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British Left moves to consolidate media stranglehold after hacking scandal
Labour and the Guardian have the BBC. They’re exploiting News of World debacle to stop greater TV-media plurality, and prospect of FOX UK.
“Murdoch's malign influence must die with the News of the World.” That is the headline chosen by the Sunday edition of the Guardian for its leader column on the demise of Britain’s best-selling Sunday tabloid: an explicit call for the end of Rupert Murdoch as a meaningful force in British public life.
Nothing new there of course. Borderline racism – repeated in Sunday’s article -- about Murdoch’s Australian origins and, worse, his domicile in the United States, has been a staple of Leftist discourse for years. They want to finish him. They don’t care how. And, like vultures circling over a rotting corpse, they sense that the time to swoop is near.
But it is vital to see what lies behind all this, and to understand that if it wasn’t Murdoch it would be (and one day will be) someone else.
To be sure, for the Left, Rupert Murdoch is a hate figure. But he also serves as a proxy for an emerging world of media plurality that fills them with fear.
Of course, that is an inversion of the charge the Guardian itself makes against Murdoch due to his control over several of Britain’s top newspapers.
And once upon a time that argument might have held some force, though a good deal less than was claimed for it. But the rise of the internet has largely put paid to all that.
Most newspapers are loss makers; many will be gone in under a decade; and with the emergence of a multiplicity of online platforms a genuinely pluralistic, text-media environment (including outlets such as The Commentator) cannot now be stopped.
Which is why attention in this debate has so quickly turned to television.
Right now, the issue of the day is Newscorp’s attempt to take over BSKYb. The Labour Party is tabling a motion in parliament calling for the bid to be suspended. The Guardian editorial thundered today that:
“…it is essential that Murdoch's control of BSkyB is rejected, as we have argued consistently in these pages. The spectre of the old Murdoch, whose demise was signalled last week – voracious and threatening – must not rise again from the ashes of the News of the World.”
What exactly do the Guardian and the Labour Party fear so much from this proposed deal? It can’t be media plurality, as they claim, since they’re die hard supporters of the BBC, the state-funded media monolith that dominates international, national, regional and even local broadcasting.
What they fear, of course, is that that left-leaning monolith might get some serious competition. Not right now: Britain’s incredibly rigid broadcasting regulations prevent proprietors from mounting an ideological challenge to BBC bias.
But the fear is that once Murdoch (or someone like him) can establish a major beachhead in the UK television market, it will only be a matter of time before the regulatory environment changes. At which point, the emergence of a British equivalent of the wildly popular FOX News channel will be a foregone conclusion.
That is what this is all about. The Guardian and the Labour Party have a stranglehold over the dominant media outlet influencing the terms of national debate. They don’t have the Sun, they don’t have the Mail, but in the BBC they have something vastly more powerful.
They see a straight line from a successful BSKYb takeover to the emergence of a truly pluralistic television media environment. And that vision terrifies them.
Make no mistake about it. The Left’s agenda is about censorship and control. Nothing more, nothing less.
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Great article.
It's not racist, its anti-Americanism-by-proxy.
Fox is now more popular that ALL of the others put together. Is that because Murdoch is evil? No, its because Fox 'refects' rather than 'shapes' American opinion.
The BBC/Guardian have scored a tactical victory at the expense of a much bigger strategic defeat. As the BSkyB deal comes into the spotlight, we might start getting shining some light on the real plurality issue facing the UK - the complete dominance of the BBC in broadcasting.
A grassroots campaign had a big impact on the NoTW promoting a boycott of its customers, what makes the BBC think it's revenue stream is beyond boycott? i.e don't pay the licence fee.
Yeah, and aliens shot JFK. There's not some BBC/Guardian conspiracy to overthrow freedom of the press. The Telegraph has been critical too, hardly a "pinko" newspaper. The Guardian suggested people vote LibDem at the last election. The BBC were involved in leaking Gordon Brown's "that bigoted woman" comments. The BBC's political correspondent was in the young Conservatives. Left wing conspiracy? Pull the other one.
You've got this completely wrong, the public is incensed about this. And things are changing, social media is moving the message away from media moguls and towards the citizen journalist. People won't get their opinions from newspapers, or even the TV in the future.
WestLondoner- I fear you under-estimate the influence of the BBC in shaping the debate on pretty much every major issue in this country. It is not a lefty conspiracy rather the left fearing that their mouthpiece is under threat. Smash up the BBC and allow the free market to deliver our entertainment.
Consider this as a hypothetical. We have - it appears two opposing forces left and right. So here's an example: what is the most 'extreme' form of Capitalism? Is it not as equal to Communism? After all both; and remember in their extremes and when they run along unchecked - are power and control hungry. Ponder and discuss, because there is not a lot of difference between the two. And what if one malevolent force is controlling both sides - left and right?
