Murdoch set for UK visit after Sun arrests
LONDON, Sunday
Rupert Murdoch will fly to London this week to meet journalists at The Sun after five senior staff at his flagship British tabloid were arrested over bribery allegations, sources said on Monday.
Publisher News International said Murdoch had given a “personal assurance” that The Sun would not face the same fate as its sister paper, the News of the World, which he closed in July amid a scandal over phone hacking.
The US-based media tycoon will come to London “later in the week”, a person familiar with the matter told AFP, adding that Murdoch’s visit had already been planned before the arrests took place.
Another source close to the matter said he would meet with journalists at The Sun, Britain’s biggest selling newspaper.
News International would not comment on Murdoch’s trip, and the Australian-born magnate himself has not made any comment on the matter.
But in an e-mail to staff after the arrests on Saturday, News International chief executive Tom Mockridge said that Murdoch would stand by The Sun in the hour of its “greatest challenge”.
“You should know that I have had a personal assurance today from Rupert Murdoch about his total commitment to continue to own and publish The Sun newspaper,” Mockridge said.
The arrested Sun journalists were deputy editor Geoff Webster, picture editor John Edwards, chief reporter John Kay, chief foreign correspondent Nick Parker and reporter John Sturgis, News International said.
