Murdoch to Launch New UK Paper Amid Crisis

Rupert Murdoch

Media magnate Rupert Murdoch told staff at his embattled The Sun newspaper in London Friday that the company will launch a Sunday edition, as he seeks to rein in a crisis over alleged misconduct, News International confirmed.

Murdoch’s visit to News Corp.’s London subsidiary, News International, follows the Saturday arrests of five Sun journalists as part of an inquiry into alleged illegal payments to police and officials.

The arrests are part of Operation Elveden, an investigation running in parallel with a police inquiry into alleged phone hacking by the media, the Metropolitan Police said.

Staff at the paper have reacted angrily to the arrests and internal investigations of their journalistic practices, which they have likened to a witch-hunt.

The launch of a Sun on Sunday newspaper to replace the News of the World, a sister paper to The Sun that was shuttered amid a phone-hacking scandal in the summer, had been widely rumored.

However, this is the first time News International has confirmed that it will be established. (LO)