News Corps Final Call?

The phone hacking scandal of Murdoch and co has gone viral. Its literally plastered all over the news- the stories of the journos that need to win over the public once more.

National newspapers are running a full-page advert with a signed apology from Rupert Murdoch over "serious wrongdoing" by the News of the World following the discovery of serious phone-hacking crimes and the end of News Corps big-money paper.

The advert put out by Murdoch states: "We are sorry for the serious wrongdoing that occurred." The printed apology expresses regret for not acting faster "to sort things out".

"I realise that simply apologising is not enough. Our business was founded on the idea that a free and open press should be a positive force in society. We need to live up to this.

"In the coming days, as we take further concrete steps to resolve these issues and make amends for the damage they have caused, you will hear more from us", says the statement, signed "sincerely, Rupert Murdoch".

The damage to Rupert Murdoch's multi-billion-dollar global media empire, News Corp, has already become much more extensive than most would have imagined only two weeks ago. The News of the World (NoW) - the UK's most read newspaper - has been shut down, pre-empting a boycott by advertisers and readers. Under pressure from the entire British political establishment, Mr Murdoch has also dropped plans to buy out the rest of B-Sky-B.

It seem News Corps final call isn't quite yet, with mass apologies yet to come from Murdoch he starts with a public apology to affected family of murdered school girl Milly Dowler. News Corporation chief Rupert Murdoch profusely apologized saying sorry several times holding his head in his hand, said Dowlers' lawyer Mark Lewis. A very different side to Murdoch it would seem he isnt quite the hard face media mogul most press has made out.

In other developments Rebekah Brooks, a former editor of the paper, and senior News Corporation executive Les Hinton both resigned on Friday over the phone-hacking scandal. Mrs Brooks is expected to appear alongside Rupert and James Murdoch in front of the Commons media select committee on Tuesday to answer MPs questions on the hacking scandal. She was editor of News of the World between 2000 and 2003, during which time the phone belonging to murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler was tampered with. Murdochs right hand man, Hinton, also resigned after spending his entire 52-year career at News Corp., most remembered for stabilizing the company financially he did, however, start out as a reporter for the company's now closed Adelaide News newspaper in Australia. On Friday, nearing his retirement, the 67-year-old resigned amid a scandal now shaking the media company to its core.

Downing Street also revealed that former News of the World editor Andy Coulson stayed at Mr Cameron's official residence Chequers in March, after he resigned from his job as Director of Communications in Downing Street. Mr Coulson was arrested last week as part of the police inquiry into phone-hacking. And a list of Mr Cameron's guests at his country retreat showed that he was visited there twice by Mrs Brooks, in June and August last year, as well as once in November by News International chairman James Murdoch and his wife Kathryn.Things dont look to good for you- PM!

Former deputy prime minister Lord Prescott says Rupert Murdoch is "desperately" trying to save his company, and "ditching everybody else in the process". He said his apology changed nothing and only came about because he is going to be asked questions about his record by MPs next week.

Now it seems everyone is jumping on the bandwagon including the acting world. The actor Jude Law is suing The Sun newspaper for alleged phone hacking. He's launched legal proceedings over four articles published in 2005 and 2006. A spokesperson for News International called the news "a deeply cynical and deliberately mischievous attempt to draw The Sun into the phone-hacking issue."

It also came to the light this week that Ulrika Jonsson was warned about phone hacking by a NOTW cheif exec. themself. The Swedish TV star told press "Someone told me not to leave voice mails. I felt immediately like my stomach was turning. I felt really scared - somebody's been watching or certainly somebody's been listening to my life."

But its not the final call for News Corp- not just yet.

Shortly before the closure of NoW was announced, Murdoch's UK newspaper business, News International, bought the internet domain name sunonsunday.co.uk. Assuming the hacking scandal does eventually blow over, publishing the Sun seven days of the week would be a logical move.

Murdoch's tabloid is already the UK's most read daily paper by a significant margin, and NoW was the leading Sunday paper before its demise. The Sun has an editorial team ready to step in, and News International is now actively seeking to hire back NoW staff.

Moreover, many argue that the importance of Murdoch's UK newspaper business - which also comprises the Times and Sunday Times - is not as a profit centre. Rather, it is as a source of influence over public opinion and politics. And from this standpoint, its value to News Corp may already have been destroyed by the phone hacking scandal.


So where does News Corp go from here? I guess we'll have to wait and see...


-ZB