There are underhand exploits (the phone hacking), a cover-up (protestations this was the work of a sole rogue hack), a billionaire family at the centre of a storm (the Murdochs), obligatory femme fatale (Rebekah Brooks) and politicians (you can't get any higher than the PM himself).
There's the tenacious reporter determined not to let influential protagonists get away with it (The Guardian's Nick Davies), a few lone, battling MPs (Labour's Tom Watson et al) and a fall guy (at first, royal reporter Clive Goodman and now the entire NOTW staff, Sir Paul Stephenson and his deputy, John Yates, Brooks, a plethora of News Corp execs, and who knows who else by the time this issue arrives on your desk).
Add in a shaving foam pie-thrower and a Uriah Heep "most humble day of my life" speech and you just couldn't make it up. Behind the headlines, however, are serious issues of leadership and accountability, of poor decision-making, inappropriate behaviour and a bad culture. In other words, HR issues.
The reputational fall-out from this is clear for all to see, as was the case in the banking sector. There is a sense of déjà vu here - influential and powerful masters of the universe playing by their own rules and controlling the political establishment through fear. The words 'toxic culture' come to mind.
But whereas the banks have picked themselves up while postulating they have learned from the experience and that things have changed (until the next time, that is), the impact on News Corp is graver. While the UK newspaper interest is a minnow in the Murdoch ocean, as Rupert is so keen to point out, the withdrawal from the BSkyB bid is a major setback to its business strategy.
Existing staff at the broadcasting giant may be breathing a sigh of relief, however, given our cover story. With the failure rate of mergers and acquisitions north of 60% and experts agreeing that people issues (especially culture) are at the heart of failure, would a fully News Corp-controlled BSkyB have retained its existing culture or would the top dogs parachuted in by Murdoch have created a different environment?
Having worked in neither firm, I can only judge from the outside, as would any potential recruit. But, to me, the BSkyB employer brand stands for transparency, accountability, opportunity and fun - a far cry from the picture of fear and opacity we have seen in News International. Remember, it only took 48 hours for Sky Sports presenters Richard Keys and Andy Gray to be disciplined - and later axed - for sexist comments earlier this year.
If only News International had been so decisive.
