“It is only right that you as colleagues at News International are first to hear what I have to say and that you hear it directly from me. So thank you very much for coming here and listening.”

- Rebekah Brooks

It’s the end of the (News of the) World

July 7th 2011: the day the plug was pulled on the News of the World (NotW). Irrespective of your views on the newspaper and the style of journalism on which it thrived, it was a pretty dismal end for the 168-year old publication. It was a national institution, but for it to end so spectacularly was indicative of the crimes with which it was charged.

It had long been established that many stories covered by NotW were sourced from phone-hacking – but it was just celebrities, so that was fine, right? That’s a matter of opinion. But when it emerged that the mobile phone of murdered teenager Milly Dowler had likely been accessed by an investigator acting on behalf of the newspaper, there was really no way back.

Some argued that ending The News of the World was like a lamb to the slaughter for the Murdoch empire, an attempt to salvage its bid to take over lucrative British TV, phone and ISP company BSkyB. But a week after NotW was dead, so was the BSkyB deal. Others argued that it was to save the Murdochs’ beloved Rebekah Brooks, the former NotW Editor, News International Chief Executive and a close friends of News Corporation’s main men.

When Rupert and James Murdoch faced MPs’ questions on July 19th, they both jumped to Brooks’ defence, with Rupert saying: “I believed her, I trusted her and I still trust in her”. When asked whether the News of the World was closed to save Brooks, Rupert answered: “The two decisions are totally unrelated. The paper was closed because it had violated the trust of our readers”.

The newspaper may have been pulled as quickly as it was to try to push the BSkyB deal through, but advertisers were deserting in their droves and condemnations were coming from all angles – readers, non-readers, politicians, other newspapers…everywhere. The Murdochs knew there was no way back for The News of the World, which is why killing it was an easy decision for them to reach. If it could buy them brownie points elsewhere, that was a bonus.

And now, with news emerging that the mother of murdered 8-year old Sarah Payne may also have fallen victim to phone-hacking by a private investigator acting on behalf of the NotW, the end of this sorry saga is nowhere in sight.

There have already been some fall-guys in the phone-hacking scandal, but with fingers continuing to be pointed, it’s worth taking a look at where we are, how we got here and who the main people involved have been. Here’s an attempt to make some sense of the Murdoch mess.

The People: Who’s who

Some of these names you’ll know very well, some not so. But everyone here has been involved in some way with the phone hacking scandal. Here, we set out to see who’s who and what role they may, or may not, have played in events. And it’s these people who hold the key to whether we ever really find out who was responsible for what.

• Rupert Murdoch (aged 80)

Founder and CEO of News Corporation (founded 1979), the world’s second largest media conglomerate in terms of revenue (after Disney) and the parent company of News International, which owned the News of the World until its demise in early July.

Rupert’s role in the scandal is yet to be determined, with many arguing that as CEO he must have been aware that phone-hacking was going on. And if he didn’t know, why didn’t he know? He’s also the father of James Murdoch (below).

• James Murdoch (aged 38)

Son of News Corporation’s founder, James Murdoch is CEO and Chairman, Europe and Asia, at News Corporation. He has held this position since December 2007. However he first joined News Corporation in 1996 as Chairman of Festival Records. He subsequently held a number of positions, including Chairman and Chief Executive of News Corporation’s ailing Asian satellite service Star Television, for which he moved to Hong Kong in May 2000.

James became a director at BSkyB in early 2003, a company in which News Corporation owns a controlling minority stake, before becoming CEO later that year. He stepped down as CEO at BSkyB in December 2007, becoming non-executive chairman instead, and moving to his current position at the corporation. In February 2009, James Murdoch was also appointed as non-executive director at GlaxoSmithKline, a pharmaceutical company.

As with his father Rupert, James’ role in the phone-hacking scandal isn’t clear, though naturally as such a senior figure in the corporation, people have suggested that he must’ve known what was going on at the News of the World. Though given his lack of frequent, direct contact with that particular publication, he has thus far managed to keep at arm’s length from direct association in the scandal.

