In what has been generally regarded as a "two finger salute" (middle finger to us) to media and audience criticism over the News Of The World phone hacking debacle and the latest word that 10 journalists at the Sun (five more left in handcuffs since earlier in the week) have been arrested as a result of the ongoing Scotland Yard investigation, Rupert Murdoch's choice to launch a Sunday tabloid to be tentatively known as The Sunday Sun leaves some wondering just what's going on.

In an e-mail statement, Murdoch, who flew to London the previous night to meet with largely disgruntled journalists at the now-embattled Sun, said he would be launching the new tabloid soon and that the arrested journalists would be allowed to resume their duties as before, despite provisos from the arrested journalists that no contact could be made with each other.

All this points up to a new wrinkle in the ever-changing, ever-evolving, ever-baffling story of News Corp/News International/saga of Rupert Murdoch.

The latest set of concerns regarding the arrests at The Sun had largely to do with News International cooperation with Scotland Yard in providing incriminating evidence by which the arrests were made. The protests being one of the sacred rights of investigative journalists to protect sources was being violated and that Murdoch was, in effect, tossing them under the bus as a show of "good faith" in aiding the investigation.

But for my two-cents, I am sensing a massive smokescreen, an attempt to sidetrack attention from the much bigger picture and that's the upcoming U.S. investigation (a much bigger and far more damaging situation financially). To muddle the current scandal in an flurry of protests and accusations over what constitutes journalistic protection and what constitutes violation of civil rights takes the focus of the investigation off the real problem and tosses it on to the journalistic community as a whole. Cries of censorship and government manipulation of the Press are being echoed all over the UK tonight and I believe this is exactly what the Murdoch empire is betting on. And truths be told, the Police may be over-reaching in their quest at investigating wrong doings, instead of going after an industry wide practice of phone-hacking and eavesdropping largely established for many years by the Murdoch empire.

It's one thing to consult a confidential source, a person or persons willing to come forward to a member of the Press with sensitive information and another to obtain that information by hacking into the personal phone and e-mails of a person or persons unaware they are being hacked or eavesdropped. It's the difference between two consenting adults and the forcing of an unwilling (or unknowing) adult into providing information.

But I think the attempt at painting the entire picture with too broad a brush is an intention to throw the entire issue into a state of confusion and thus taint any further investigation into the phone hacking scandal.

Like I said, my two cents and just a hunch.

For the time though, and to get up to speed if you've missed anything, here are three sets of reports, beginning with The Media Show from last Wednesday, followed by a segment from this morning's Today Program, followed by PM and ending with News At 6, all from BBC's Radio 4.

One thing's for certain - more will be revealed.

The never-ending saga of Rupert Murdoch and the Scotland Yard investigations took some new turns over the weekend. It was reported that five journalists for The Sun, Murdoch's other British tabloid were arrested over the weekend on charges of police bribery, phone hacking and obstruction of justice in an attempt to cover-up evidence in what has become a far-reaching investigation into the Murdoch empire.

And further word the investigation will be stepped-up and coming to the U.S. very shortly, based on evidence uncovered by Scotland Yard and our DOJ that some and perhaps a lot of this scandal will be washing up on our shores very soon.

Associate Editor for The Sun Trevor Kavanagh decried the arrests of the five journalists as treating them like "members of an organized crime gang" while Rupert Murdoch is said to be on his way to London to calm what is currently being described as "Civil War" within the ranks of The Sun.

But the real cause for concern among Newscorp/News International is the fact that this investigation is very likely headed to the U.S. and, even though no one is really talking about it, the DOJ and Scotland Yard have been quietly exchanging notes the past few months and this escalation, coupled with news that Mark Lewis, one of several lawyers involved in representing clients in the phone hacking scandal is scheduled to meet with a legal team in the U.S. to discuss legal action, is more than ample cause for alarm within the Murdoch camp.

Starting with The World This Weekend reports via BBC Radio 4 from yesterday and continuing with The World At One and PM from today, here is the latest news on the twists and turns of this growing scandal with more sure to come within the next few days.

But for now - here's something to catch up on.

With the latest hearings in the Lord Justice Leveson Inquiry concluding yesterday, and new hearings scheduled shortly which will include a re-appearance of Rebecca Brooks, the wheels continue to turn. As of today a new arrest was reported in connection with the "for Neville" e-mails and a reporter for The Guardian has been questioned in connection with leaks from Scotland Yard. Although not arrested, reporter Amelia Hill was questioned "under caution" in what has become an industry wide concern that may have serious consequences down the road.

And as was reported yesterday, there are grumblings from this side of the pond with revelations that our own Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) may have been given information regarding phone hacking by News Corp's operations in the U.S. and that staffers for Senator Grassley failed to follow up on the tip from the whistle-blower. Sen. Grassley, as you may know, was Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee in 2006 and was handed alleged evidence of phone hacking from Robert Emmel, a former account executive for News Corp's subsidiary News America. For his troubles, News Corp effectively silenced Emmel by suing him into bankruptcy.

The pot may be boiling in the UK, but it has yet to achieve simmer status in the U.S. - but that will undoubtedly change.

As I've said over and over, the phone hacking scandal isn't exclusive to the UK and anyone thinking it is clearly hasn't been paying any attention to the state of our own mainstream media in recent years. The "Murdoch Style", as I call it - that fast and loose with facts and Smear School of journalism, has become Standard Operating Procedure throughout much of our Fourth Estate for a while now. Since News Corp have gotten away with phone-hacking as a method of news gathering for so long, it is viewed as perfectly okay with others to follow suit. And if you've noticed, American mainstream media have been suspiciously silent over this entire scandal, giving scant details only when the ominous glare becomes unavoidable.

But for now it's confined to the UK. In a recap and commentary on yesterdays hearings, BBC Radio 4's weekly program The Media ran a segment earlier today, discussing the latest revelations and their implications for the hearings yet to come.

Stay tuned.
(h/t Digby)

So far 11 and counting, the latest arrest in the Rupertgate Phone-hacking scandal. Now that the BBC newsreaders strike is over, it was reported on the PM Program that former Managing Editor of News Of The World Stuart Kuttner was arrested in connection with the phone-hacking and bribery scandal this morning. As was eluded in Rebekah Brooks' testimony, Kuttner was the one who signed off on checks and generally oversaw the goings on with the staff. By the time this thing is over I suspect the only ones not facing any jail time will be the janitors . . .but even then I could be wrong.

As of this posting (10:00 am PDT) Kuttner is still in custody while questioning continues.

Meanwhile, the man known as Jonny Marbles is facing six weeks in prison for his Barbasol Surprise during the Murdoch hearings. Murdoch Sr. didn't want to press charges and Marbles claims he missed his target anyway so . . .the court wasn't amused.

Since I reported yesterday on the alleged dumping of e-mails over at News International, questions are starting to arise about just how deleted are deleted e-mails. Eddie Mair asks an expert who surmises e-mail considered spam is gone into thin air, while e-mails considered "received" are stored. Although most everything can be retrieved, some of it is difficult to ascertain who got what and who sent what. In short, it may be tough to prove a lot of potentially damaging communications. I'm sure the folks over here at Newscorp are thrilled about that.

So up today are two clips - one is from PM (top player) dealing with the latest arrest and second (lower player) is a special, also hosted by Eddie Mair entitled "Beyond Hackgate"from this morning (recorded at 1:00am PDT) where questions are asked just how this scandal is going to affect the long-term workings of government. An interesting panel and one you may want to keep for future reference as this thing heats up over here.

In the meantime, the saga continues.