News of the World: Last Issue

After being at the centre of phone hacking claims all week, the News of the World has announced that it will discontinue publication as of July 10, 2011. After it came to light that the tabloid had hired a private investigator and hacked the phone of murdered teenager Milly Dowler, the authorities began investigating the publication, which had become notorious for exposing celebrity sex scandals, drug addicts, and criminals. As a result of the public outcry, the company is losing advertising money, and the controversy has escalated because it was revealed that the company hacked into the phones of the loved ones of fallen troops. The tabloid was also instrumental in starting the controversial campaign to out the names of alleged child abusers, which led to irate crowds terrorising people they believed to be responsible for the abuse. The News of the World was accused of being extremely irresponsible after multiple cases of mistaken identity and false accusations.

The tabloid has an interesting background, as evidenced by its horoscope, and the first press release for the company was issued on October 1, 1843 in London by John Browne Bell. It didn’t take long for it to become the best-selling Sunday newspaper.

With Mercury at 0 degrees (critical) in Scorpio, directly opposing its dipositor Pluto, a strong opposition is indicated for the paper. Mercury regulates all types of communication, writing, reporting, and informing, so having it in Scorpio is no light weight placement. However, it is a fantastic location for sifting through data and making discoveries, so people or newspapers with Mercury in Scorpio make great detectives, researchers, and investigators. Mercury in the sign of the Scorpion possesses an enigmatic, intuitive wisdom, and its natives frequently have a strong fascination with the occult, the secretive, and the subterranean.

Mercury-Pluto contacts are like-minded in their refusal to take things at face value; they have an insatiable curiosity for the backstory of everything, are constantly on the lookout for hidden agendas, and regularly exhibit paranoia, skepticism, and suspicion. The News of the World appeared to have an X-RAY ability to see through stories, but the public had no idea the paper would go to such great measures to get at the truth. Since Pluto (Hades) is the lord of the underworld and constantly pulls Mercury down, the Mercury-Pluto combination is attracted to discovering what is hidden, veiled, buried, and enigmatic. The News of the World’s natal Saturn is square to Pluto, a dark, suspicious aspect that indicates a tendency to take on huge responsibility and also to find someone to “scapegoat.”

To the contrary The Saturn-Pluto aspect is a powerfully driven and ambitious: they are merciless together, relentless, and even heavy-handed when necessary. A Jupiter-Neptune conjunction in Aquarius might be idealistic to an extreme and predisposed to sensationalism because of its lofty aspirations. It’s also possible that the events of the past may have been greatly influenced by the newspaper’s lack of good judgement and the vast (Jupiter) irresponsibility (Neptune) of ethics (Aquarius) on their side.

It’s ironic that after the News of the World exposed others, dug into stories, and hired private detectives, they are now the ones under investigation; as is often the case with Pluto aspects, the tables can turn at any time, so be careful what you do; karma loves a good boomerang. Looking at the transit for this time, we can see that both transiting Uranus and Pluto are posing challenges to the Sun in this paper. When Pluto moves into an aspect, it might signify a new era dawning, as well as massive losses and a threat to the tabloid’s fundamental integrity and, presumably, its life (the Sun). In a shocking and unexpected turn of events, the company has announced that it will be shutting down, putting 200 people out of work.