• Rebekah Brooks (aged 43)

Brooks is one of the key people in the whole phone-hacking fiasco. In her role as Editor at the News of the World from 2000 until 2003, she was, in theory, directly responsible for everything that happened at the newspaper. Brooks moved to an Editor’s position at the Sun newspaper in 2003, where she remained until 2009 when she moved to the Chief Executive’s role at News International.

Whilst Brooks continues to deny any knowledge of phone-hacking, particularly in the Milly Dowler case, allegations that she knew what was going on persist. Brooks was arrested in July 2011.

• Andy Coulson (aged 43)

Coulson replaced Brooks (then Wade) as Editor at the News of the World in January 2003. He resigned in 2007 over phone hacking allegations which had led to the imprisonment of another reporter at the newspaper. Six months after his resignation, Coulson joined the UK Conservative Party as Director of Communications. And in May 2010, after David Cameron had become Prime Minister, Coulson was appointed Director of Communications for the government.

Coulson resigned in January 2011 due to mounting pressure in the phone hacking affair, relating back to his time as Editor at the News of the World. He said “when the spokesperson needs a spokesperson, it’s time to move on”.

As with Brooks before him, Coulson’s direct responsibilities at the News of the World has led many to believe that he knew more than he is letting on. Indeed, others who have admitted to knowing about the phone-hacking have claimed that Coulson definitely did know, such as Sean Hoare (below). Coulson was arrested on July 8, 2011, over fresh allegations of payments being made to police officers in exchange for information in several cases.

• Glenn Mulcaire (aged 40)

The private investigator at the centre of the phone hacking scandal. Mulcaire was jailed for six months in January 2007 for intercepting the phone calls of aides to the UK royal family on behalf of the News of the World. Mulcaire’s role in the scandal is straightforward as he has admitted his actions, though he claims not to have known his actions were illegal. He hasn’t spoken publicly about the more recent allegations relating to Milly Dowler’s phone-hacking.

• Sean Hoare (died, aged 47)

Sean Hoare was an entertainment journalist who moved to the News of the World in June 2001, working under Rebekah Brooks. He was sacked in 2005 by Andy Coulson because of his drink and drug problems.

Hoare’s role in the phone-hacking scandal is notable for two reasons. Firstly, he has admitted to being complicit in phone hacking whilst at the News of the World. And secondly, he states that former Editor Andy Coulson absolutely knew that phones were being hacked and actively encouraged it.

As noted in a New York Times article last September, he said he was revealing his own part in the scandal – which included breaking into the messages of celebrities – because he felt it was unfair for the paper to pin the blame solely on Clive Goodman (below).

Sean Hoare was found dead on July 17th 2011, in what police described as ‘unexplained, but not suspicious’ circumstances. As a willing whistleblower in the case, Hoare’s testimony up until that point was the first direct evidence of widespread knowledge of phone-hacking at the newspaper, and he had vowed to help with any further enquiries.

• Clive Goodman (aged 53)

Clive Goodman is a former reporter and royal editor at the News of the World. He was jailed, alongside private investigator Glenn Mulcaire, for four months in January 2007. He has admitted intercepting mobile phone messages involving members of the Royal household.

He was arrested again on July 8th 2011, along with Andy Coulson, over alleged payments made to police officers for information whilst at the News of the World.

• Ian Edmondson (aged 42)

Ian Edmondson was hired by the News of the World in November 2004. He was brought on board by Neil Wallis (below), who was Andy Coulson’s deputy editor, and was promoted by Coulson to assistant editor of the news department in October 2005.

Edmondson was fired by the News of the World in January 2011 over allegations of his involvement in phone hacking. He was arrested in April this year, alongside former reporter Neville Thurlbeck (below), for intercepting voicemail messages.

• Neville Thurlbeck (aged 50)

Thurlbeck is chief reporter at the News of the World, and was arrested alongside Ian Edmondson in April this year. He hasn’t been sacked yet, and it seems he’s been suspended on full pay until the case is heard in September this year.

