News of the World to go - will others follow

Posted on: 7th July 2011 in Politics Media

The Murdoch family's swift and ruthless decision to close the News of the World has put them firmly back on the front foot in the phone hacking scandal, but only for a short time.

For me there are two big questions from the media perspective (leaving aside the Cameron/Coulson saga which will run for a while yet).

1) Was the News of the World really an isolated example and the only paper indulging in this - scrutiny will surely now focus on the rest of the tabloid media.

2) If others are found guilty at an inquiry then does this set a precedent? We could have a very different looking media landscape in a few years.

PS - There is no doubt the social media outrage has helped speed this process up, but I would take issue with anyone who says that social media has caused this - the issues would have come out in time. 

PPS - As for the future, no doubt News International will be looking for a replacement Sunday title, but there is already a Sunday Sun operating out of Newcastle - an interesting branding discussion there coming soon.