The News of the World scandal is a powerful example of why the Guardian is shifting to a ‘digital-first’ strategy.

Nick Davies has tirelessly reported on the state of affairs at the soon-to-be-defunct tabloid; one article published in July 2009 highlights illegal activity at the News of the World, implicating Andy Coulson two years before he was arrested this morning.

This went largely ignored. Other newspapers, broadcasters, politicians and – most importantly – the public, turned a blind eye to Davies’ legitimate reports.

So what’s changed in the two years since Davies wrote that article? A concession has to be made for how the Guardian has angled the story this week: as pointed out before, the hacking of a murdered child’s voicemail – as opposed to a celebrity’s – gave the accusations an emotional angle that was deftly exploited by the Guardian.

But also important was the Guardian’s use of the internet. It played a vital role in bringing this story to the public consciousness. Within hours of the website publishing the Milly Dowler story, social media outlets were alive with discussion concerning the News of the World, a reaction absent from Davies’ article in 2009.

The Guardian – as it does for many major stories these days – launched a live blog collating news reports, punditry and snippets of what was being said on Twitter. The combination of both newspaper and public shouting from the rooftops forced the hands of others: broadcasters had no choice but to cover the story; politicians would have looked complicit if the issue was not raised in parliament.

It’s impossible to know for sure, but such results would have been unlikely if the story was solely printed in the paper. The Guardian has realised the power of the internet unlike any other UK publisher.

As the fortunes of the world’s largest media company begin to falter the Guardian is close to making itself more powerful than ever with its forward-thinking approach.

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