An e-mail, titled ‘For Neville’, is key evidence in the phone hacking scandal. It was sent to Thurlbeck by another reporter, and contained 35 voicemail message transcripts, despite Thurlbeck having previous denied any knowledge of phone-hacking. Lawyers representing Gordon Taylor, the Chief Executive of the Professional Footballers Association (PFA), who sued News International after he was hacked in 2007, released this email to News International at the time. The company didn’t dismiss Thurlbeck.

• Neil Wallis (aged 60)

Wallis joined News International in 1986, eventually becoming Deputy Editor of The Sun in 1993. He left that role in 1998, taking up editorship at a rival newspaper, before becoming Deputy Editor at the News of the World in 2003, then Executive Editor in 2007. He left the newspaper in late 2009.

Neil Wallis was the ninth person to be arrested over phone-hacking allegations, and was taken in for questioning in mid-July 2011. He is also accused of paying police officers for information. He was a key senior figure at the newspaper during the period when much of the alleged phone-hacking took place, so his role in activities will come under greater scrutiny in the months ahead.

• Les Hinton (aged 67)

Les Hinton is a British-American journalist and businessman who worked for Rupert Murdoch for the best part of half a century. He held the position of CEO at Dow Jones and Company (publisher of the Wall Street Journal) from 2007, after it was acquired by News Corporation. Hinton was head of News International from 1997 to 2005, a key period in the phone-hacking scandal.

On July 15, Les Hinton resigned from his position at Dow Jones and Company, but maintained that he knew nothing of phone-hacking. This was a key moment too, as it shows that the scandal at the News of the World is starting to have a wider-reaching impact, and attention is now being falling across News Corporation.

In mid-July, it was revealed that FBI was probing claims that the News of the World attempted to hack the victims and families involved in the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

• Other figures…

There are, of course, other key figures embroiled in the case. There are Sir Paul Stephenson, John Yates and Andy Hayman from the Metropolitan police, whose close associations with News International journalists and executives have led many to suspect that the relationships were a little too close to maintain a professional level of conduct. Hayman, for example, confirmed that he had received hospitality from people he was investigating in relation to criminal offenses.

And there are politicians too, such as Prime Minister David Cameron who is facing increasing criticism for employing Andy Coulson, despite suspicions of his involvement in phone-hacking.

A lot of people are facing the heat in what could just be the beginning of a massive expose of corruption at News International, News Corporation and the media on the whole.

One rogue company? Not likely.

Like many people, I suspect we’ve only just scratched the surface in the phone-hacking scandal. What was initially portrayed as one rogue reporter working in cahoots with an ethically challenged private investigator, now seems highly unlikely. Whilst it seems that phone-hacking may have been routine at the News of the World, it’s perfectly plausible that it was an accepted practice across the board at many publications. In fact, that’s very likely.

In a New York Times piece last year, there’s this telling quote relating to how reporters would access voicemail messages:

“The first would engage the phone line, forcing the second call into voice mail. A reporter then punched in the code to hear messages, often deleting them to prevent access by rival papers.”

So if the News of the World was willing to hack telephones, it’s likely many others have carried out similar actions too. Last week, James Hipwell, a former financial journalist at the UK’s Daily Mirror newspaper, said that phone-hacking was widespread at the publication. He also alleged that other titles at Trinity Mirror, such as the People, were guilty of phone-hacking. He has offered to give evidence in the public inquiry ordered by David Cameron.

Furthermore, Operation Motorman was an investigation by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) in 2003, into allegations of offenses by the UK press. Police investigating the current phone-hacking scandal have already requested files from this earlier investigation, and these files detail as many as 4,000 requests for confidential information from a private investigator, made by 300 journalists working for 31 publications. Much of the information was obtained illegally.

The ICO released a report in 2006 called What privacy now? The first six months progress in halting the unlawful trade in confidential personal information. It found that the Daily Mail was the biggest offender, identifying 952 transactions with private investigators by 58 journalists at the newspaper. The Sunday People came second.

It’s important to stress that these don’t amount to phone-hacking, which is a clear-cut criminal offense. Contraventions of the Data Protection Act, which is what these other offenses would fall under, can sometimes be justified if there is a strong public interest. But the ICO investigation found that many didn’t have significant public interest.

