It must be one of the few newspaper titles to have escaped the greedy grasp of global media magnate Rupert Murdoch.

Shortly after purchasing The Sun in 1969, Murdoch attempted to buy the Newcastle-based Sunday Sun – a title that potentially matched his brand expansion plans.

The takeover was firmly resisted and forty-odd years later the Sunday Sun’s continued existence means News International can still not use the brand if it finally decides to make The Sun a seven-day publication.

Quite right too. The Sunday Sun was created in Newcastle in 1919, 45 years before The Sun hit national newsstands, so to hijack its name would be considered an insult on Tyneside.

Not just a slur on the name Sunday Sun, but also an affront to what the product means to local people, personified by the ‘Champion of the North’ logo often adorning its pages.

It was pleasing to see this theme reflected in the latest edition of the product on Sunday 10 July.

‘HANDS OFF: THIS IS YOUR SUNDAY SUN AND REGIONAL CHAMPION’ read the page one strap, placed next to a tiny headshot of a defeated Rupert.

Sunday Sun editor Matt McKenzie continued to stick the boot in in his comment piece on page 18.

“This newspaper has a proud reputation of fighting on behalf of the people of the North East and Cumbria.  Our unrivalled news and sports coverage has helped us gain a reputation as a trusted brand across the region. We never act illegally and uphold the highest standards of ethics…

“We are part of the community and take our responsibilities seriously. What happened at the News of the World is totally unacceptable but it mustn’t be allowed to undermine the important job newspapers do up and down the land…

“However and whenever Rupert Murdoch decides to replace the paper he publishes for the last time today, we will be here.  And our message is clear. There is only ONE trusted Sunday Sun – so keep your hands off.”

Yes, regional editors across the country wrote leaders on similar community principles last week, but none were as pertinent as the one in the paper that once dodged Murdoch’s clinch and whose proud brand still prevents the easy projection of his beloved daily into a Sunday 40 years later.

He can always use ‘The Sun on Sunday’ instead, of course, but it rolls of the tongue so awkwardly when compared to the Sunday Sun.

Murdoch-baiting aside, what did the Sunday Sun have in store for readers on 10 July?

‘BIG SAM’S FIGHT OVER £370k LOAN’ was the splash, with a write-off to a spread on pages four and five detailing a bitter battle between ex-Toon boss Sam Allardyce and a football agent.

This was a good splash to pull football fans in during the close-season, especially with the use of leggy women in Newcastle United and Sunderland strips as the picture piece alongside.

‘Howay the lasses!’ teased readers to a page three showdown between two Miss England contestants representing Tyne and Wear rivalries.

The bottom strap was also eye-catching. ‘FREDDY: I WAS A VICTIM OF PHONE HACKERS TOO’ pointed to a page six story revealing Tyneside tycoon Freddie Shepherd’s claims that News of the World had eaves-dropped on his mobile conversations.

While I liked these page one elements, I’m not sure the other boosts around the masthead were the best: the 50 greatest North defenders was fine content but the blurb was weakened by three clashing fonts, and the pullout’s lines were a bit too non-specific to fill nearly a quarter of the page.

It was definitely a case of ‘all human life is here’ on inside pages, with major stories including:

• ‘AUSSIE EXPAT DEATH PROBED’ on page two, telling how a former Newcastle man had lain dead in his Australian flat for two years before being discovered;

• ‘Our dream holiday turned into a nightmare when our driver flipped out’ on page seven, where a North Shields holidaymaker protected passengers from a coach driver who suffered a crazy nervous breakdown on Spanish motorway;

• ‘SNITCHES PAID £1.8m’ on page nine, a Freedom of Information Act investigation revealing the money North East police forces paid to informants in the last six years; and

• ‘I HAVE  BASIC HUMAN RIGHT TO MOURN MY BROTHER’ on page 15, the sibling of Raoul Moat describing plans to mark the first anniversary of the crazed gunman’s death in Rothbury, Northumberland.

In total, there were 85 reports on 36 news and comment pages in the 72-page main book which, while on the face of it a low count, was due to the Sunday tabloid style of providing a full, detailed read on every page.

Page leads were an absolute minimum of 15 pars, with many containing more than 20 pars along with large cut-out pictures to grab readers’ attention.

The total story-count was upped by 100+ reports and reviews, seven pages of TV listings and a puzzles section in the busy 28-page ‘7’ entertainment pullout, plus another 65 tales and seven pages of race cards and results on 26 sports pages.

Other highlights included the Mr Justice spread on pages 34 and 35, a section that pulls no punches in achieving results for hard done by consumers.

This week’s successes included £1,200 knocked off a reader’s home improvements, the exposure of a Newcastle theatre charging an extra £3.50 per ticket for customers paying by debit cards, and problems with a bank and furniture store solved for other readers.

Another section I liked was ‘SCRAN’ by Eddie Eats, a food review masthead brimming with Tyneside vernacular.

Both these sections’ anonymous bylines have created great brands – ‘Mr Justice’ and ‘Eddie Eats’ serving readers to year after year of consumer advice without any individual glory-seeking.

And it’s good to see a Sunday paper with geographical editions. Although the above-mentioned front page was strong enough for both the Tyne & North and Wear & Durham editions, the Teesside edition changed for a local spending cuts splash and a picture story on Billingham film legend Jamie Bell.
 

[At £1.10 a copy, the Sunday Sun still has the largest sale of all regional Sunday newspapers in England and Wales, an average of 52,216 a week according to the latest ABC figures.

If you take a close look at that ABC certificate, it records that just one, single copy is sold outside of the UK and Republic of Ireland. I wonder, I just wonder, who that mystery reader might be…

Let’s hope that current owner Trinity Mirror keep a safe hold of the Sunday Sun – and sister assets the Sunday Mercury in Birmingham and Wales on Sunday in Cardiff.