"a salacious rag"

Journalism Worth linking what with current events (see my Twitter feed for up to the minute vitriol and invective), Adam Curtis on the rise of Rupert Murdoch or as he describes it 'A Portrait of Satan':

"The News of the World was a salacious rag, but it was run by Sir William Carr who was a member of an old establishment family. He had already received a hostile bid from the publisher Robert Maxwell. Carr hated Maxwell because he was not British (he was Czech).

Then Murdoch arrived. He wasn't British either, but he told Sir William he would buy the paper but they would run it jointly together.

Maxwell warned Sir William not to trust Murdoch. He told him - "You will be out before your feet touch the ground".

Sir William replied - "Bob, Rupert is a gentleman"

But Lady Carr began to worry. She took Rupert Murdoch out to lunch in Mayfair. She reported that he had little small talk, no sense of humour and that he had lit up a cigar before the first course.

Brian May was asked for his commentary on the closure of The News of the World during The One Show earlier. He said, I'm paraphrasing, "They put a camera through Freddy's toilet window when he was dying (of AIDS).  So I have no sympathy for them."