TABLOID REASONING

Rupert Murdoch didn't become the media godfather by being stupid.

earlier today, he announced that the 168 year-old News of the World would cease publication sunday because of the UK hacking scandal.

... oh REALLY? he's killing the most widely-read English-language newspaper - out of SHAME?!?

no, a far more likely reason is revealed by Alison Frankel at Reuters:

According to British media law star Mark Stephens of Finers Stephens Innocent (whom The Times of London has dubbed “Mr Media”), Rupert Murdoch’s soon-to-be shuttered tabloid may not be obliged to retain documents that could be relevant to civil and criminal claims against the newspaper—even in cases that are already underway. That could mean that dozens of sports, media, and political celebrities who claim News of the World hacked into their telephone accounts won’t be able to find out exactly what the tabloid knew and how it got the information.

If News of the World is to be liquidated, Stephens told Reuters, it “is a stroke of genius—perhaps evil genius.”