What the world thinks on Murdoch stunner: This sleazy mess, says Canada
Shutter the world's biggest-selling English language newspaper? You've got to be joking - but Murdoch wasn't
The toughest talk came from Canada, where, the Toronto Globe and Mail said a generation of political shame and anxiety in Britain had exploded "in a great catharsis of outrage and vengeance, with MP after MP rising to denounce magnate Rupert Murdoch and his control over their destinies. "
In an editorial on "this sleazy mess" the paper said, "The media term “hack job” has gone literal and taken on a criminal taint….the scandal has shaken the public's trust in media. "It is a reminder of the imperative for journalists to operate within the bounds of the law, and of the growing need for accountability in journalism. It should not, however, lead to more regulation of journalistic activity." The Globe and Mail talked of the ultra-competitive British media ecosystem, "distinguished by payments to sources, interview subjects or even police officers, and by sensational or overtly political campaigning – all practices mastered by News of the World under Rupert Murdoch, the owner of the tabloid's parent company. "None of these practices are tolerated in Canada. But journalists and media organizations have a responsibility to speak out against them. Law-breaking in the pursuit of journalism is simply unacceptable. " The Auckland Independent in New Zealand called the Murdoch response to the scandal engulfing his media empire "breathtaking". "Yet no one, least of all the 168-year-old paper's 200 staff, was prepared for the drama of a single sentence that will surely go down as one of the most startling turns in the 80-year-old Australian-born press baron's long and controversial career."News International today announces that this Sunday, 10 July 2011, will be the last issue of the News of the World." "Talk about a nuclear option," said a "gobsmacked" Steven Barnett, professor of communications at Westminster University. The Times of India quoted James Murdoch , "The News of the World is in the business of holding others to account. But it failed when it came to itself. Wrongdoers turned a good newsroom bad and this was not fully understood or adequately pursued." The paper also noted, " Risk-taking and line-skirting have always been just one more cost of doing business for Rupert Murdoch." In the US, The New York Times said of the " increasingly likely" arrest today of ex No 10 spokesman , former NoW editor Andy Coulson, "This would be a huge blow not just to Mr. Murdoch, but to the government and to Mr. Cameron’s Conservative Party." Coulson's arrest is expected to be on suspicion of illegally paying the police for information during his editorship. George Brock, head of journalism at City University in London, said of the NoW closure , “They are sacrificing News of the World in order to get the BSkyB deal through. It’s, in a way, symbolic of the demise of newspapers in print.” The paper's Dealbook column however said that despite the closure , News Corporation might still find its deal-making ambitions diminished, pointing to a statement by Ofcom: “In the light of the current public debate about phone hacking and other allegations, Ofcom confirms that it has a duty to be satisfied on an ongoing basis that the holder of a broadcasting licence is ‘fit and proper. ” The Washington Post said , "Murdoch,80, has weathered criticism and crises before, most notably the near-bankruptcy of News Corp. in 1990. But the phone-hacking scandal is easily the most dire public-relations debacle of the Australian-turned-American’s storied business career." America's Slate website said rumours were already swirling that The Sun, would expand from its current six-days-a-week publishing schedule to pick up the torch from the News of the World. "Those whispers only grew louder once news broke that someone snagged the online domain TheSunOnSunday.co.uk on Tuesday." A spokeswoman for News International didn't do a very good job at squashing the rumour, said Slate. Daisy Dunlop said, "It's not true at the moment." AdAge magazine in New York said the decision to close the News of the World clearly signalled that in a conflict between newspapers and satellite TV, News Corp would choose satellite. The Los Angeles Times said Rupert Murdoch had "jettisoned the notorious News of the World tabloid in an effort to protect his media empire, but the dramatic step may prove insufficient to contain the growing scandal or secure his bid to expand an already massive presence in Britain." In the San Francisco Chronicle AP Business Writer Ryan Nakashima said Murdoch's decision was "an example of what the controlling shareholder of News Corp. does best — seize the news agenda, and when necessary, cut his losses. He called the News of the World " a financial pipsqueak" and said analysts thought shuttering the paper was the best possible way "to stem the flow of damaging headlines and clear regulatory hurdles that stand in the way of the acquisition of British Sky Broadcasting."