Rupert Murdoch in UK as News of the World's Final Edition Hits Newsstands

July 10, 2011— -- The News of the World hit the newsstands for the last time today, but the scandal surrounding tabloid is just beginning to unfold.

The tabloid's owner, News Corporation Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch, landed in London this morning from the United States to try to contain the crisis.

But it may already have derailed the media mogul's planned takeover of the British Sky Broadcasting satellite network.

The News of the World wasn't just another paper in Murdoch's portfolio; it was the best-selling paper in the English-language.

But today, the tabloid that lived on scandal has died in a phone hacking scandal that extends to the British government.

"We praised high standards, we demanded high standards but, as we are now only too painfully aware, for a period of a few years up to 2006 some who worked for us, or in our name, fell shamefully short of those standards," the paper stated in a full-page editorial. "Quite simply, we lost our way. Phones were hacked, and for that this newspaper is truly sorry."

The newspaper shut down after 168 years, leaving its 270-person staff without jobs.

Lost in an epidemic of criminal activity in pursuit of stories, including hacking the voicemails of murder victims, terrorist victims and their families, a power network including Murdoch, British politicians and police are accused of supressing a full investigation.

"I think as more shoes drop in this case and more people learn about the full extent of what happened, what started as a public relations nightmare could become a financial problem," said Brian Stelter, a media reporter with The New York Times.

While News of the World staff may be losing their jobs, one person isn't -- Rebekah Brooks, a chief executive for News Corporation, the parent company of News of the World, who was an editor of the paper during the time of the alleged phone hackings.

Calls for Brooks' dismissal abound but she isn't focused on that and neither is Rupert Murdoch. He released a statement today saying that he has total support for Brooks.

"We already apologized," he said Saturday. "We've been let down by people ... the paper let down its readers."

Brooks, despite suspicions of her own involvement, said that the truth will come out.

"Eventually it will come out why things went wrong and who was responsible and that will be another very difficult moment in this company's history," she said.

Though News of the World is just one of Murdoch's territories, it may be the one that could threaten his ever-growing empire.

Murdoch is the man whose endorsements were sought after by prime ministers and whose media arm stretched across the Atlantic. Now with the onslaught of evidence against his paper and top editors, his focus is more on the future than the past.

Already, former News of the World editor Andy Coulson and former royal editor Clive Goodman were arrested on charges related to the paper's hacking scandal.

Coulson, 43, was arrested on charges of corruption and conspiring to intercept communications, while Goodman, 53, was arrested on suspicion of corruption. An unidentified 63-year-old man was also arrested in relation to the crimes. All three men have been released on bail until October.

Coulson broke his silence and commented on News of the World's closing, saying that this was "a very sad day for the News of the World and more importantly for the staff."

Coulson served as Prime Minister David Cameron's director of communications, resigning in January as allegations of phone hacking under his editorship increased.

On Friday, Cameron revealed details of new inquiries into the paper, examining why the police investigation failed so "abysmally" and also examining the culture and ethics of the paper.