Murdoch: NOTW to close after Sunday

[oldironside]

"The News of the World will close after a final edition this weekend, News International chairman James Murdoch said today.

The tabloid newspaper will be published for the last time on Sunday after it was rocked by the phone hacking scandal."

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/press/murdoch-notw-to-close-after-sunday-2308348.html

Well, let's just hope that isn't the end of the investigation. Still, reminds me of that old Sun front page.

[LeftishBrit]

1. GOOD! But that's not enough. There needs to be an investigation of the entire Murdoch empire

[tjwmason]

13. Exactly.

This isn't about one paper and bad decisions taken within it - this about the corruption of the media through a vast empire.

[ikri]

2. 1 Down

The Mail apparently used PIs to hack phones more often than the NotW but have so far escaped pretty unscathed. Seeing The Sun and The Daily Mail collapse too would be beautiful.

[T_i_B]

3. You know what pisses me off about this?

Hundreds of innocent workers lose their jobs becuase of gross misconduct by the people at the top. It is abhorrent that Rebekah Brooks is still in her job and people who had nowt to do with the wrongdoing are the ones who are losing their livlihoods.

[oldironside]

4. Very true.

On a totally unconnected matter, I thought of you in the supermarket the other day. Beck's have brought out a mixture of beer and ribena as their summer drink. A crime against humanity if ever I saw one.



I only hope the UK is spared this. I suspect not.

[T_i_B]

5. Oh we're sure to get that.

Fruit beers like Frulli & Timmermans are on the rise, and fruit ciders are very popular right now.

Back on topic though, I don't think that will be the end of the scandal. It's got too far out of control for even the extreme measure of closing the paper down to put a lid on this.

[oldironside]

6. I sincerely hope so.

Murdoch obviously thinks that cutting the head off the (metaphorical) gorgon will kill the scandal. Any further revelations can be met with
"Yes, but we've closed the paper."

This is, of course, much deeper. It's about illegal or immoral activities by News International in many aspects of British life (politics, police, etc). Have we seen our politicians released from Murdoch's spell? Could be, but I won't hold my breath. Cameron's as far up Murdoch's arse as Blair was - and that means he's cleaning his teeth from the inside. Expect a period of calm (that's what they are hoping for) then the BSkyB deal to go through as Murdoch wants it.

We would all love to see the News International hydra beheaded, and a few other poisonous rags go the same way, but I'm not totally hopeful. Still, I never thought I'd live to see the NOTW die. It's a bit like seeing the Berlin Wall fall, or Mandela released (or England win 5-1 in Munich).

Personally I hope Murdoch spends his next 1,000 incarnations as a dung beetle. Born up to his neck in shite.

[LeftishBrit]

10. Being reincarnated as a dung beetle..

would be a promotion in his case!

[legin]

15. I've got absolutely no taste

sounds interesting.

:evilgrin:

(In case people don't know the Smirnoff green apple vodka is good)

Rather fitting that we have a thread about the News of the Screws, and we discuss booze.

[legin]

16. Another good one I saw advertised

in a pub window,
Baileys + Guinness

[oldironside]

17. I must warn you...

... that saying things like that is likely to cause T_i_B to come looking for you with duct tape and a pair of gelding shears.

[legin]

18. ...

:evilgrin:

[T_i_B]

20. Can we not save the duct tape & gelding shears for James Murdoch?

I'm not bothered about his taste in ale. It's his "professional" conduct I cannot abide.

[oldironside]

21. I think there are better historical precedents for the Murdoch clan.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyburn

(Please note, I am not condoning murder, but merely an appropriate punishment after a fair trial. Like Cromwell's corpse got)

On the other hand, this man is suggesting drinking Guinness and Baileys together? That's the English equivalent of eating Yorkshire pudding and treacle sponge together. Get a grip, man.



Remember we're British!

[fedsron2us]

7. My thoughts exactly

Many of the current NOTW staff were not even working for the paper when most of the crimes were committed. It is a curious form of justice when the innocent are punished and the guilty walk free. Worse Murdoch can start another scandal sheet any time he wants. I very much doubt any evidence will be found to tie that scumbag and his family to these crimes but if our politicians and regulators had any balls they would hit the bastard where it really hurts and veto the N I takeover of BSkyB.

