Clues of the World: Was the closure imminent?

After the intense rollercoaster ride of allegations into the News of the World's phone-hacking scandal, News Corporation and Rupert Murdoch have made the decision to pull the plug on one of Britain's best selling tabloids. A memo was only passed round to staff and press members today, but given the pasting that News of the World has received in the past week, one must wonder if the closure was imminent.
On several blogs and forums, word is buzzing that the domain name "www.thesunonsunday.co.uk" has been bought by News Corp, fuelling speculation that the News of the World will be replaced by a Sunday edition of its sister red-top, The Sun. Indulging in a quick examination of "thesunonsunday.co.uk"'s WHOIS file, being a helpless nerd, I found that the domain was registered two days ago, on the fifth of July. While it's feasible that this was merely purchased as a contingency plan by the ever-business-savy Rupert Murdoch, who must've been no stranger to the backlash towards his publication on social networking sites and the backlash of companies who buy advertising space in his paper, the whole plan seems to be almost directly comparable to that of a pilot who wishes to ditch his plane after the first signs of turbulence. In fact, it could even be likened to a criminal hurriedly fleeing the scene of a crime.
As this sorry affair drags on, with News Corp leaving the corpse and ghost of a popular publication behind, the phone-hacking scandal lives on within it, much like a set of worms devouring the body from the inside out. The closure of the News of the World will do nothing to muffle the scandal, and the disgusting conduct of the journalists and editors in question will continue to be scrutinised. All being well, this will also cause a shakeup to the profession, and will also push for some improvements to be made to the Press Complaints Commission, who are regarded by most papers and their editors as a toothless tiger in the wild world of journalism.
Of course, I feel sorry for everyone who has been hacked in these malicious events. When it was Hugh Grant and the Queen, it was bad enough. But to see that the News of the World hacked the telephones of abductees, bomb-victims, and even the relatives of people who died for our country, is simply sickening. However, a thought must also be spared for the workers at the red-topped rag who had absolutely nothing to do with this affair. Once again, Murdoch has managed to bite the hand that feeds him. The working class are the main target for the News of the World, but as the printing presses whirr to a stop on Sunday morning, several working class people will be stripped of their livelihoods; victim to a scandal that has been triggered by the big-wigs and the editors at News Corporation. Editors such as Rebekah Brooks [or Rebekah Wade as she was once known], who somehow have managed to escape from this incident scott-free, can continue to live lavish lifestyles, despite being at the centre of this scandal.
It'll be a sad day for journalism on Sunday. Although I've never had much of a fondness for the gutter press, red-tops, and tabloids, it's definitely a sad sight to see a publication draw to a sudden halt. But whichever way you look at it, it seems as though the News of the World's card was already sneakily marked.