I feel sympathy for some of the people at the News of the World who are losing their jobs. I don’t like to see anybody lose their jobs (apart from That Bloody Woman, Bliar and the entire current cabinet, natch). Some of those people are truck drivers and printers and office staff and cleaners who have nothing to do with the “journalism” carried out by some on the newspaper.

And some of the others are honest journalists who have never had anything to do with anything that might raise an eyebrow, let alone lead to criminal investigations, prosecutions and/or convictions.

Those people do deserve some sympathy. With the best will in the world, there are not enough jobs around these days for everyone to be able to say on principle, “I won’t work for News International because of Rupert Murdoch.” People have families to feed, clothe and house. It looks as though quite a few innocent people are going to suffer for the crimes of a few and I am really sorry about that.

And it is sad that a title that endured for almost 130 years before Murdoch got his hands on it has met such a ridiculous end. To some extent, the last 40 years of the NOTW‘s life were something of an aberration in the context of its entire history. Like the Mirror and Mail before they went tabloid, the NOTW was once a respected home of investigative journalism. It broke a lot of important stories in those 168 years – and (whether it’s cool to admit it or not right now) there were plenty during Murdoch’s ownership, too, if you could find them within the tawdry tattle that made up the bulk of its content throughout my lifetime. The Observer will soon follow the NOTW into oblivion when Harry Potter finally gets his way and proud titles like that deserve better than the ignomy being thrust upon them by men not fit to fluff those who went before.

All that said – and I mean every word – it’s hard to feel too sorry to see any part of the News Corporation empire slide out of view, even if it is almost certain to be replaced very soon by a (no doubt equally tawdry) Sun on Sunday. Cor, just look at the tits on that.

But anybody who thinks that the corrupt and unlawful practices that were carried on by some members of NOTW staff are confined to the NOTW are deluded. If you think mid-market and highbrow titles don’t do that sort of thing, then look at the Information Commissioner’s report from a few years ago [warning: PDF].

If yesterday – delicious as it was in so many ways – is to mean anything in the long run, the promised enquiries and ongoing police investigations need to look at more than just the activities of some on the News of the World and drive that particularly malevolent strand of journalism back into the gutter.

If James Murdoch thinks the answer, “At this moment, yes,” is an appopriate answer to the question, “Are you absolutely certain that these practices did not extend to The Sun?”, he needs to be shown the error of his arrogance.

And if News Corporation and/or News International think refusing to accept Rebekah Wade-Mitchell-Brooks’s resignation is the right thing to do at this juncture, then Ofcom really needs to grow a pair and see whether its “right and proper” muscle still retains any memory at all.