Murdoch's influence

Many years ago - probably about 15 - I went to one of the most heavenly places on earth - Sun Valley, Idaho. Snow clung to the mountain tops and the lofty crags, but the valley was a lush green and the air was magnificently clear as eagles soared above. I had flown from London to Seattle, from Seattle to Salt Lake City and from there I boarded a tiny commuter plane to get to Sun Valley. It was the best part of 20 hours door to door. And I guess I spent a total of around 4 hours in this gorgeous place before making the same gruelling journey back to London again.

It was utter madness. But for Gordon Brown who many years later would become Prime Minister and who I was travelling with and reporting on, it was madness with a purpose. He had gone to meet Rupert Murdoch and speak at his News Corp get together. Yep, that was it. On any rational level it was pure folly. But when you're a British politician - irrespective of political colour - and you're seeking election, then if you're invited to pay homage to this particular media mogul, the diary is cleared. Over here, Mr Murdoch controls 40% of our national newspapers, and they don't shy away from offering trenchant opinion. Over the years they have switched political allegiances between the two main political parties as the boss figured out who was more likely to win the next election. And for more than thirty years, he's always backed the winner. The politicians have never doubted it is better to have him on your side.

So in a jaw dropping week, it was another jaw dropping moment when the leader of the opposition Labour Party called for the resignation of the chief executive of Murdoch's British arm. And then Prime Minister David Cameron said much the same thing. This broke every law of modern British politics. Say whatever you like, but don't get on the wrong side of the Murdoch empire. But now something profound has changed. The politicians, who themselves were recently under the cosh over their dodgy expenses, now find it is the journalists and the way they have behaved, hacking into peoples' cell phone messages and paying cash to police insiders, that is the subject of searching and unforgiving scrutiny. So much so that Murdoch has just killed off the most successful, most profitable newspaper in his stable.

This is the final edition of his best selling Sunday tabloid, the News of the World -- judged too toxic to save. In the political life of this nation, it feels as though a bomb has gone off, but the red hot metal shrapnel is still flying around at high velocity - and no-one knows who is going to be lacerated by it next. This is Jon Sopel for CBS News in London.