Murdoch (left) with Brooks

Over the last fortnight, the News of the World has undergone a metamorphosis, taking it from stalwart of populist investigative journalism, to poisoned chalice. 

The damage caused by the phone hacking scandal has been so brutal that other brands and titles connected through parent organisations News International and News Corp were also in real danger of becoming contaminated.

There was at this point no doubt that the cord would need to be cut, and it wasn’t much of a surprise to anyone when the announcement was made at the end of last week that the News of the World would be closing.

The roots of this corruption go deep and anyone with a connection to the scandal – including the Prime Minister’s former communications chief, Andy Coulson – is likely to be hauled over the coals to satisfy the public’s outrage.

This must surely, therefore, be a disquieting time for Rupert Murdoch, as his bid for satellite broadcaster BSkyB faces intense scrutiny from Ofcom at the request of Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt over News Corp’s suitability as an owner.

So the front pages of this morning’s papers featuring a smiling Murdoch and News International CEO Rebekah Brooks is a bit of a surprise.  Brooks, who had overall control and therefore should realistically have turned in her resignation as soon as this furore erupted, remains under the protection of Murdoch and is therefore untouched. 

As far as PR goes, showing a complete lack of remorse or hint of responsibility is an interesting tactic in a time when we expect all wrong-doing committed in the public eye to be met with hanging heads and heartfelt apologies.  This is not, however, a move that is out of character: Murdoch is renowned for fiercely backing those whom he considers to be the most loyal of his inner circle.

While the final edition of the News of the World, published yesterday, sold some 4.5 million copies (and given the context, that’s not bad), Brooks is said to have had two senior Sun reporters examine the copy thoroughly, to make ensure no acts of sabotage had been committed by disgruntled ex-employees.

But it was through the crosswords that the staff has perhaps managed to get one over on their former CEO, with a number of the answers apparently alluding to the newspaper’s disastrous death throws.  One of the most apt solutions to a question posed in the cryptic crossword was ‘firewall’; a not-so-veiled reference to Brooks’ position within the News Corp hierarchy, perhaps?  

Should Brooks be removed, more attention would be focussed on the Murdoch clan with fingers simply pointing further up the tree…all of which could be extremely damaging to Murdoch Senior’s aspirations of ownership regarding BSkyB.

Perhaps the more accurate answer in that crossword would have been ‘human shield’?