Never since Gerald Ratner publicly branded his products as cheap tat has the fortunes of one company changed so quickly for the worse.

Ratners jewellery empire went down the pan almost overnight as the buying public lost faith in the company in their millions. Could the same happen to News Corporation with the phone hacking scandal ?

One of its most powerful arms have already gone with the closing down of the News of the World. This stage of of reputation management is only reached when the the named becomes so toxic there is no way back, as Ratner and now Murdoch found to their cost. The question is will more follow or has Rupert Murdoch done enough to cut out the poison slowly seeping the life out off his media empire.

Well if the contagion spreads to his America possessions then many commentators think this could well be the end. Today it is new media not old that holds all the cards of public opinion. If there was even a sniff that journalists on one of his titles in the US were tapping the phone of say a 9/11 victim it would unleash a juggernaut of opinion that surely even he couldn't survive.

The newsroom culture that he spawned get the story at all costs now looks to have had its day.

It's being increasingly replaced by people media exposing truths and making or breaking reputations almost instantly. The days when newspapers could topple or elect governments now seem to have passed.

And politicians smell blood. They are now raising their head above the parapet to criticise the man where before none would publicly dare. MP victims from all sides of the political spectrum are now queuing up to put the boot in.

With Mr Murdoch now well into his 80s and looking increasingly frail, he does not have the look of a man up to fight that seems to be growing in ferocity every day. His son James more rabbit caught in the headlights than natural successor and his lieutenants all looking a few shoe sizes too little too few to fill his boots the future does not look good.

With the massed ranks of public opinion and political derision stacked against him the betting is growing shorter and shorter that rather than overseeing the take over BSkyB, he'll be joining Gerard on the golf course sooner rather than later.