Murdoch Retains Queen Bee, Burns Bee Hive and Profits

http://bit.ly/7XwAG

The murky story of  media baron Rupert Murdoch's closure of  Britain's largest selling Sunday Tabloid  News of The World  following allegations of widespread phone hacking by journalists on the prowl could be just the beginning of an saga yet to unfold. As advertisers pulled out over the reports that the tabloid had hacked into the phones of  British Afghan war heroes and hundreds of school children including a 13 year old murdered girl child to get the sensational stories  ahead of others the 80 year old tycoon took the dramatic steps to close the 168 year old news paper. Was it distress time for Murdoch or a great opportunity that he seized?




For Murdoch the closure of  News of the World and the opportunity to sack 200 journalists en mass taking advantage of public outrage could be just a business decision and not a moral one. With rising publishing costs and dropping revenues  in the print media a consolidation of the Sunday tabloid with the weekly newspaper of the group is better known as the Sun was long on the cards . It was a once in a lifetime opportunity  that the crafty tycoon would not miss. The tabloid which had a weekly circulation of 2.6 million will in all probability be substituted by a 7 day publication of the Sun , the consolidation reducing costs and bringing more profits for the Australian media magnet.

Surprisingly the CEO of  News Of The World Rebekah Brooks , a close associate of British P.M. David Cameron and Murdoch's son James will be retained because she supposedly did not have knowledge of the happenings at the tabloid. This was the strangest part of the Murdoch decision that had the sacked journalists agitated as in normal circumstances the Queen Bee is sacrificed and the bee hive is cultivated. Cameron's old aide  and  former Communications Director of the British P.M. and the former News of the World editor Andy Coulson may however not be as lucky as Ms Brooks. In all probability. Reports are rife that he may be arrested later this week as having been responsible and aware of the phone hacking operations between 2003 to 2007. However the can of worms has just been opened in Britain colorful and sensational tabloid world. It is likely that more casualties will occur as the days pass and fresh revelations surface about the working of the British Press.