Rupert Murdoch's Sun on Sunday is launched on Sunday with a manifesto that attempts to set out a fresh agenda for the tabloid replacing the News of the World, which was closed by the media mogul last July.
Murdoch spent Saturday afternoon at the Sun's London headquarters as the newspaper before he headed off to see more than 3 million copies come off his printing presses just north of London.
Murdoch wants the title, edited by Dominic Mohan, to adopt a less strident, more female-friendly tone, as he hopes to regain market leadership on Sunday with a sale of at least 2 million – and preferably at or around 3 million. The Sun's six-day sale average is 2.75 million
He has also been closely involved in a seven-figure marketing campaign, pledging the Sunday newspaper to hold its reduced 50p price point to at least the end of the year. The News of the World cost £1, as did the Sunday Mirror and Daily Star Sunday before this weekend.
But as the new title arrived, there were allegations that former Sun editor Rebekah Brooks received details of the original failed phone-hacking investigation into the News of the World from a senior Metropolitan Police officer. There is no suggestion that the officer was paid or that Brooks is implicated in the investigation, being conducted by the IPCC police watchdog. A spokesman for Brooks – also a former chief executive of News International and close Murdoch ally – declined to comment.
At the same time, one of the Sunday Sun's columnists, Toby Young, author of How To Lose Friends & Alienate People, was embroiled in a Twitter controversy after writing about the hacking of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler – the revelation by the Guardian, which added to pressure to close the News of the World. "That murdered girl thing? Check the Guardian story. Turned out to be balls. Get off your high horse," he tweeted, in an online spat with Graham Linehan, writer of Channel 4's The IT Crowd.
The Guardian report that the then missing Milly Dowler's mobile was hacked by the News of the World has not been disputed. What the paper did correct was its report that the News of the World had been responsible for deleting voicemail messages left for her, giving her parents hope she was still alive.
Linehan responded that Young had an "amazing take on the Milly Dowler story. I guess you tell yourself that so you can go to sleep," and that Young should, "go away and start lying for the Sun. A marriage made in heaven".
Meanwhile, the Leveson inquiry is due to hear evidence from detective assistant commissioner Sue Akers about developments in the Elveden police inquiry into corrupt payments made to public officials by journalists, which has seen 10 Sun journalists arrested since last November.
Leveson will also hear from long-time Murdoch critic and former deputy prime minister John Prescott and former senior Met officer Brian Paddick. Both are expected to question the relationship between the Met – which had previously failed to investigate allegations of phone hacking comprehensively – and News International.
Meanwhile, Murdoch is spending freely on marketing the Sunday edition of a title he took over in 1969 and described this month as "part of me", on his return to the UK to announce the long-predicted launch. News International aired "The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow" adverts during every major ITV programme on Saturday night, and was fighting to hold off rival tabloid publishers by taking the 60-second spot just before ITV's evening news.
Columnists signed up in addition to Young include Katie Price, the model formerly known as Jordan, who said, "I'm writing to show people I'm not just boobs, lashes and fake tan"; the Archbishop of York, John Sentamu; Nancy Dell'Olio on fashion, and Jose Mourinho, the Real Madrid boss who will write on Sunday's Carling Cup final.
But Murdoch is wary of promoting too heavily. Cardiff City are playing Liverpool, and memories of the Sun's coverage of the 1989 Hillsborough disaster may lead to a protest at the match.
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