09 July,2011 08:11 AM IST | | Agencies
Hounded tabloid target George Michael is thrilled the News of the World newspaper is shutting down following a phone-tapping scandal, insisting the announcement is "a fantastic day for Britain." Publishing mogul James Murdoch announced the troubled publication will shut down after tomorrow's issue hits the streets -- and reclusive star Michael, who has often featured in the newspaper's exposes, is delighted.
Curtains called: Singer George Michael was delighted at the closure
of the paper.u00a0
Reports suggest News of the World reporters unearthed details about the singer's drink driving arrest last year by illegally hacking his phone. In a series of Tweets posted after Murdoch's headline-grabbing announcement Michael accused the paper's former editor, Rebekah Brooks, of corruption, stating, "(She) sat two feet from me in my own home and told me that it was never the public that came to them with information, or celebrities, and that the police always got there first."
People protest outside the office of News of the World yesterday. Pics/AFP
He also suggested that the News of the World's reporting had robbed him and others of justice, although he insisted he was "happy to do my time" behind bars for his DUI crime, "because I was so ashamed." Michael added, "I believe every individual, whether privileged or the average citizen, deserves the law. And many of us, rich or poor, have been denied it by News International (News of the World's parent company)."
The newspaper's reporters and editors have been accused of eavesdropping on the phone messages of murder victims, politicians and celebrities.u00a0 Meanwhile, Andy Coulson -- the paper's former editor and a former aide to British Prime Minister David Cameron -- was arrested over the affair.
"I made the decision, my decision alone, to give him a second chance . . . but the second chance didn't work," Cameron said. "People will judge me for that." But he said that mistakes had been made by all politicians. They had failed, to stop and ask whether media organisations were behaving properly and politicians should now "stop, frankly, trying to curry favour with the media."
