The Sun is safe, says Murdoch
NEWSPAPER tycoon Rupert Murdoch will touch down in London later this week amid turmoil sparked by five arrests at his group’s daily tabloid newspaper, the Sun. News Corp insists this is a long-planned visit as part of Murdoch’s regular sojourns around his businesses.
But his arrival will trigger memories of another visit in July when Britain’s most popular Sunday paper The News of the World was closed down.
Speculation at the time said the weekend paper could be replaced by other News International paper The Sunday Sun. However – although News Int chief executive Tom Mockridge told staff he had “a personal assurance from Rupert Murdoch about his total commitment to continue to own and publish The Sun newspaper” – the fate of the tabloid is now uncertain.
While four Sun journalists and a police officer were arrested in late January, the latest arrests mark the widening of the inquiry to include the corruption of officials outside the police. A Ministry of Defence employee and an army major were arrested on Saturday, alongside a Surrey police officer and five journalists from The Sun: deputy editor Geoff Webster, picture editor John Edwards, chief reporter John Kay, associate news editor John Sturgis and chief foreign reporter Nick Parker.
The journalists were arrested on suspicion of corruption, aiding and abetting misconduct in a public office and conspiracy.
A result of information handed to the police by News Corp’s Management Standards Committee, the arrests have led to criticisms that Murdoch is saving himself at the expense of his employees.
Mockridge said he has written to the Independent Police Complaints Commission “to seek clarification from them about the process of independent oversight of the police investigation”.
This weekend’s revelations may shine a stronger light in the US on News Corp, which could be subject to heavy fines under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act if payment for stories is classified as corrupt.