, citing official company accounts, claims Brooks received a £10.8m payoff for leaving News International.

Brooks reappointed as CEO

In September 2015, Brooks was reappointed as CEO of the company, now named News UK.

Operations

The company's major titles are published by subsidiary companies, Times Newspapers Ltd and News Group Newspapers. Until 2010, these newspapers were written at a large site in

Wapping Wapping () is a district in East London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Wapping's position, on the north bank of the River Thames, has given it a strong maritime character, which it retains through its riverside public houses and steps, ...

in east London, near

Tower Hill Tower Hill is the area surrounding the Tower of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is infamous for the public execution of high status prisoners from the late 14th to the mid 18th century. The execution site on the higher gro ...

, which earned the nickname " Fortress Wapping" after a fierce dispute with the union to which the workforce had previously belonged. The printing of the papers is now undertaken at plants in Waltham Cross, Knowsley, and

Lanarkshire Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark ( gd, Siorrachd Lannraig; sco, Lanrikshire), is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the central Lowlands of Scotland. Lanarkshire is the most populous county in Scotl ...

(the latter said by

Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian-born American business magnate. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including ...

, on the plant's opening in 2007, to be "the largest and fastest print press in the world"). The News Building, where all of News UK's London operations are based, was opened on 16 September 2014 by the

Mayor of London The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first directly elected mayor in the United Kingdom. The current m ...

Times Newspapers Ltd

Times Newspapers Limited publishes the

compact Compact as used in politics may refer broadly to a pact or treaty; in more specific cases it may refer to: * Interstate compact * Blood compact, an ancient ritual of the Philippines * Compact government, a type of colonial rule utilized in British ...

daily newspaper ''

'' and the broadsheet ''

''. Times Newspapers was formed in 1967 when the

Thomson Corporation The Thomson Corporation was one of the world's largest information companies. It was established in 1989 following a merger between International Thomson Organisation Ltd (ITOL) and Thomson Newspapers. In 2008, it purchased Reuters Group to fo ...

purchased ''The Times'' from the

Astor family The Astor family achieved prominence in business, society, and politics in the United States and the United Kingdom during the 19th and 20th centuries. With ancestral roots in the Italian Alps region of Italy by way of Germany, the Astors settled ...

and merged it with ''The Sunday Times'', which it had owned since 1959. The company was purchased by Rupert Murdoch's News International in February 1981. The acquisition followed an intense 21 days of negotiations with the print unions, conducted by John Collier and Bill O'Neill. ''

'', ''

'' and ''

Times Higher Education Supplement ''Times Higher Education'' (''THE''), formerly ''The Times Higher Education Supplement'' (''The Thes''), is a British magazine reporting specifically on news and issues related to higher education. Ownership TPG Capital acquired TSL Education ...

'' were also part of the group; the latter two publications have since been sold. An American edition of ''The Times'' was launched in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

and some other East Coast U.S. cities in 2006. Rupert Murdoch has stated that the law and the independent board prevent him from exercising editorial control. However, an article in ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The ...

'' following the resignation of James Harding stated that the trust has "never played much of a role in the 30 years Murdoch has owned the paper", and suggested that Murdoch had pressurised Harding to resign.

News Group Newspapers Ltd

News Group Newspapers Ltd publishes the tabloid newspaper '' The Sun''. The '' News of the World'' was another tabloid newspaper owned by the company; however, its closure was announced on 7 July 2011, following new evidence about a phone hacking scandal at the newspaper. The final issue was released on 10 July 2011. The ''News of the World'' was purchased by Murdoch in January 1969. ''The Sun'' was acquired in October 1969 from

International Publishing Corporation TI Media (formerly International Publishing Company, IPC Magazines Ltd, IPC Media and Time Inc. UK) was a consumer magazine and digital publisher in the United Kingdom, with a portfolio selling over 350 million copies each year. Most of its tit ...

. Murdoch states that he acts as a "traditional

proprietor Ownership is the state or fact of legal possession and control over property, which may be any asset, tangible or intangible. Ownership can involve multiple rights, collectively referred to as title, which may be separated and held by different ...

"; exercising editorial control on major issues, such as which political party to back in a general election or policy on Europe.

