News of the World goes down in flames – but will a ‘Sunday Sun’ replace it?

As the Sun would have put it, Gotcha! The News of the World has been well and truly screwed; it is no more, it has ceased to be. But before we celebrate too much, remember this is Murdoch we’re dealing with – and he may have a joker up his sleeve.

Rupert-Murdoch-looking-sad This Sunday will be the last ever edition of the NotW, the pressure from public, politicians and campaigners finally tolling on Rupert Mudoch and his News International empire – not least the pressure bearing down on companies to pull their adverts from this Sunday’s edition.

Onto the future later, but first, the demise of the NotW - how did it happen? And happen so quickly?

Editor of Political Scrapbook Laurence Durnan, who led the way in pressuring companies to withdraw their ads, told Left Foot Forward:

“Nowadays, Twitter makes it easy. Using this kind of medium you can bring pressure to bear directly on companies.

“We created a tool by which people can accept something easily.

“It wasn’t long before it went viral and the pressure really began to bite – they were getting absolutely bombarded; companies do not want to be associated in the same sentence as the hacking of the phones of bereved families.”

So, then, what happens next? And was this decision coming anyway, regardless of the phone hacking scandal?

Reacting to the news, Michael White tweeted:

“News Corp still lying. Closing the NoW will allow them to streamline the operation, save cash and launch the seven day Sunday Sun”

Furthermore, the circulation of the NotW has sunk dramatically in the last decade – down 31 per cent.

And what of Rebekah Brooks, who, as John Prescott told Sky News tonight:

“Is now only supported by two people – Rupert Murdoch and David Cameron”

It seems perverse in the utmost, even allowing for the prospect of a relaunched seven-day Sun, that hundreds of journalists, not all of them dodgy, not by a long straw, will be thrown out on their ear – while Rebekah Brooks stays in her job.

It’s about time Cameron grew some and called for her to go.

http://twitter.com/heliotropics/status/89016852042350592 Raj P

News of the World goes down in flames – but will a 'Sunday Sun' replace it? http://bit.ly/nXa6Zl by @ShamikDas #NotW #hacking
http://twitter.com/evilc154/status/89016939380355072 Clive Burgess

News of the World goes down in flames – but will a 'Sunday Sun' replace it? http://bit.ly/nXa6Zl by @ShamikDas #NotW #hacking
http://twitter.com/moixx/status/89017924462972928 Sarah Dawnay

News of the World goes down in flames – but will a 'Sunday Sun' replace it? http://bit.ly/nXa6Zl by @ShamikDas #NotW #hacking
http://twitter.com/dannycarrington/status/89021652544929792 Danny

RT @leftfootfwd: News of the World goes down in flames – but will a 'Sunday Sun' replace it? http://t.co/ZU8moa9
http://twitter.com/nosloc73/status/89024375088619520 DJC

News of the World goes down in flames – but will a 'Sunday Sun' replace it? http://bit.ly/nXa6Zl by @ShamikDas #NotW #hacking
http://twitter.com/psbook/status/89036104346517504 Political Scrapbook

Further reaction on #NOTW from @leftfootfwd http://bit.ly/o4WJ1Z and our partners in crime, @libcon http://bit.ly/nXIo97
http://twitter.com/janiesu/status/89036680123793409 Jane Shaw

RT @leftfootfwd: News of the World goes down in flames – but will a 'Sunday Sun' replace it? http://t.co/QZKP6IC
http://twitter.com/dickmandrake/status/89037983122075648 Dick Mandrake

News of the World goes down in flames – but will a ‘Sunday Sun’ replace it? http://t.co/0NHxXEp (by @leftfootfwd)
http://jruddy.wordpress.com John Ruddy

Apparently theres already a paper somewhere called the Sunday Sun, so the new paper will have to be called the Sun on sunday.
http://twitter.com/jack_frost2030/status/89043282595807232 Vendetta

RT @leftfootfwd: News of the World goes down in flames – but will a 'Sunday Sun' replace it? http://t.co/0F685tY
Mike

Spineless and unprincipled that’s our PM.
Robert

I know this does not matter but how many jobs would be lost if the papers shuts with no replacement.
Dave Citizen

Ditching this ‘asset’ is just the kind of ruthless self preservation tactic I have come to expect from members of an elite I have watched accumulate assets all my life. They’ve got plenty more where that one came from – unlike the people’s jobs they sacrifice along the way.

