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Is it now simply fish and chip time for last Wednesday’s papers, apart from the inevitable rap over the knuckles from the Press Complaints Commission?

The apology was certainly produced with astonishing speed, although it

is difficult to agree with the PCC chairman, Lord Wakeham, that a

day-after apology proves that self-regulation is working.

Two constituencies have yet to be heard from in the latest tabloid rush

to expose - readers and advertisers. The reaction of both could be every

bit as critical as the PCC in determining whether the latest avalanche

continues sweeping all before it.

The cynical view is that the Sophie story is a one-day wonder that

helped The Sun put on an estimated 200,000 copies and that is the end of it.

Certainly the affair does not have the resonance of The Sun’s attack on

the Liverpool fans after Hillsborough, which led to a prolonged boycott

in the city. And advertisers are unlikely to react so negatively as when

The Mirror decided that we were back in the Second World War just

because we were playing football against Germany.

There might be commercial implications. Chris Tarrant is a powerful

enemy to have made so unnecessarily.

The danger for the News of the World and The Sun lies in the impact of

four consecutive days of attacking publicly known, and in some cases

loved, public figures.

Will readers be filled with moral outrage that Lenny Henry was

apparently playing away with a blonde or will they think it was all a

rather unnecessary humiliation for Dawn French? Comedy fans could be

upset.

Ian Botham has long been regarded as a bit of a lad, so no great news

there. But cricket fans could be irritated.

The Dallaglio situation is more complicated, and whether he was taking

drugs or only boasting about them in a mindless way, is irrelevant.

England has lost a powerful rugby captain courtesy of the tabloids just

before the start of the World Cup. Rugby fans will not be overjoyed that

the squad has been weakened at a crucial moment.

As for Sophie, neither she nor her about-to-be husband are exactly the

most popular of Royals, a factor that may have played a part in the

calculation to publish the photograph. But strange as it may seem, there

are devotees of Royalty out there and many of them must be Sun readers -or at least they were.

As for advertisers the position is perfectly clear It is in their

interest to have the right, positive environment for their ads and they

too can have their influence by walking across the street for a week or

two. It’s probably unlikely to happen this time. But if the stream of

disclosures involving sometimes minor indiscretions and smelling of

entrapment were to continue, that too could change.

Raymond Snoddy is The Times’ media editor.