Rebekah Brooks (nee Wade) has become as I’m sure you are all aware, the latest casualty of the current media crisis. Although her resignation is a massive step forward for News International, one must ponder what she or for that matter News International actually gain by it.
For the last twenty two years Ms Brooks has been an integral and irreplaceable part of News International. The power and experience vacuum created by her departure will in all likelihood remain an issue within the organisation while it comes to terms with its reduced influence and market share. Although News International has gained a considerable reprieve from the immediate media pressure, Ms Brooks departure gains them nothing other than time.
There is a concept called "the blast person". This is the principle that upon an organisation being critically effected by a news agenda the "blast person" is positioned to absorb the negative media and remains in that position as the news agenda continues to build pressure upon their organisation. When media pressure is no longer sustainable the "the blast person" takes the ultimate sanction and resigns or is asked to resign. The result of this action is ultimately to protect those above them and deflect "the blast" away from their superiors and the organisation as a whole.
This concept is a valid one, if it is capable of ending the organisation’s involvement in the news agenda. In the case of the News of the World and News International a single "blast person" will not be capable of removing the organisation from the agenda but will instead prolong and diversify it.
News International is in the middle of a single agenda multi-faceted news cycle that will continue being fed by legal proceedings and numerous government investigations. The loss of a major asset (Ms Brooks) may in the short term allow news international to separate itself from the immediate furore but it will not have the desired result of restoring faith in the organisation or its media outlets.
It is my honest belief the best course of action for News International would have been to suspend Ms Brooks along with any other journalists or staff who could be seen as vicariously guilty and for news international to ask a member of the house of lords to oversee a measured investigation into the gross misconduct that has been alleged. This may sound long winded considering the level of enquiry already placed upon them but Mr Murdoch has failed and continues to fail to deal with the underlying issues of restoring trust in his organisation and his family’s involvement in that organisation.
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