“Is News becoming embarrassed by what’s made News great?”
A News Ltd associate editor, defending News Of The World and lamenting its closure, asks:
Is News becoming embarrassed by what’s made News great?
…Is the News empire at risk of selling out the Murdoch spirit that has helped to democratise the press and challenge the smug group-think of the Left? Is Fox News next?
Ah yes, News Ltd. Famous for “democratising” the press and not in any way using media power to bully governments into giving the proprietor what he wants at the expense of ordinary voters.
Let’s hope shutting down the News of the World doesn’t make News Ltd less like News of the World was.
If it reassures our friend at Southbank: we doubt it will.
ELSEWHERE: Have you been oppressed by the smug group-think of the Left and don’t have your own column published by the biggest media conglomerate in the country to whinge hilariously about it? We gather that The Australian’s Media Diarist wants to hear from you.
UPDATE: Media Diary, first with the media news, reports today on a Crikey public apology from 2008. (Originally the MD story didn’t feature the date, because although the screenshot showed the URL and it would’ve been the work of seconds to type it into a web browser – and what professional journalist has the time to do that these days? – the twitter picture from which it was sourced apparently excluded it.) We can’t wait till Media Diary starts letting Australian readers catch up on what was happening in 2009.
I was trying to think of something witty to say, but I just can’t beat what’s in that quote.
Re phone hacking, Bolt claims – “Never in my 15 years w Newsltd have I heard of it”.
It’s gratifying to see the majority of comments seeing through the bollocks, though. Even Bolt can’t spin this to a win. But the devil knows he’s trying.
Same with responses to O’Neill’s piece in The Australian, too. These people just don’t know how to cut losses.
Poor old Andy doesn’t seem to be getting a lot of support from his commenters.
You’re in a very sad place when boobs, bigotry, warmongering, nationalism, celebrity scandals, phone hacking, shock jocks and political propaganda make a news empire “great”.
Case in point:
And of course, the national broadsheet here in Oz has declared it wants to see it’s ideological enemies in parliament “destroyed”. Democratising indeed.
Can you imagine Andrew’s response if the owner of competing media organisation openly declared they would use their newspapers to actively campaign against a Coalition government policy? He’d be saying “All of this is strangely familiar”.
Hilarious.
In Brisbane tonight Rupert is holding a public forum with PM Gillard about the carbon tax.
The problem is it ISN’T OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!
Speaking of “tax” and what made “News Corp” great, well I wish I had tax arrangements like this:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/12/column-dcjohnston-murdoch-idUSN1E76A1NH20110712
For all the claims of ‘smug group-think’ made by these right wing mouthpieces, I’ve never seen the effect more clearly as on actual News Ltd blogs…perhaps it’s their um ‘editing’ and comment selection that presents such an extremely lop-sided view (to create the impression everyone is in unison?) but most blogs where there is genuine debate tend to represent a relatively wider spectrum of dissenting views…
Projection is of course one of the most commonly used tools of the right.
You have to wonder…just how low does that company have to go to make their audience question their credibility?
Do they honestly believe a company with a culture (no matter how distant geographically) that condones hacking the phones of missing (murdered) girls would really hesitate to utterly misrepresent science in favor of corporate interests?
It beggars belief that the Murdoch progeny was unaware of this culture…much less that anyone should take seriously their claim that they present a credible source of ‘both sides’ of the phony ‘climate debate’
Bolt thinks average Australians (not the readers of his blog – or this one) give a crap about what happens to Fox News, haha.
They couldn’t care less.
Classic News Ltd techniques used to defend the indefensible for decades. They’re just particularly amusing when its their own corporate culture they’re trying to defend.
As for Overington- pfft. Maybe George Newhouse wants to do an interview?
For an accurate description of who reads which UK papers, you can’t beat this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeQC45KunwA
Not a Murdoch paper but:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eBT6OSr1TI
Oh but what about the Merc drivers in the great european outdoors?
those oh-so-cultured climate denying readers?
Just that he posted that picture is an embarrassing insight to his ego (delusion?)…we know he reads the knuckle dragging racism and stupidity in his comments..like those twits are recreating scenes from imported car ads!
I wonder how the right wing group think editorialisers of the Murdoch rags who write the same editorials each week, particularly over their rabid agreement to murder iraqis, feel about right wing group think.
