Ding, dong, the witch is dead...but not really, right?
Yes, the News of the World is dead, as of this Sunday. But it's not going to mean much, on the grand scale of things; in fact, it's probably actually only going to benefit News International.
Y'see, with the Sun going seven-days to cover the gap in the market (well, the market is already hilariously saturated, but still - those three million readers have got to go somewhere, right?) News International won't be losing a huge amount of cash over this. The advertisers and readers who would deal with the NOTW will naturally gravitate to a paper like the Sun. So he gets to keep the readers, the advertisers, the £800 odd million a year profit...all that really disappears is the scandal.
Oh, and the jobs of a few hundred (relatively) innocent staff members. Which will be win/win in the eyes of a ruthless bastard like Murdoch...because now, his BSkyB takeover is assured. It was never really in a huge amount of danger, but the phone-hacking business and the political interest surrounding it was threatening a wobble. Take that out of the equation, and more importantly the country's best-selling paper, and nobody making a serious case of a loss of plurality is going to be able to keep their argument flying. Even though in actual fact the influence of News International won't have changed a jot - as we've already covered, they'll most likely keep the lion's share of their readers, advertisers and profits by expanding the Sun to an extra day.
Frankly, it's a bit of a masterstroke by ol' Rupert. He's as successful as he is for a reason, y'know...he's excellent at being a scheming, manipulative bastard. He can dig his way out of a hole like a pro. No wonder his proteges make such capable spin-doctors and shysters. He can take a bit of pride in this one, though; he's killed a 168-year old publication, one of the original pillars of British journalism. His statement: "wrongdoers turned a good newsroom bad and this was not fully understood or adequately pursued." Bang on, Rupert...although it's a bit off to be referring to yourself in the third person. News International and its executives have to take the bulk of the blame here - they're the ones who turned that newsroom bad.