If this highlights anything, it’s that the News of the World wasn’t the only publication to hold questionable journalistic ethics.

At this moment, there are likely a number of nervous hacks sweating, fingers crossed, hoping their own previous endeavors don’t catch up with them. Though I believe it’s only a matter of time before others are implicated, both in the UK and further afield.

The future for News Corporation…and why Murdoch will go

Speculation that Rupert Murdoch may step down as CEO of News Corporation has been doing the rounds. But when asked by MPs whether he would be next to resign, he was adamant that he would stay on and take the company forward:

“People I trusted let me down. I think they behaved disgracefully. They let me and the company down, I’m the best person to lead the company forward.”

The reason why Murdoch will go is quite simple. When he faced MPs questions, what he apparently didn’t know about his own company was quite telling. He didn’t seem like a captain in control of his ship, and he had no idea about key events in the recent history of the company.

If he genuinely is that frail and dithering, then shareholders will demand that he be removed because he’s not fit to front such a large corporation. If it was all a ruse to get support back on-side, well, he most certainly should be removed too because he can’t be trusted.

But he has built the company over a long time, it’s his ‘little’ baby, so I don’t think he will go quietly. However, as News Corporation’s name continues to be dragged through the mire, with more and more people’s being brought into the action, the buck will eventually stop with Rupert and he will have no option but to stand down.

In an attempt to save News Corporation, either Rupert, or his successor, may choose to sell off the newspaper side of its business altogether. Most of its revenue comes from other sources anyway, such as 20th Century Fox, so it would make sense to sever all ties with its newspapers, thus distancing itself from any more damage from the phone-hacking scandal. If the scandal remains within the UK-side of its operations, then this sale could be limited to its three remaining UK newspapers – the Times, Sunday Times and the Sun. But two things are almost certain – Murdoch will go, and News Corporation will downsize – to what degree, remains to be seen.

Released yesterday, the Firefox extension warns users whenever they land on one of the 100+ websites owned by Rupert Murdoch’s corporation.

The notes for the add-on state:

“NewsCorp agents in multiple countries have been arrested for hacking into the phones and computers of at least thousands of innocent people. Since the Murdoch family controls 100+ high-traffic domains, it is difficult for average users to know which sites could potentially place them at risk.

MurdochAlert identifies the domains that may place users at risk for Murdoch-related hacking. MurdochAlert features A bottom warning box that appears whenever you visit a Murdoch-controlled sited.”

This was first reported on News Junkie Post, and as Ole Ole Olson notes, this is the second anti-Murdoch add-on to be released this week. A version called Murdoch Block was released for Chrome on Wednesday and, when installed, a warning screen appears whenever you visit a Murdoch-owned site. At the time of writing, it has been installed almost 700 times. You can even choose which of the websites to block:

Both Murdoch Alert and Murdoch Block let users choose to continue onto the website if they so wish.

You may also want to check out istyosty.com, a proxy service that lets you browse the Daily Mail website without actually landing on the website. It even provides users with shortened links so you can easily share Daily Mail stories with others without worrying about inadvertently leading friends to the actual website. The proxy service works for The Sun newspaper too.

If you want to see a full list of the websites owned by the Murdoch empire, click here.

It’s thought that the man responsible was someone who calls himself Jonnie Marbles – an activist and comedian, among other things – who tweeted shortly before the attack:

The Murdochs, wearing dark suits, asked for permission to make an opening statement just after 2.30pm. John Whittingdale, the Committee Chairman, refused saying they could do so after the hearing. Despite this, Rupert interrupted his son to say: “This is the most humble day of my life.”

A tale of two stories

Throughout the interrogation, it was a tale of two stories for the father and son News Corporation team. At 80 year old, Rupert seemed old, tired and frail, and it seemed he had difficulty recalling many of the finer details. Indeed, he seemed not to be aware of some senior members at The News of the World, such as Alex Marunchak, who worked at the title for 25 years.

