The demise of 'The News of the World'

So The News of the world is no more. A press statement from News International claims that the "wrong do-ers" in the scandal have "sullied the reputation of a good newsroom, and turned it bad."

Predictably, The Sun chose not to lead with the headlines dominating the rest of the country's media yesterday, and adopted the "buried head in the sand" approach. So instead of any word on the latest and most disturbing revelations of phone hacking, they lead with a front page of a blown up photograph of a heavily pregnant Posh Spice, accompanied by the headline "Victoria Becktum." A fine example of the "good newsroom" alluded to by News International, I'm sure. The irony that The Sun finds itself caught up in a scandal involving the hacking of a murdered child's phone, which means far more to any rational person than footballers cheating on their spouses, or politicians claiming expenses, has scarcely been mentioned.

The decision to axe The News of the World is not going to solve anything. It won't be long before Murdoch introduces something which operates in exactly the same manner. "The Sun on Sunday" being the most obvious and probable choice.

Even after the "wrong-doers" are appropriately punished, and the country has stopped shaking its collective head with the injustice of how disgustingly low a journalist can sink in order to get a good story, nothing will change. The build up over decades of an unflinching belief in the freedom of the press allows that there will always be journalists ready to prey on the vulnerable to get their story. News International and Rupert Murdoch's News Corp are all powerful. The general public will continue to read the tabloids and the tabloids will continue to operate in the same way. People's anger about the mistreatment of the poor murdered girl's family will fade, because the desire to know who's in Victoria's Beck Tum will ultimately always win out.