[non sociopath skin]

8. The question is, will this transparent and cynical exercise satisfy Joe Public UK?

Because if it does, we really, really deserve everything we get.

The Skin

[fedsron2us]

9. To be fair to most of the rest of the MSM

they have pretty much nailed this latest con from the outset so no one has any excuse for being gulled by this charade. My feeling is that most people can see through this attempt to pin the criminality to the NOTW as an institution when in fact the acts were committed by individuals at the behest of some senior people in the wider NI. Personally I think the Murdoch empire may be making a bit of a mistake shagging over the current journalists at the NOTW so readily. The anger and shock at his cynical behaviour probably is going to alienate media workers elsewhere in NI plus in the wider press. They could still make the Murdoch families life uncomfortable. Even more worrying for the Dirty Digger US shareholders in Newscorp are getting more than a little pissed off with his rampant nepotism.

[LeftishBrit]

12. Yes, I think it could turn out to be a mistake

People who work in the lower echelons of the Murdoch empire probably have a number of reasons for resenting him and his inner circle; and there will still be memories of his union-busting activities in the 80s. I think there will be a lot of alienation. If the economy was a bit better, you'd probably get a lot of people moving to other jobs; unfortunately, many are stuck, even if they're lucky enough not to end up thrown to the sharks like the NOTW staff.

[LeftishBrit]

11. The staff are indeed furious about it - not surprisingly!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/phone-hacking/8624611/News-of-the-World-staff-direct-fury-at-Rebekah-Brooks.html

Mrs Brooks, who is now the chief executive of News International, the newspaper’s parent company, was confronted by a “lynch mob mentality” as she told News of the World staff that Sunday’s edition would be its last.

It was claimed that she was in tears as she broke the news but was immediately asked to leave the newsroom by the paper’s present editor Colin Myler, a highly regarded Fleet Street veteran, and had to be escorted out by security...


One journalist, who did not wish to be named, said: “Brooks has lost us our jobs because she has refused to fall on her sword. Saving one job has come at the cost of 200.” ...




It's all very disgusting. I'm not usually a supporter of 'lynch mob mentality', but can't help thinking that it's rather a pity that security were present!

[muriel_volestrangler]

14. I would have taken Rebekah Brooks resignation, says Cameron

David Cameron has said that Rebekah Brooks's resignation should have been accepted by Rupert and James Murdoch, heaping pressure on the beleageured News International chief executive who had previously enjoyed a close relationship with the prime minister.

Cameron told reporters in an emergency press conference on the phone hacking crisis Friday morning: "It's been reported that she had offered her resignation in this situation, and I would have taken it."

These were the prime minister's first remarks since this week's phone hacking crisis broke about his friend, who was previously the editor of both the Sun and the News of the World.

On Thursday, however, News International denied reports that Brooks had tendered her resignation. Colin Myler, editor of the News of the World, told his journalists on Thursday that she had twice offered to quit the previous day – but NI insiders said that Myler was incorrect to say this.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jul/08/rebekah-brooks-resignation-david-cameron

There's a real 'under the bus' moment. I don't think there'll be a cosy Christmas dinner this year ...

[muriel_volestrangler]

19. 2 must-have videos for any decent scandal: Downfall parody and Taiwanese news animation

And so here they are:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x598402


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x598059


The Taiwanese animators have got the weirdest minds outside of a psychiatric hospital ...

[oldironside]

22. Both excellent.

The Downfall is a cut above the usual parody, partly because they use a different clip. Still, I love the idea of Rebekah as Eva Braun. Or vice versa. The other is surreal in a way that only East Asians can manage.

[fedsron2us]

23. I suspect this scandal is going to weaken the NI and the wider Murdoch media in the UK

It seems that illegal wiretaps and bribes to police officers were used not just to source juicy tabloid stories to sell more copies of NOTW. More sinisterly these activities may have been part of a wider mechanism for intimidating opponents, gaining political influence and advancing the corporate business interests. If this is the case then simply depriving certain parts of NI of these tools may have huge long term implications.