Furthermore, Rupert Murdoch had never heard of chief reporter Neville Thurlbeck, who wasn’t dismissed after he had been found guilty of blackmail. That in itself wasn’t strange given that Rupert does run a very large company, but he didn’t seem aware of the blackmail case at all. Tom Watson MP stated at one point that what Rupert Murdoch didn’t know “is revealing in itself.”

By contrast, his son James was very clear in his answers, though naturally many of them sounded rehearsed and were often non-specific. James attempted to answer a lot of the questions that his father struggled with, but the committee was committed to teasing answers from Rupert where they could.

‘Not responsible’

A key point to emerge from the hearing, was that Rupert Murdoch denied overall responsibility for the telephone hacking, stating that he felt the responsibility lay directly with other senior managers and those directly involved in reporting the stories in question.

When pushed on his direct knowledge of what was going on at News International publications,  Rupert Murdoch said: “sometimes I would ring the News of The World Editor on a Saturday night.” He continued, “I did speak to the Editor at Sunday Times every Saturday.”

During this encounter, Piers Morgan tweeted this, stating that Murdoch took very little interest in the stories:

The overall feeling from the encounter was that Rupert Murdoch didn’t have a great deal of direct contact with his News International publications on a regular basis. Asked about his feelings on Rebecca Brooks, and why he had defended her so fervently, he said: “I believed her, I trusted her and I still trust in her.” James Murdoch also reiterated that he had no knowledge that Rebekah Brooks involvement with the phone hacking, though didn’t express the same passion in his defense of Brooks.

Was the News of the World offered up as a sacrifice to save Rebecca Brooks? “The two decisions are totally unrelated”, said Rupert Murdoch. And the only reason they closed the paper was because they had “violated the trust of our readers.”

Rupert Murdoch claimed to work a 10 or 12 hour day, stating: “I cannot tell you the multitude of issues I handle”, before suggesting that the News of the World was just a small piece of his news empire – 1%, he claimed whilst tapping his desk repeatedly. Later in proceedings, James Murdoch reiterated this with his own involvement with the publication, saying “I was never intimately involved with the workings of the News of the World”.

When asked when he became aware that criminality was “endemic” at the News of the World, Rupert Murdoch didn’t seem too happy with that word, but did say he was “shocked” and “appalled” in particular by the Millie Dowler hacking allegations.

In an attempt to soften the public’s opinion of him, Rupert Murdoch noted that the UK has a great competitive press and a transparent society, something he felt would be eradicated if news reporting was more heavily regulated.

Moving forward

In terms of whether we can expect to see another  Sunday tabloid newspaper from News International any time soon, James Murdoch said there were no plans in place to have this any time soon. But it was certainly alluded to that this will be an option when – or if – the dust ever settles on this case.

Could this have been James’s day to demonstrate he’s fit to take over his father’s company? Perhaps, but it seems that Rupert Murdoch is determined to stay at the helm of the empire he’s built up over many decades.

When asked whether he would be next to resign, Rupert Murdoch was very adamant that he would stay on and take the company forward:

“People I trusted let me down. I think they behaved disgracefully. They let me and the company down, I’m the best person to lead the company forward.”

Without wishing to take too much of what the Murdoch’s said at face value, there did seem like a genuine lack of attachment to the News of the World and News International in general. However, a key question was asked by the interrogating committee, relating to ‘willful blindness’, a term that emerged from the Enron scandal. The insinuation being that they chose to have no knowledge of what was going on at News International, so long as they were getting the exclusives.

Was team Murdoch’s performance rehearsed and was Rupert attempting to play the ‘old man’ card to get people on-side? It’s really hard to say – he didn’t seem like the powerful mogul he’s portrayed elsewhere across the media. But if he’s genuinely that frail, then that surely asks the question as to whether he should be head of such a big, influential, global media powerhouse.

If the fallout from the whole News International fiasco ever subsides, and evidence isn’t shown of similar activity elsewhere across News Corporation, then News Corporation and News International may well recover from this. And with the attack by a member of the audience on Rupert Murdoch, this could actually have the opposite of the intended effect. A frail old man attacked in front of the cameras could just gain him some sympathy.

