 | |
 South side ofThe News Building, London | |
| News UK | |
| Formerly |
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| Company type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Mass media |
| Founded | February 1981; 44 years ago (1981-02) |
| Headquarters | London, England, UK |
Key people |
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| Products | Newspapers,magazine,websites,radio,podcasting,television,advertising,marketing,gaming,betting |
| Parent | News Corp |
| Subsidiaries | |
| Website | news |
News Corp UK & Ireland Limited (trading asNews UK, formerlyNews International andNI Group) is aBritish newspaper publisher, and a wholly ownedsubsidiary of the American mass mediaconglomerateNews Corp.[1] It is the current publisher ofThe Times,The Sunday Times, andThe Sun newspapers; its former publications include theToday,News of the World, andThe London Paper newspapers. It was established in February 1981 under the nameNews International plc.[2] In June 2002, the company name was changed toNews International Limited, and on 31 May 2011, toNI Group Limited,[3] and on 26 June 2013 toNews UK.[4]
Between 1987 and 1995, News International owned, through its subsidiary News (UK) Ltd,Today, the first UK national newspaper to be printed in colour. All of News International's newspapers (with the exception ofThe 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 ofTimes Higher Education,Times Educational Supplement, and other education titles, for £235m ($415m).The Times Literary Supplement, 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.
In July 2009,The Guardian, a newspaper owned byGuardian Media Group, 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.[5] It has been alleged that News Group staff were accused of engaging inphone hacking, includingClive Goodman, illegally accessedvoicemail for the mobile phones of thousands of public figures, including politicians and celebrities.[5] Goodman was jailed in 2007 for tapping the mobile phones of three members of the royal staff; this is an offence under theRegulation of Investigatory Powers Act. It was stated by News International at the time that Goodman had acted without its knowledge, and that no otherNews International journalists made use of such methods.
The evidence uncovered byThe Guardian showed that many more figures were in fact the subject of phone-taps, includingNigella Lawson,Lenny Henry,Gwyneth Paltrow,John Prescott,Boris Johnson, andTessa Jowell. In 2008, theNews of the World paid in excess of £400,000 in damages toGordon Taylor, the chief executive of theProfessional Footballers' Association, who was suing the newspaper for its involvement in the illegal interception of messages to his mobile phone. According toThe 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".[6]
In contrast to News International's earlier denials of knowledge,The Guardian cites suppressed evidence revealing thatNews of the World's editorial staff were involved withprivate investigators 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 theNews of the World, being "openly paid for by the accounts department with invoices which itemised illegal acts".[6] The paperwork was alleged to show the above occurred during the tenure ofAndy Coulson, who was chiefpress advisor toDavid Cameron, leader of the UK'sConservative Party,[6] until his resignation on 21 January 2011.[7]
On 4 July,The Guardian reported that a private investigator at theNews of the World had hacked into the phone of murdered teenagerMilly Dowler, causing both her parents and police investigating her murder to wrongly believe she was still alive. This occurred during the period thatRebekah Brooks (née Wade) was editor.[8]
On 7 July, British newspaperThe Daily Telegraph alleged that the families of dead British service personnel were targeted by private investigators working for theNews of the World. This led toThe Royal British Legion severing ties with the paper until such allegations are proved false. On the same day,James Murdoch announced theNews 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.[9]
On 15 July, Rebekah Brooks resigned as chief executive of News International.[10] She commented thus on her departure:
As chief executive of the company, I feel a deep sense of responsibility for the people we have hurt and I want to reiterate how sorry I am for what we now know to have taken place. I have believed that the right and responsible action has been to lead us through the heat of the crisis. However my desire to remain on the bridge has made me a focal point of the debate. This is now detracting attention from all our honest endeavours to fix the problems of the past. Therefore I have given Rupert and James Murdoch my resignation. While it has been a subject of discussion, this time my resignation has been accepted. Rupert's wisdom, kindness and incisive advice has guided me throughout my career and James is an inspirational leader who has shown me great loyalty and friendship. I would like to thank them both for their support.
The Guardian newspaper, citing official company accounts, claims Brooks received a £10.8m payoff for leaving News International.[11]
In September 2015, Brooks was reappointed as CEO of the company, now named News UK.[12]
The company's major titles are published by subsidiary companies,Times Newspapers Ltd andNews Group Newspapers.[2] Until 2010, these newspapers were written at a large site inWapping ineast London, nearTower Hill, 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 inWaltham Cross,Knowsley, andLanarkshire (the latter said byRupert Murdoch, on the plant's opening in 2007, to be "the largest and fastest print press in the world").[13]
The News Building, where all of News UK's London operations are based, was opened on 16 September 2014 by theMayor of London,Boris Johnson.[14]
Times Newspapers Limited publishes thecompact daily newspaperThe Times and the broadsheetThe Sunday Times.[citation needed]
Times Newspapers was formed in 1967 when theThomson Corporation purchasedThe Times from theAstor family and merged it withThe 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 andBill O'Neill.[15]The Times Literary Supplement,Times Educational Supplement andTimes Higher Education Supplement were also part of the group; the latter two publications have since been sold.[citation needed]
Times Newspapers Holdings Limited was incorporated as a private company on 3 June 1925 and was dissolved on 9 July 2024.[16] The Times Limited has existed as a separate company since 1968 and as of September 2024[update], registered at the same address, as a private, limited, non-trading company.[17]
An American edition ofThe Times was launched inNew York City,Boston and some otherEast Coast US cities in 2006.[citation needed]
Rupert Murdoch has stated that the law and the independent board prevent him from exercising editorial control.[18] However, an article inThe Spectator following the resignation ofJames 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.[19]
News Group Newspapers Ltd publishes the tabloid newspaperThe Sun. TheNews of the World was another tabloid newspaper owned by the company; however, its closure was announced on 7 July 2011, following new evidence about aphone hacking scandal at the newspaper. The final issue was released on 10 July 2011.
TheNews of the World was purchased by Murdoch in January 1969.The Sun was acquired in October 1969 fromInternational Publishing Corporation.
Murdoch states that he acts as a "traditionalproprietor"; exercising editorial control on major issues, such as which political party to back in a general election or policy on Europe.[18]
The London Paper was the first newspaper to be launched by News International rather than bought. It was an eveningfreesheet 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.[20]
In 2016, News UK acquiredWireless Group Limited, the operator of a number of radio stations across theUnited Kingdom and Ireland.
In December 2020,Ofcom granted a licence to News UK & Ireland Limited to operate a new television channel on satellite and cable[21][22] (not to be confused withAndrew Neil'sGB News, which is a separate news channel launched in June 2021).[23][24][25] At that time, News UK TV was overseen byDavid Rhodes who had been aFox News executive and president ofCBS News.[26]
In April 2021, News UK CEORebekah Brooks announced that plans for the new service had been much reduced: a British equivalent of Fox was considered unviable; programmes would be available only via streaming. David Rhodes was to return to the United States in June that year.[27]
In September 2021, a few days after Neil had resigned as chairman of rival GB News,[28] it was reported that News UK's channel would now be calledTalkTV (after the radio stationsTalkRadio andtalkSport);Piers Morgan would be a presenter on the new service. News UK decided TalkTV would run onFreeSat,Freeview,Sky UK andVirgin Media (if slots could be acquired); the channel would feature current affairs, sport, and entertainment.[29][30]
In response to poor viewer ratings the television channel was rebranded as "Talk" and became an internet-only service in 2024.[31]
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