At least we know they are touchable now.
http://twitter.com/trakgalvis/status/89068572764160000 Trakgalvis

News of the World goes down in flames – but will a 'Sunday Sun' replace it? http://bit.ly/nXa6Zl by @ShamikDas #NotW #hacking
rhys Hughes

This is no reason to take the pressure off Murdoch
http://thoughcowardsflinch.com/ Carl

You didn’t mention the Murdoch empire share prices Shamik, which has taken a hit over this crisis (and possibly today todo). As the Guardian has it:

“More than half a billion pounds has been wiped off the value of BSkyB since this week’s phone-hacking allegations emerged and threw News Corporation’s proposed takeover bid into confusion.”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/jul/07/bskyb-share-price-news-of-the-world-scandal

and:

“Shares in broadcaster BSkyB are down 5% in the last week, wiping some £666m off the value of the business, while News Corp had lost 2.6% – slicing some $400m off the value of the News of the World’s ultimate parent company.”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/jul/07/shares-rupert-murdoch-companies
mr. Sensible

If it is replaced by a ‘Sun on Sunday’ then they will just be replacing like with like…
http://twitter.com/drkmj/status/89113434939076608 DrKMJ

News of the World goes down in flames – but will a 'Sunday Sun' replace it? http://bit.ly/nXa6Zl by @ShamikDas #NotW #hacking
http://numero57.net/ Jim Bliss

According to an article in The Guardian from 10 days ago (i.e. before all this pressure on the NoTW started), News International was already gearing up for “a move towards a form of integration of daily and Sunday titles”.

So in a strange way, the decision to “axe” the paper today is merely allowing Murdoch to carry out a pre-existing business strategy while giving the appearance of taking a moral stand.

See: http://bit.ly/mVSOfs
http://thenerdrageblog.wordpress.com/2011/07/08/links-for-2011-07-07/ links for 2011-07-07 « The NRB

[...] News of the World goes down in flames – but will a 'Sunday Sun' replace it? | Left F… [...]
http://twitter.com/hitchinengland/status/89147414308589568 Hitchin England

News of the World goes down in flames – but will a 'Sunday Sun' replace it? http://bit.ly/nXa6Zl by @ShamikDas #NotW #hacking
http://twitter.com/modditydodds/status/89200018292097024 Knut Cayce

RT @leftfootfwd: News of the World goes down in flames – but will a 'Sunday Sun' replace it? http://t.co/Z0TEhjn
http://dasteepsspeaks.blogspot.com Matthew Steeples

It is a sad day for investigative journalism. Not all journalists at the NOTW were bad apples, just like not all MPs were not expense fiddlers and not all bankers were fat cats.

Check out my view at http://dasteepsspeaks.blogspot.com/2011/07/news-is-screwed.html

You might also be interested in my view on the disgrace that is the PCC: http://dasteepsspeaks.blogspot.com/2011/07/fall-of-another-flop.html
http://www.leftfootforward.org/2011/07/the-sun-gordon-brown-invasion-of-privacy-rebekah-brooks-rupert-murdoch/ Yet again, the discredited Sun fails to report the main story | Left Foot Forward

[...] report the phone hacking story on its front page at all till Friday, when it splashed on the end of the News of the [...]
http://www.leftfootforward.org/2011/07/poll-exclusive-80-per-cent-of-public-want-review-of-all-rupert-murdoch-media-outlets/ Poll Exclusive: 4 in 5 voters want a review of all Murdoch media outlets | Left Foot Forward

[...] being added to the Murdoch media stable now looks increasingly risky. Seventy per cent view the closure of the News of the World and the prospect of a new title to replace it as: “A cynical move by [...]