Closing statement

Meanwhile, here is the full closing statement, as read out by Rupert Murdoch which he hadn’t been able to read out at the start:

“My son and I have come here with great respect for all of you, for Parliament and for the people of Britain whom you represent.

This is the most humble day of my career.

After all that has happened, I know we need to be here today.

Before going further, James and I would like to say how sorry we are for what has happened – especially with regard to listening to the voicemail of victims of crime.

My company has 52,000 employees. I have led it for 57 years and I have made my share of mistakes. I have lived in many countries, employed thousands of honest and hardworking journalists, owned nearly 200 newspapers and followed countless stories about people and families around the world.

At no time do I remember being as sickened as when I heard what the Dowler family had to endure – nor do I recall being as angry as when I was told that the News of the World could have compounded their distress. I want to thank the Dowlers for graciously giving me the opportunity to apologise in person.

I would like all the victims of phone hacking to know how completely and deeply sorry I am. Apologizing cannot take back what has happened. Still, I want them to know the depth of my regret for the horrible invasions into their lives.

I fully understand their ire. And I intend to work tirelessly to merit their forgiveness.

I understand our responsibility to cooperate with today’s session as well as with future inquiries. We will respond to your questions to the best of our ability and follow up if we are not capable of answering anything today. Please remember that some facts and information are still being uncovered.

We now know that things went badly wrong at the News of the World. For a newspaper that held others to account, it failed when it came to itself. The behavior that occurred went against everything that I stand for. It not only betrayed our readers and me, but also the many thousands of magnificent professionals in our other divisions around the world.

So, let me be clear in saying: invading people’s privacy by listening to their voicemail is wrong. Paying police officers for information is wrong. They are inconsistent with our codes of conduct and neither has any place, in any part of the company I run.

But saying sorry is not enough. Things must be put right. No excuses. This is why News International is cooperating fully with the police whose job it is to see that justice is done. It is our duty not to prejudice the outcome of the legal process. I am sure the committee will understand this.

I wish we had managed to see and fully solve these problems earlier. When two men were sent to prison in 2007, I thought this matter had been settled. The police ended their investigations and I was told that News International conducted an internal review. I am confident that when James later rejoined News Corporation he thought the case was closed too. These are subjects you will no doubt wish to explore today.

This country has given me, our companies and our employees many opportunities. I am grateful for them. I hope our contribution to Britain will one day also be recognised.

Above all, I hope that, through the process that is beginning with your questions today, we will come to understand the wrongs of the past, prevent them from happening again and, in the years ahead, restore the nation’s trust in our company and in all British journalism.

I am committed to doing everything in my power to make this happen. Thank you. We are happy to answer your questions.”

Ever since the UK’s Times and Sunday Times newspapers erected their paywalls in July last year, we’ve been watching carefully to see how they’d perform. Today the latest numbers are out and growing numbers are being attracted into the walled garden.

The first batch of official numbers, released in November, placed the number of subscribers to its website, iPad app and Kindle edition at 50,000. Today Rupert Murdoch-owned publisher News International says that, eight months since launch, the number of subscribers are up to 79,000 – that’s a 60% increase. Meanwhile, the overall number of sales (including one day passes) has more than doubled to 222,000, having been 105,000 in November.

News International says that the paywall has spurred on a 3% year-on-year increase in the number of paying Times readers and a 15-point swing in total paid-for sales (combined print circulation and digital) of The Times.

The Times is clearly finding an audience for its paywalled product, although the fact that it’s seen just 60% growth in the past four months must make executives there worry that they might be running out of fresh customers prepared to stump up the cash.

The other question is whether those paying subscribers can make up yet for all the lost advertising revenue from the previously open website. That’s one we’re unlikely to get answered until the numbers stack in Murdoch’s favour.

According to Business Insider, notable social media pundit and businessman, Gary Vaynerchuk, better known as “Gary V” will be joining Rupert Murdoch’s The Daily, hosting a weekly video show called “The Next Wave.”

