'Sun on Sunday' to be Launched Next Sunday

Rupert Murdoch's new Sunday offering will be out on the stands next Sunday. Sun Newspaper, a publishing division of News Corporation, will be launching a Sunday tabloid, Sun on Sunday, (a successor to the scandal-ridden News of the World) on Sunday, Feb 25.

The announcement of the tabloid's launch was made on Feb 19 by CEO Tom Mockridge, who notified all his employees through an internal email.

"Rupert Murdoch said during his visit on Friday that a new Sunday title would be published 'very soon' - and that is a week from today. Rupert will be staying in London to oversee the launch," said the email, according to the Daily Mail.

Rumours of a new Sunday tabloid started circulating soon after the "News of the World" shut down in July 2011 following a huge scandal involving telephone hacking and invasion of privacy of celebrities to generate stories.

Nine former and current Sun employees have also been arrested since November following a tip to the police by a secretive group set up by News Corporation to track the unfair practices of journalists and reporters.

Mockridge wants his employees to forget the past and start afresh

"The commitment of News Corporation to invest in a new edition is the strongest possible message of support we could wish for. This is our mo-ment. I am sure every one of us will seize the opportunity to pull together and deliver a great new dawn for The Sun this Sunday," read the remain-der of the email, according to Wales Online.

Also, Murdoch, who himself flew into London to personally take care of his hit newspaper's latest scandals and announce "Sun on Sunday's" launch, lifted the suspensions of all his arrested employees.

"It caught me by surprise. Mr Murdoch came round the editorial floor on Friday and said he was launching it very soon. We heard rumours of a date in April. This evening, astonishingly, we are told it's going to happen next week," Sky News quoted David Wooding, former political editor of the News of the World, as saying.