NI Free Newspapers Limited

'' The London Paper'' was the first newspaper to be launched by News International rather than bought. It was an evening

freesheet Free newspapers are distributed free of charge, often in central places in cities and towns, on public transport, with other newspapers, or separately door-to-door. The revenues of such newspapers are based on advertising. They are published at ...

distributed at bus and rail stations in London. It was published five days a week from September 2006 to September 2009, when it closed down, faced with competition from other free papers.

Wireless Group Limited

In 2016, News UK acquired

Wireless Group Wireless Group Limited is a radio and digital broadcasting network with headquarters in Belfast, Northern Ireland and with radio operations in the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom. It currently operates five stations in Ireland and ...

Limited, the operator of a number of radio stations across the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and Ireland.

TalkTV

In December 2020, Ofcom granted a licence to News UK & Ireland Limited to operate a new television channel on satellite and cable (not to be confused with

Andrew Neil Andrew Ferguson Neil (born 21 May 1949) is a Scottish former journalist and broadcaster who is chairman of ''The Spectator'' and presenter of '' The Andrew Neil Show'' on Channel 4. He was editor of ''The Sunday Times'' from 1983 to 1994. He f ...

GB News GB News is a British free-to-air television and radio news channel. The channel is available on Freeview, Freesat, Sky, YouView, Virgin Media and via the internet. Since 4 January 2022, an audio simulcast of the station is available on DAB+ ...

, which is a separate news channel launched in June 2021). News UK TV was then overseen by David Rhodes, who was previously a

Fox News The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...

executive and president of CBS News. Unlike GB News, News UK TV is not expected to take up a slot on Freeview with its nightly programming (expected to be a few hours a night, according to

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

's ''

The Media Show ''The Media Show'' is a weekly British current affairs radio programme and podcast on BBC Radio 4 which examines the current state of the media. The first episode was broadcast at 13:30 on 1 October 2008 and since May 2017 has been presented by ...

'', 12 March 2021) being streamed via a number of platforms. In April 2021, News UK CEO

announced that plans for the new service had been much reduced, as a British equivalent of Fox was considered unviable, and programming would only be available via streaming. David Rhodes is to return to the United States in June. In September 2021, a few days after Neil resigned as chairman of rival GB News, it was reported that the News UK's channel would now be called TalkTV (after the radio stations

TalkRadio TalkRadio (previously styled as talkRADIO) is a talk radio station broadcasting nationally in the United Kingdom, which was relaunched on 21 March 2016. Based in London and owned by Wireless Group, a subsidiary of News Corp., it is the sist ...

and talkSport) and that

Piers Morgan Piers Stefan Pughe-Morgan (; né O'Meara; born 30 March 1965) is a British broadcaster, journalist, writer, and television personality. He began his Fleet Street career in 1988 at ''The Sun (United Kingdom), The Sun''. In 1994, aged 29, he was ...

would be a presenter on the new service. In addition, News UK have decided that TalkTV would be available on

FreeSat Freesat is a British free-to-air satellite television service, first formed as a joint venture between the BBC and ITV plc and now owned by Digital UK. The service was formed as a memorandum in 2007 and has been marketed since 6 May 2008. Free ...

, Freeview, Sky UK and

Virgin Media Virgin Media is a British telecommunications company which provides telephone, television and internet services in the United Kingdom. Its headquarters are at Green Park in Reading, England. It is owned by Virgin Media O2, a 50:50 joint ventu ...

(if slots can be acquired by the company) and that the channel would feature current affairs documentaries, programmes about sport and entertainment features.

Other

* News International (Advertisements) Limited * News International Associated Services Limited * News International Distribution Limited * News Ireland * News Printers (Knowsley) Limited * News Printers (Scotland) Limited * News International Pension Trustees Limited * News International Supply Company Limited * News International Television Investment Company Limited * News International Television Limited * NI Syndication Limited * The Fifth – Influencer Marketing Agency

References

External links

News UK
{{Authority control British companies established in 1981 Publishing companies established in 1981 Newspaper companies of the United Kingdom News Corporation subsidiaries

History

Phone hacking allegations

Rebekah Brooks £10m payout

Brooks reappointed as CEO

Operations

Times Newspapers Ltd

News Group Newspapers Ltd

NI Free Newspapers Limited

Wireless Group Limited

TalkTV

Other

See also

References

External links