“His quick wit and unique point of view make him a great fit, and we believe our subscribers will find his insights on the merging worlds of business, technology, and social media useful, as well as entertaining.” -Daily editor-in-chief Jesse Angelo

His show, “The Next Wave” will cover social media, namely Twitter, the importance of 1 on 1 communication and the merchant relationship with customers and those around you, which are topics of his previous books Crush It! and Why Now Is The Time To Cash In On Your Passion and his latest book The Thank You Economy.

See our recent post on Gary V’s new outdoor ad campaign to promote his latest book.

At its launch event earlier this month, Murdoch said he expected The Daily to be on all major tablets in the future, but was quoted saying that “last year, this year and maybe next year belong to iPad.”

So it is a bit surprising to hear that the “iPad newspaper” could appear on tablets like Motorola’s XOOM in just a few months time.

For now The Daily is sold exclusively through the Apple store.

Read here for Everything You Need to Know About the Daily’s Launch.

Rupert Murdoch welcomed the crowd this morning at the Guggenheim Museum in New York, with much discussion over News Corporation‘s expanding media empire with the world’s first digital newspaper exclusively built for the iPad.

“New times demand new journalism… and a new service edited and designed specifically for new devices. Our challenge is to take the best of traditional journalism…and combine it with the best of contemporary technology. 360 degree photographs, graphics that respond to the touch are unthinkable in either print or television. The iPad demands that we completely re-imagine our craft. There’s a growing segment of the population that is educated and sophisticated that does not read national print or newspapers…and they expect content tailored to their specific interests…What we are losing today are the opportunities for true news discovery. The magic of newspapers lies in their seredipity and surprise and the deft touch of a good editor….Our aim is to inform people, to make them think and make them smile and help them engage in the great issues of the day. We can and we must make the business of news gathering viable again.” -Rupert Murdoch

The Daily’s digital renaissance launches with 100 journalists including Executive Creative Director John Kilpatrick; two managing editors: Mike Nizza, a veteran of The New York Times, AOL News and The Atlantic and Steve Alperin, a producer at ABC News; LA Bureau Chief Richard Johnson; Editor of Arts and Life, Sasha Frere-Jones; Sports Editor Chris D’Amico; Opinions Editor Elisabeth Eaves; and Apps, Games and Tech Editor Peter Ha. Also on the list is Wired’s Danny Dumas and the New York Post’s Justin Rocket Silverman. Thus far the only active reporter on The Daily’s Twitter stream is The Daily’s Josh Hersh, who is reporting from Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt. Their Facebook page went live moments ago.

Production has been underway for 6 weeks. The first Daily issue features Mubrak and the crisis in Egypt. The Daily’s carousel includes a beautiful visual representation of all the stories in each issue. The stories are completely interactive, and I’m not talking about hyperlinks, you can even record text and voice comments on stories. The Daily will include breaking news, so expect your issue to update repeatedly during the day. The Daily’s apps and games section links right into the Apple store. At its first US only release, their target audience is for 15 million Americans.

The Daily will feature news articles, interactive graphics, videos and photos designed to work with the iPad’s touchscreen. The Daily will cost a mere 14 cents per day, 99 cents a week, $40 per year and will be sold exclusively via Apple’s iTunes store. The first two weeks will be free, courtesy of Verizon. A small selection of the iPad newspaper will be available on its site. A full list of The Daily’s contents:

• Over 100 pages of original news, life, entertainment, opinion and sports

• every single day of the year

• Original video content

• A selection of articles read aloud

• 360 degree photos you can explore by swiping

• Immersive photography

• Interactive charts, info-graphics and clickable ‘hot spots’

• The option to save articles to read later

• Web-friendly versions of articles you can share via Twitter, Facebook and email

• In-app comments – including audio comments

• Your local weather

• Your favorite sports teams’ scores, news and feeds

• Crossword and Sudoku puzzles

The Daily totaled $30 million to set up and will cost $500,000 to run weekly. Subscription will be the larger part of their revenue model at first, but they expect to be moving towards a 50/50 revenue split with ads later in the year. Launch advertisers include HBO, Macy’s, Paramount, Pepsi Max, Range Rover, Verizon, and Virgin Atlantic Airways.

