5 Journalists From Murdoch's Sun Tabloid Arrested

After the arrest on Saturday of five of the most senior journalists of the British tabloid The Sun, Rupert Murdoch is headed for London. While he has pledged his “total commitment” to continue to own and publish the paper according to an email sent to News International staff by chief executive Tom Mockridge, speculation is rife that The Sun, likes its now-shuttered sister publication the News of the World, also faces closure.

The five Sun journalists arrested at their homes on Saturday are deputy editor Geoff Webster, picture editor John Edwards, chief reporter John Kay, chief foreign correspondent Nick Parker and deputy news editor John Sturgis. A Surrey police officer, a Ministry of Defense employee and a member of the British armed forces were also arrested on Saturday on “suspicion of corruption, misconduct in a public office and conspiracy in relation to both.” Two of the journalists remain in custody, while three others, the Ministry of Defense employee and the member of the armed forces were released on bail on Saturday night until May; the police officer has been bailed until March.

The arrests come two weeks after four former and current Sun journalists and a London police officer were arrested over alleged illegal payments. At the start of February, the most prestigious of Murdoch’s British papers, The Times of London, also came under investigation on allegations of hacking and, specifically, of email hacking.

The BBC reports that The Sun‘s editor, Dominic Mohan, said that he was as much in “shock as anyone by today’s arrests” but that he was still “determined to lead The Sun through these difficult times.” The email from NI’s Mockridge said that the arrests are “difficult for everyone on The Sun and particularly for those of you who work closely with those involved.”

But one NI employee told the BBC that staff feel ”absolutely furious” and “betrayed by management” after learning of the arrests. The Guardian says that the National Union of Journalists has said that staff from The Sun are “being sacrificed to save Murdoch’s reputation”:

General secretary Michelle Stanistreet said News International staff were reeling and furious at “what many sense to be a witch-hunt” and “a monumental betrayal on the part of News International”.

“Once again Rupert Murdoch is trying to pin the blame on individual journalists hoping that a few scalps will salvage his corporate reputation,” she said.

The new arrests are certainly a huge blow to NI — “still reeling” from the closure of NoW in the wake of the revelations that its staff had hacked into murdered British schoolgirl Milly Dowler’s voicemail — and to Murdoch’s News Corp.

The phone hacking scandal has certainly come at a high financial cost for News Corp. Last week, a report about News Corp.’s higher earnings in the second quarter also noted that the company paid out $87 million in costs related to the ongoing phone hacking investigation. News Corp. has so far paid $104 million in costs relating to the scandal; about 15 percent of this has gone to victims to settle cases. The position of Murdoch’s younger son, James Murdoch, the deputy chief operating officer and chairman and chief executive of News Corp.’s international division, seems more precarious than ever. Reports have emerged of News Corp.’s attempts to shield him from the scandal, to the extent of covering-up evidence, including crucial emails revealing how much the younger Murdoch knew about the extent of hacking at NoW and when.

On his Twitter feed, Rupert Murdoch discussed charter schools and said that, regarding education, “all policy direction should be to empower individuals to run their own lives,” with no word about why he is London-bound.

Previous Care2 Coverage

Hacking Scandal Spreads to The Times of London

Murdoch Is Mum About Latest Arrests in Hacking Scandal

Murdoch Company Settles With 37 Hacking Victims

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Eternal G.

8:29PM PST on Mar 4, 2012

GOOD!

send a green star

Carmen B.

4:28AM PST on Feb 16, 2012

GOOD!! THEY GOT WHAT THEY DESERVED.

Kasia Y.

5:22PM PST on Feb 14, 2012

Shut down the paper, and put Murdoch in prison for the rest of his life.

Frank M.

4:59PM PST on Feb 14, 2012

I so agree with all this. The Sun would be a stroke but Faux news would be a coup, and the thought of Ward, Coulson and even Murdoch (why not?) going to prison is just sublime.

Brian F.

1:43PM PST on Feb 14, 2012

Murdoch is throwing all his paid crooks under the bus to save his mendacious old criminal self.
The time has come to convict Murdoch, and throw him in prison where all dirty republican liars belong.

Jim and Pat C.

12:11PM PST on Feb 13, 2012

Frank
As Beaumarchais Figaro said. "We must obey the strictest letter of the law, that is be easy on the rich and hard on the poor". He wrote that over 200 years ago nothing changes.
What about Fox and Werrity who protected them.

Sian R.

10:51AM PST on Feb 13, 2012

Good!
Journalists (myself included) have always claimed to be legal, honest and truthful.
In point of fact most are very far from that. While, with a few exceptions, the stories published are true, we all know how genuine facts can be skewed. Even if they're not, the very choice of what to publish or not represents a bias.
At last the public is realising that they too, as readers, have to exercise judgement.

eusebio v.

9:50AM PST on Feb 13, 2012

Este senhor Murdoch e a sua empresa é para baixo e ter um processo internacional

Narotam L.

8:51AM PST on Feb 13, 2012

Murdoch the 'monarch maker's, 'modus operandi' is to make a mountain of money by 'munching' the minions. Father or son could not care two hoots about who they trample over. No such thing as ethics in the NI book. Murdoch, after promoting ToRy Blair to power, is hopefully sliding towards the cesspit himself!

Ernie M.

7:14AM PST on Feb 13, 2012

Sooner or later they will have to get to the head of the beast. Please come to America and investigate here.