What’s this I’m hearing about Rupert Murdoch and ‘The Sun on Sunday’?

So Rupert Murdoch has just announced plans to launch The Sun on Sunday newspaper amidst reports of serious unrest amongst the paper’s existing staff. What’s going on at all?

So there’s going to be an edition of The Sun on Sunday now? I’m assuming I can expect the regular dose of tits, tattle and tremendously overblown transfer speculation then?

Yep, sometime in the not too distant future it seems. Rupert Murdoch announced plans to launch the paper today, having arrived at The Sun’s headquarters in London in an effort to sort a serious staff dispute.

Dispute? Not more phone hacking from the boys at News International, I hope?

No, thankfully it wasn’t as bad as that in this case, but journalists at the paper were still feeling the heat, this time over alleged improper payments to police and other public service staff.

Apparently, some police representatives and public service officials were effectively on a retainer, receiving five figure-sums to provide information to The Sun, payments which in their totality exceeded six figures when all was said and done.

Nine journalists were arrested and subsequently bailed in an investigation into the alleged payments, but they weren’t at all happy with the circumstances surrounding their arrests.

And why not?

Some senior journalists raised hell over the arrest and suspension of the journalists implicated in the investigation, claiming that they were “thrown to the wolves” by an internal unit (Management and Standards Committee) of The Sun’s parent organisation News International, who gave information to the Metropolitan Police.

The journalists raised serious concerns about the protection of sources and approached the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) with a view to challenging the legality of the investigation into the journalists' conduct.

So where does Murdoch come in?

Well, as head of News International, there had been murmurings that despite the uproar over what The Sun staff deemed extremely harsh treatment, he was prepared to let them take the flak so that he could be seen to be taking firm action and thus improving his reputation in America.

It turned out that the opposite was the case as Murdoch sent a memo to The Sun staff praising them for their “exceptional journalism” and immediately lifted the suspensions on staff affected by the investigation, adding that “everyone is innocent unless proven otherwise”.

He added that he intended to launch The Sun on Sunday “very soon”, saying that “having a winning paper is the best answer to our critics”.

Critics of The Sun, they actually exist?

I'm detecting a hint of sarcasm in your voice. Let's just say conservative types, Elton John, Freddie Starr and fans of Liverpool Football Club won't exactly be thrilled at it becoming a seven-day edition.