First Sun on Sunday to debut next weekend as Rupert Murdoch reveals details of new launch
- News comes in the wake of new scandal surrounding Sun journalists
By Kerry Mcqueeney
Last updated at 3:00 AM on 20th February 2012
News International has revealed its new title, the Sun on Sunday, will publish for the first time next weekend, replacing the News of the World, which closed last year.
Rupert Murdoch will be in London especially for the launch of the new title, an internal memo sent to all staff at the media mogul's company has revealed.
The email said: 'Rupert Murdoch said during his visit on Friday that a new Sunday title would be published "very soon" - and that is a week from today. Rupert will be staying in London to oversee the launch.'
Speculation about a Sunday edition of the biggest selling UK daily newspaper has been mounting since the closure of the News of the World after the hacking scandal.
All smiles at The Sun: Rupert Murdoch smiles confidently as he leaves his home in Green Park and heads to The Sun's office yesterday
The email from Tom Mockridge, News International's chief executive, acknowledged the parent company's previous wrongdoing and said it was 'fundamentally changing'.
It read: 'As you know, News Corporation has made clear its determination to sort out what has gone wrong in the past and we are fundamentally changing how we operate as a business.
'The commitment of News Corporation to invest in a new edition is the strongest possible message of support we could wish for.'
He told staff they would have to act quickly over the coming days.
'This is our moment,' he wrote. 'I am sure every one of us will seize the opportunity to pull together and deliver a great new dawn for The Sun this Sunday.'
Mr Murdoch flew into the UK on Thursday to take personal control over the latest scandal to hit one of his titles.
The following day he moved to quell growing disquiet at The Sun by lifting the suspensions of all arrested staff.
Investigation: A detective leaves the home of Mike Sullivan, The Sun crime editor
While pledging 'unwavering support' for his journalists, he also vowed to root out wrongdoing at News International.
The tabloid has been rocked by the arrests of 10 current and former senior reporters and executives since November over alleged corrupt payments to public officials.
Some Sun journalists have voiced anger that News Corporation's Management Standards Committee (MSC) - formed to clean up the company following the phone-hacking scandal - gave police the information that led to the arrests.
David Wooding, former political editor of the News of the World, told Sky News: 'It caught me by surprise.
'Mr Murdoch came round the editorial floor on Friday and said he was launching it very soon.
'We heard rumours of a date in April. This evening, astonishingly, we are told it's going to happen next week.'
He added: 'We don't even know what the staffing levels will be at this stage.
'I'm told there will be extra staff taken on but this is not the News of the World in another guise, this is The Sun publishing on another day.'
The news came after Murdoch came out fighting this week declaring his ‘unwavering support’ for Sun journalists.
The media mogul flew into Britain to grapple with the crisis engulfing his News International group and immediately lifted the suspension of all staff arrested over alleged phone and computer hacking and bribery of officials.
Staff have accused the company of a ‘witch hunt’ after an internal management committee passed information to police that led to the arrests of ten senior executives at the Sun.
In a visit to News International’s headquarters at Wapping, East London, Mr Murdoch told staff: ‘Everyone is innocent unless proven otherwise.’
But he warned: ‘We will obey the law. Illegal activities simply cannot and will not be tolerated – at any of our publications.’
Five staff at the Sun were arrested following information being passed to police by its parent company
In an email, the 80-year-old News Corporation chairman said recent events were ‘a source of great pain for me, as I know it is for each of you’.
‘I’ve worked alongside you for 43 years to build The Sun into one of the world’s finest papers. It is part of me and is one of our proudest achievements,’ he said.
Journalists at the tabloid are angry that News Corporation’s Management Standards Committee gave police information – including the identity of sources – that led to the arrests, which include the deputy editor, picture editor and chief reporter.
The MSC, which was formed to clean up the company following the phone-hacking scandal, is trawling through internal emails and passing details of suspected illegal activity to Scotland Yard.
The Metropolitan Police has arrested and bailed the ten Sun journalists, nine of them held in dawn raids on Saturdays.
News International journalists fear further arrests.
All were immediately suspended on full pay in the wake of the arrests. But, Mr Murdoch said he was doing 'everything to assist' them, including paying their legal fees.
He said they were free to work until any formal charges are made against them.
He added: 'Everyone is innocent unless proven otherwise.'
Journalists at The Sun, which is owned by News International, said they are the victims of a 'witch-hunt'
Despite the invitation, it was not clear if all nine journalists would return to work after it was reported that some were considering their options.
The heavy-handed police tactics have drawn strong criticism, with the Yard accused of diverting officers from murder, rape and terrorism investigations to join ‘Stasi-like’ raids against journalists.
Mr Murdoch, who dramatically closed down the News of the World last July at the height of the phone-hacking scandal, insisted journalists’ ‘legitimate’ confidential sources would be protected.
But he wrote: ‘We will turn over every piece of evidence we find – not just because we are obligated to but because it is the right thing to do.
‘I made a commitment last summer that I would do everything I could to get to the bottom of our problems and make this company an example to Fleet Street of ethical journalism.’
Mr Murdoch said he planned to remain in London for several weeks and would build on the Sun’s ‘proud heritage by launching the Sun on Sunday very soon’.
Despite Mr Murdoch's charm offensive, many were still furious about the treatment of their colleagues at the hands of the MSC.
In a sign of how low relations have sunk, one senior staff member dubbed former editor of the Daily Telegraph Will Lewis, an MSC member, the 'chief witch hunter' and said there would be demands that he be sacked.
Rupert Murdoch touched town at Luton Airport in a private jet before being driven to his London home
Sources close to the investigation believe they have uncovered evidence of 'serious suspected criminality over a sustained period' by some public officials supplying The Sun with information, dismissing the suggestion from some reporters that they were being investigated over 'trivial' matters, such as £50 lunches with sources.
The MSC has been feeding Operation Elveden, the police investigation into corrupt payments, with information over the past few months.
In all, 21 people have been held. The five members of Sun staff arrested last weekend were deputy editor of the paper Geoff Webster, chief reporter John Kay, picture editor John Edwards, deputy news editor John Sturgis and chief foreign correspondent Nick Parker.
Also held in the dawn raids were a 39-year-old Ministry of Defence employee and a 36-year-old member of the Armed Forces.
In January, senior members of The Sun's newsroom were held by police and later released on bail.
They were head of news Chris Pharo, executive editor Fergus Shanahan, crime editor Mike Sullivan as well as former managing editor Graham Dudman and a 29-year-old police officer.
In July last year, former chief executive of News International and ex-Sun editor Rebekah Brooks was questioned by detectives as part of Operation Elveden and those involved with Operation Weeting, the investigation into alleged phone hacking by journalists.
In November, long-serving journalist Jamie Pyatt was also arrested in relation to allegations of corrupt payments to police officers.
The arrests followed the shock closure by News International of the News of the World in July last year after lurid phone hacking allegations emerged.
The new Sunday tabloid the Sun on Sunday will replace the News of the World.
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