Of course the left want to shut Murdoch up (although we shouldn't forget he worked quite happily with Blair!). News International is the biggest threat to both the BBC and the left wing press, as it continues to take an ever larger share of the media. Labour are trying to get political capital out of the BSkyB deal / Murdoch crisis. It should always have gone to the competition commission, but so far it hasn't been proven that Murdoch knew anything about the hacking or bribery. The rule of law says innocent until proven guilty, so there is no legal basis for stopping the takeover.
Of course the left want to shut Murdoch up (although we shouldn't forget he worked quite happily with Blair!). News International is the biggest threat to both the BBC and the left wing press, as it continues to take an ever larger share of the media. Labour are trying to get political capital out of the BSkyB deal / Murdoch crisis. It should always have gone to the competition commission, but so far it hasn't been proven that Murdoch knew anything about the hacking or bribery. The rule of law says innocent until proven guilty, so there is no legal basis for stopping the takeover.
The left has a complete monopoly on our schools, universities and even certain sections of the judiciary. Guardian’s campaign to delegitimise Israel, its support for islamists and hate of Republicans is legendary.
For the good of Britain, their ideology must be defeated.
I must say that Fox has delivered thousands of vital news stories here in the USA. From local news to national, Fox delivers timely, interesting, and accurate news. They have exposed many occurrences that may have not seen the light of day if not for their journalists/news-persons. Some of their hosted shows are right leaning and wear the nerves, but the state, national, and local news shows in the US are excellent.
I seem to have missed the part where you defend the growing scandal of known phone hacking by the News of the World, plus News International's criminally negligent behaviour, at best. If there was no smoke in the first place, The Guardian could not have lit this fire, so Murdoch and his ilk have no one to blame but themselves.
And if the choice is between what you call a 'censored and controlled' BBC and the utterly mindless and idiotic television that Americans are subjected to, I suspect you'd find the British public would choose their system every time.
Murdoch should now "Target" Autotrader magazine with a cheaper and better competitor.
Why? Because the Guardian makes around a £30million loss each year and its existence, ironically, is on the income provided by Autotrader.
The excuse from both from Murdoch and Brooks is that they knew nothing. Although this may exonerate them from this particular scandal, it does raise the question of whether they can be trusted to have such a major stakehold in the UK media if people at the top are so blind to what's going on around them. In this case, accountability seems to have been ignored by those accused, which is a huge worry.
This has nothing to do with who Murdoch or Brooks are, it simply highlights the point that if their excuses for being innocent in this instance are true, they prove themselves to be less than capable. That in itself is a good enough reason to reconsider to whether they would be fit and proper owners of a majority of BSkyB.
'you can't be racist against aussies, they're the same race as us.'
Sure the locals who were there pre-Cook (or various preceding boating types) might argue, but fair point.
It's nothing to do with racism, as you try to imply. Australia and America are nations, not races. And it is perfectly reasonable to prefer that democratic political power in one's country not be corrupted or purchased by citizens of other nations.
It would appear there is *every* reason to stop the Murdoch BSkyB takeover - the revelations (and admissions) of corrupt and criminal activity make it very hard for the regulator to argue that News International meets the requirements of being 'fit and proper' to operate broadcasting.
<> Editor: As we said "borderline racism". And it is surely that. The Australian part is merely suplementary. It is the American part that the Left is using as a card to discredit him. If he was a French socialist they would never mention it and wouldn;t give a hoot...Don't kill the times and Sunday times to of the most innovative newspapers in the world. Guess we will all be reading WSJ one day then
"Make no mistake about it. The Left’s agenda is about censorship and control. Nothing more, nothing less."
Censorship? Hypocritical at best. As far as I am aware, FOX News has hardly mentioned the NoTW scandal ... is FOX trying to cover up the notion that News International (and by extension NewsCorp) may have less than high standards when it comes to the acquisition and reporting of stories? Or do they just not want Mr. Murdoch's widdle biddle feelings hurt?
Or is the biggest scandal in British journalism in years not interesting enough?
Latest scandal in UK stinks. Overall, Fox is excellent quality compared to 65% of the rubbish in the US. I highly recommend protecting alternative viewpoints in the press. If UK is anything like the US, there are not many opposing views to the mainstream left. Many left leaning publications in US are deteriorating in integrity/quality. Fox will run the stories that the other side will not touch.
I'm sorry, but our patient, Guy from the U.S., hasn't taken his meds yet today. His attending physician, Dr. B.S. Detector, thinks that Guy From may be suffering from Troll Syndrome, or even be paid to impersonate someone who actually believes the nonsense he's spouting. Over here, it's better known as Faux News, and is regularly lampooned in This Modern World (by Tom Tomorrow) as Glox News, with alien broadcasters.
As for Murdoch – sic semper tyrannis.
All this BBC glee over Murdoch is making me sick to the stomach, All thats going to be left(pun) in this country is the state monolith. For crying out loud, there is no reasoned debate on the broadcast media in the UK (especially radio!) Just try retuning your freeview box, the BBC list goes on and on...........
UK NEEDS FOX for some counterbalance.
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you can't be racist against aussies, they're the same race as us.