It's all spiralling out of control over at News Corp...
Gordon Brown has alleged that both the Sun and the Sunday Times illegally accessed his bank, phone and medical records, both running stories based on information they shouldn't have had access to. This drags the rest of News International into the fray - shutting down the News of the World was an attempt to cut off the diseased arm and bury the poison along with it, but it's too late. The poison has spread. Well, to be honest it had spread years ago, but we're only managing to prove it now...we're past the part where the rest of the media was just enjoying a rare advantage over the Murdoch media. There's blood in the air.
The one thing I didn't really expect was for this to hit the Sky takeover bid. I thought that was pretty much nailed on with the loss of the NOTW, the plurality question being reasonably settled, but it seems even Murdoch is now questioning it. The character of News International itself has now been called into question, to the extent that the takeover is in doubt - so Rupert has booted it off into the long grass. He's withdrawn the original undertakings and asked for Jeremy Cunt to refer the bid to the competition commission (which is what Labour have been calling for all along), and while this would definitely put it off for a good year at least, it would keep it alive. Murdoch is scrambling once again - he's made a short-term sacrifice to protect the longer-term vision.
Now, Rebekah Brooks is rather important to the Murdochs right now, in much the same way that Nick Clegg is important to David Cameron - she's acting as a shit-mop, standing between them and the full fury of the public. But it might be getting to the point where she becomes the second red-top to get the chop - I can't see another paper going before she does.
Hell of a time to be a journalist though, eh?