Murdoch expects The Daily to be on all major tablets, but says “last year, this year and maybe next year belong to iPad.” Murdoch’s aim is refreshing, particularly juxtaposed against yesterday’s The AOL Way; Murdoch sees the The Daily has a revival of quality journalism in the digital realm. If this goal truly permeates into The Daily’s ethos, I think we can expect a truly quality and engaging product. Although, since playing with the product, my colleague Martin Bryant, has much to say on Murdoch’s new “newspaper.”

Murdoch’s other publications, The Wall Street Journal, The Times and The Sunday Times, have all introduced paywalls for their websites. The Daily joins the ranks of other paid-for newspaper apps on the iPad including Esquire, the New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Glamour, GQ and Wired.

“The Daily is not a legacy backed brand moving from the print to the digital world. We believe The Daily will be the model for how stories will be told.” Rupert Murdoch

The Australian mogul is entering the iPad publishing race with Richard Branson, who launched Project magazine on the iPad in November of last year.

• Over 100 pages of original news, life, entertainment, opinion and sports

• every single day of the year

• Original video content

• A selection of articles read aloud

• 360 degree photos you can explore by swiping

• Immersive photography

• Interactive charts, info-graphics and clickable ‘hot spots’

• The option to save articles to read later

• Web-friendly versions of articles you can share via Twitter, Facebook and email

• In-app comments – including audio comments

• Your local weather

• Your favorite sports teams’ scores, news and feeds

• Crossword and Sudoku puzzles

Ever since news started to leak about News Corporation’s upcoming iPad-only newspaper The Daily, it’s been one of the hottest talking points in publishing. Now the first image of the mysterious publication has emerged.

Damon Kiesow at Poynter did some digging around TheDaily.com and managed to find this image that hints at exactly how the new magazine will look. Judging from the image, it appears that the design is image-heavy, with a populist slant to the editorial. “Oprah’s Biggest Gamble”, shouts the first image.

Digging into the code further, Kiesow found the following interesting tidbits:

• The newspaper’s website appears to include plenty of social sharing features for Twitter, Facebook, Digg, Reddit and Newsvine. Could we see social sharing options baked into the iPad app itself, or is this merely a tactic to get people sharing The Daily website’s front page? One rumour is that The Daily’s website will include archive articles from past issues. The website could use this archive as an example of the up-to-date content subscribers will be able to read each day on their iPad.
• An embedded video player is present. Could The Daily be preparing regular video reports to complement its text-based reporting?
• It appears that part of the site will be password protected, but whether that will simply be for subscribers to pay and administer their accounts, or whether archive content will only be available to subscribers, is unclear.

So, lots of questions remain, but there’s less than a week left before Rupert Murdoch and Steve Jobs are rumoured to be taking to the stage together to launch the publication to the world on 19 January.

According to The Cutline, a Yahoo! news blog, Apple CEO Steve Jobs will join Rupert Murdoch on stage to unveil News Corp.’s much-anticipated iPad newspaper called “The Daily,” at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, on Jan. 19th.

Murdoch is reportedly spending a total of $30 million on The Daily. While Murdoch has tried to keep the project quiet, I know a few reporters in New York City who’ve already begun work on The Daily, many of them poached from local media outlets like the NY Observer, The Daily Beast, Forbes, AOL, Politico and the New York Post and from far-flung zines like San Francisco’s Wired Magazine. In total, News Corp has already hired over 100 journalists including three managing editors: Mike Nizza, a veteran of The New York Times, AOL News and The Atlantic; Steve Alperin, a producer at ABC News, and Pete Picton, an online editor at UK Newspaper, The Sun. The company will be headquartered in the big apple with staffers in Los Angeles.

The Daily is expected to cost .99 per issue and will implement a new “push” subscription feature from iTunes that automatically bills customers on a weekly or monthly basis, with a new edition delivered to your iPad each morning.