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"LONDON, England \u2014 The so-called phone hacking scandal is finally at an end. Or at least the trial part of the scandal. \nOn Tuesday, a jury at London's Old Bailey court found Andy Coulson, the former editor of News of the World, guilty of phone hacking. And although Rebekah Brooks, a high-profile News International executive, was acquitted of all charges, it's clear that phone hacking of celebrities, politicians and even crime victims was a common practice for years at Rupert Murdoch's tabloid.\nSee also: How Hacking Worked Before Computers\nSince the scandal broke in July of 2011, when the Guardian reported that an investigator working for the now-defunct tabloid the News of The World  hacked into the voicemail of Milly Dowler, a girl who had gone missing in 2002, the case has drawn headlines in Britain. \nHere are the reasons why the phone hacking scandal mattered:\nThe most expensive trial in British history\nThe 130-day trial against several employees of Murdoch's news empire in the UK is likely one of the longest and most expensive in British history. Estimates put the cost of the trial at $50,000 per day. \nThe case was also unique because the defendants all retained private lawyers, which is a rare occurrence in the UK. One private defense team is believed to have earned as much in one hour as the prosecution did in one day. \nFor Murdoch, the expenses have been an eye-watering $382 million (\u00A3238 million), according to News Corp's own annual reports.\n\nNews Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch delivers a keynote address at the National Summit on Education Reform in San Francisco on Oct. 14, 2011.Image: Noah Berger, File/Associated PressA high-profile scandal\nThe scandal not only involved the British press, it touched politicians, police, and even movie stars. (Hugh Grant, a phone hacking victim, became a spokesperson for Hacked Off, the press reform lobbying group.)\nThe defendants themselves were high-profile. Brooks, perhaps the most powerful person in the British tabloid press, was a close friend and confidante of the last three British prime ministers. Coulson, for his part. served as communications director for Prime Minister David Cameron until the allegations of phone hacking forced him to resign.\nCameron, who had defended Coulson repeatedly over the years, was forced to apologize on Tuesday,\n\"I am extremely sorry that I employed him, it was the wrong decision and I'm very clear about that,\" he said in a TV interview.\n\nHugh Grant signs a placard in support of the Hacked off campaign group near the British Parliament on July 6, 2011 in London, England. Image: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images/Associated PressThe fall of News of the World\nAs a consequence of the scandal, the 168-year old News of the World shut down. When Murdoch decided to pull the plug, it was still one of the most read newspapers in the UK, selling 2.6 million copies a week. Its last edition, published on July 10, 2011, displayed a message that read: \"The world's greatest newspaper, 1843-2011.\"\n\nThe front cover of the final edition of Britain's Sunday tabloid newspaper the News of the World, published on July 10, 2011. Image: News International/Associated PressThe British press will never be the same\nYears of scrutiny into the operations of the News of the World and other Murdoch-owned tabloids have revealed a rotten culture where everything - and everyone - was fair game. \nNot all of the uncovered practices were illegal but many were unethical, including such schemes as paying models to entrap celebrities in night clubs; offering promises not to run stories and name people in exchange for exclusive access, only later to backpedal on those promises, and having journalists posing as pen pals to murder suspects in prison.\nFormal reform of the British press is already underway. But some of the worst practices have already been rooted out because of the revelations: British tabloids will never be quite the same. \nPeter Jukes, a London-based author and blogger, has live-tweeted the phone-hacking trial since day one. His new book, The Inside Story of the Phone Hacking Trial, will be published in July. You can follow him at @PeterJukes.\nHave something to add to this story? Share it in the comments."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2014/06/24/hacking-trial-uk-matters/>