I'm sure they could get away with not ending it. Since when is the general public moralistic enough to stop buying a paper (especially a scummy one), just because some phones got hacked?
I'm sure most of the readership don't actually give a shit. And if they do, it's only cos it's been made into an issue by the rest of the media.
I suppose it's quite impressive then, in theory, that they've taken it upon themselves to end it (but not really cos, like already predicted, it'll be back in some guise or other). I guess they couldn't handle the pressure.