End of the s*n in sight?

[Guest San Don]

Maybe we are closer to seeing this vile organ finally closed down. Dont agree with the torygraph's use of the word 'fears' though.

 

Fears over future of Sun newspaper after more arrests - Telegraph

 

Fears are mounting over the future of The Sun newspaper after more of the tabloid's journalists were arrested by police investigating alleged corruption.

 

Five top journalists, believed to include Geoff Webster, the newspaper's deputy editor, were detained on suspicion of making illegal payments to police officers and other officials.

 

For the first time, the arrests broadened beyond payments to police, with a Ministry of Defence employee and a member of the Armed forces also being held by police.

 

The development suggests Scotland Yard’s Operation Elveden, set up to investigate illegal payments to police officers, is now focusing on a wider range of alleged illegal activity than previously thought.

 

The five Sun staff were held in a series of early-morning raids after information was handed to the Metropolitan Police by News Corporation, the tabloid’s parent company.

 

Other journalists arrested are believed to be John Kay, a former chief reporter who joined the title in 1974; Nick Parker, chief foreign correspondent; John Edwards, picture editor; and John Sturgis, deputy

 

Scotland Yard would not disclose the names of those arrested but said men aged 45, 50 and 68 were arrested at their homes in London, a 52-year-old man was detained at his home in Kent and a 47-year-old man was held at his Essex home.

 

All five were arrested on suspicion of corruption under the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906; aiding and abetting misconduct in a public office and conspiracy.

 

A 39-year-old woman employed by the Ministry of Defence was arrested at her home in Wiltshire and is being questioned at a police station in the county, along with a 36-year-old member of the Armed forces who was also held at an address in Wiltshire.

 

A 39-year-old serving police officer with Surrey Police was also arrested at his home in Surrey.

 

Detectives from Operation Elveden were searching The Sun newsroom in Wapping, east London, for evidence. Homes of the eight people arrested were also being searched.

 

Dominic Mohan, editor of The Sun, said: "I'm as shocked as anyone by today's arrests but am determined to lead The Sun through these difficult times.

 

"I have a brilliant staff and we have a duty to serve our readers and will continue to do that. Our focus is on putting out Monday's newspaper."

 

It is the second batch of high-profile arrests at The Sun to take place in just two weeks.

 

On January 28, four current and former senior executives at The Sun who were closely associated with former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks were held as part of the same inquiry.

 

Sources within Rupert Murdoch’s powerful publishing group described the process as “draining the swamp”.

 

The previous batch of arrests included Fergus Shanahan, 57, who was Mrs Brooks’ deputy during her editorship of The Sun from 2003 to 2009.

 

Another executive was Graham Dudman, 49, who held a series of senior jobs with The Sun and was promoted from an assistant editor role to managing editor under Mrs Brooks in 2004.

 

He was made editorial development director for News International in June last year, and also serves as a board member of the Society of Editors.

 

Chris Pharo, 42, who was promoted by Mrs Brooks from news editor to head of news in 2007, was also arrested on January 28, along with Mike Sullivan, 48, the paper’s long-serving crime editor.

 

The four are currently on bail until dates in April and May.

 

A source familiar with the workings of News Corporation’s Management and Standards Committee (MSC), set up last July to oversee the company’s response to the police investigation, said at the time of the previous arrests: “This is a mark of the absolute determination of News Corporation to drain the swamp.”

 

When Mrs Brooks appeared in front of a Commons committee in 2003, she was asked by Chris Bryant MP whether her newspaper had been involved in improper activities.

 

Mrs Brooks replied: “We have paid the police for information in the past.”

 

Andy Coulson, her successor as News of the World editor who later worked as David Cameron’s director of communications, rapidly moved to suggest to the committee that any payments were made “within the law”.

 

The evidence of alleged police payments are contained in a series of emails passed by News International to the law firm Harbottle & Lewis, shortly after Clive Goodman, the News of the World’s royal reporter was jailed for phone hacking in 2007.

 

That file was subsequently passed to the Met police only in June last year, prompting questions about a widespread cover-up at a very senior level of illegal payments to police.

 

The emails are alleged to show that phone hacking went far beyond the activities of ‘one rogue reporter’ - as News international had once insisted - and that payments to officers appeared to have been authorised by senior executives between 2003 and 2007.

 

The News of the World was shut down last July after it was implicated in the phone hacking scandal.

 

Mrs Brooks resigned as News International chief executive the following week. Two days later she was arrested and questioned by police investigating payments to police and the phone hacking scandal, before being bailed.

 

All four journalists held on January 28 were arrested on suspicion of corruption under the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906; aiding and abetting misconduct in a public office and conspiracy in relation to both those offences.

 

The arrests brought the number of people questioned in the Elveden investigation to 22. Scotland Yard have arrested 21 suspects and the Independent Police Complaints Commission have arrested one.

[Champ]

That would be a fine day indeed

[AngryOfTuebrook]

[lifetime fan]

Murdoch has already said the rag is not for sale and he won't close it.

[Tj hooker]

I would defo only a large bottle of bubbly if this were ever to happen fingers crossed

[JagSquared]

If it were to close, they would simply start another with the same staff and same agenda. Fuck them.

[AngryOfTuebrook]

Probably won't do anything, but you'll hate yourself if you don't sign this.

 

Avaaz - End the Murdoch mafia

[Anubis]

If it were to close, they would simply start another with the same staff and same agenda. Fuck them.

 

Yes. It will just be a new title, but the same old core values. Still, even if it was only symbolically consigned to history I'd still enjoy it.

[MokTheAfflicted]

If it happens I'll be partying hard!

[a stoner]

I'm not religious but for this......

[WaltonRed]

We can only hope

[AngryOfTuebrook]

Probably won't do anything, but you'll hate yourself if you don't sign this.

 

Avaaz - End the Murdoch mafia

 

39,000 signatures so far. Is yours one of them? If so, doesn't it feel better? If not, what's keeping you.

 

Come on - you'd do it for Aveez!

[WaltonRed]

Murdoch flying in this week, all those at News int in Wapping doing one fearing the end