Goodbye News of the World

I didn't like the News of the World or what it stood for but I would defend with my its right to exist. No-one was demanding the closure of The News of the World. I didn't see people on the streets trashing Tescos for advertising in the paper. What massive numbers of people have been campaigning for is for media regulation to be effective in limiting the degree to which our national news and broadcasting outlets are owned by one company. Ultimately controlled by one man. The reason for this is that power, including media power, corrupts. That power needs to be regulated - the principle is simple, the process is more complex, look at the BBC. The consequence of the accumulation of unrestrained power at News International inevitably lead to the abuses we've all been disgusted by. If the Guardian/Observer were to become accustomed to being a law unto themselves like Murdoch's journalists, then they too would have to be reined in.
Murdoch should have been forced to sell NotW. Neither the staff nor the readership matters to News International but the power over the politicians, the police and the establishment does. Many commentators have said that Murdoch transformed the British media for good. In fact he created a monster that is consuming itself and we will all be the poorer for it.