Murdoch to launch a new Sunday newspaper in Britain

By Anna Tomforde Feb 20, 2012, 15:14 GMT

London - Just seven months after the closure of Britain's biggest-selling Sunday tabloid, the News of the World, media magnate Rupert Murdoch has announced he is to replace it with a new newspaper, The Sun on Sunday, from this week.

'From today, your favourite paper will be available seven days a week, making every day a Sun day,' an announcement in the Sun newspaper said Monday.

Confirmation of the quicker than expected launch of a new newspaper, on February 26, came soon after Murdoch arrived in Britain Friday to boost morale at News International (NI), his British headquarters.

Following last year's public outrage over phone hacking by NI investigators and reporters - which forced the closure of the News of the World in July - the Sun has recently been at the centre of allegations that corrupt payment were made by employees to public officials.

A total of 10 journalists and executives at the Sun have been arrested by police in connection with the investigations, which were prompted by the hacking scandal. All have been released on bail.

The storm over the hacking of telephone voicemail messages of celebrities, politicians, soldiers and crime victims - including murdered teenager Milly Dowler - caused a public outcry.

In a clear attempt to calm fears over the impact of the new corruption allegations, Murdoch Friday pledged his 'unwavering support' to the Sun, while also promising to get to the 'bottom of the problem' by cooperating closely with the police.

Murdoch, 80, who also owns the Times newspaper and the Sunday Times, has said he will stay in Britain to help solve the current crisis and oversee the launch of the new Sunday paper.

The Sun on Sunday, News International promised, would be an example of a 'new ethical journalism' following the recent upheavals. It would, at the same time, be a 'campaigning newspaper.'

Both the Sun and the News of the World - which closed after 168 years in the business - have in the past essentially survived on a formula of sex and crime, focusing as much on royalty and celebrities as on campaigns to target crimes such as paedophilia.

Murdoch's decision to respond to the current crisis by launching a new Sunday paper has been described as 'bold' by some media analysts, who question whether there is a market for such a publication.

However, Bob Satchwell, the executive director of the Society of Editors, said the impending arrival of a new newspaper showed that the 'newspaper industry can be resilient, based on its huge store of talent and expertise.'

News International has in the past made no secret of the fact that revenue from the Sun alone - which has a daily circulation of 2.7 million - is sufficient to support Murdoch's other British titles.

Therefore, the decision to launch a Sunday edition of the Sun was, from Murdoch's point of view, not so much a financial consideration as the expression of his 'deep emotional commitment' to a paper he bought more than 40 years ago.

As everywhere else, the advent of the internet and expansion of the digital media have prompted a decline in British newspaper circulation, which is falling by between 5 and 30 per cent every year, figures show.

It is estimated that two-thirds of the 2.7 million readers who bought the News of the World each Sunday have switched to rival titles, boosting their circulation, while the remainder may have stopped buying a Sunday paper altogether.