The story is a marvel to behold and I wish the Australian pollies would find the balls the Brits finally have.
Poor oppressed andy. Because of teh evil lefties, all he’s got to defend himself is his own TV show, a regular column, a blog, multiple radio appearances, a book, and the occasional interview on Today Tonight. Not to mention a ten year tax-payer funded stint on the national broadcaster.
Talk about lack of free rightie speak in this country.
WTF is a “democratised” press?
Is this just a fancy way of saying that the Murdoch media edits its news to fit with what it thinks the audience wants to hear? Didn’t Penbo admit something similar recently?
Because that’s not journalism – that’s entertainment.
actually mondo, I think that more that the Murdocracy edits its news to fit with what it wants the audience to think. That’s not entertainment, that’s propaganda.
I see. News Ltd doesn’t have any political ideology or agenda; it’s just an “empire” dedicated to challenging the left.
Angra @12 – I knew that would be the link. Honestly, there’s a Yes (Prime) Minister clip for pretty much every political event.
http://www.smh.com.au/business/news-apologises-for-website-virus-after-hack-attack-20110713-1hdeh.html
Damn, for a moment I thought AB might have been the virus
I like how the Southbank Jester carries on about the Left’s smug groupthink while yet again linking to a News Ltd piece to bolster an argument. Nothing smug about that, though. No, sir.
You Go Girl (or boy)
Love your work.
OOp’S
I meant The Shepherd.
Oh Dear!
I wonder how The Jester can blame this on Teh Lefts? I wonder if he’s worried his own operations will be axed at some stage? Tee Hee!
Big, big trouble comin’, kemosabe…
Overington trumpets that the News Ltd Code of Conduct IS available on the internet, and links to it.There it is…available courtesy of ABC MediaWatch.
A bit dated but, Nick Davies, who finally got Mudorc in the Grauniad, wrote Flat Earth News, 12 years ago.
It ought to become a text book for meeja students, as once was Neil Postman’s “amusing Ourselves to Death” but, like Marshall McLuhan’s “Understanding the Media” whence came the much neglected the Medium is the Message or, more accurately these drear days, “massage”.
Probably too many big words or difficult ideas for anyone under 40. RN is doing an homage to MMcL this w/e.
US Senator warns Rupert Murdoch of “serious consequences” if the alleged hacking of mobile phones belonging to the families of 9/11 victims is proved:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jul/13/phone-hacking-reaches-us
Oh to be a fly on the wall – Clear the poop decks! Danger Will Robinson!
http://www.smh.com.au/business/expenses-review-for-murdochs-aussie-papers-20110713-1hdot.html
yeh more of that spectacular self-regulation….
Lucky this is the “new” code of conduct, eh Hartigan?
Still, mistakes happen don’t they?
Ooops! Well…
Oh dear.
http://www.springhillvoice.com/judicialcriticism.html
Anyway, NOW they are going to respect the rule of law.
It must be true. Otherwise, why would they have so many lawyers?
And speaking of “News” and the law, The Guardian is reporting that:
Something about rodents and sinking ships springs to mind!
If ever there was an opportunity to indulge in some legitimate, guilt-free schadenfreude, then Mr Murdoch’s recent ‘misfortunes’ are certainly it.
As ye sow, so ye shall reap, old man. A bitter harvest indeed.
Karma really is a bitch.
And, finally, one of my favourites from that case where Murdoch’s Minions copped a whacking:
What “gesture” to Mr Bolt could possibly qualify as “inappropriate”?
How must it be to get through life with both a glass jaw and a pin dick?
Forgot to mention on the other thread (weekly) about a great sketch from John Finnemore on last weeks The Now Show, about the News Limited revelations in the UK.
Still available as a podcast – and well worth the price of admittance.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/friday-night-comedy-from-bbc/id265307784
Please all, have a listen.
In News Limited’s statement that they were pulling out of the BSkyB bid, they said that they did not think they could continue in “the current climate”.
They deny climate change on one hand, and then the climate changes for them on the other. LOL
Well, it made me laugh.
Oops . It actually said “in this climate”. That’s what you get for using an ipad to post. D’oh
maybe they just mean ‘weather’ since most of their ‘journalists’ and readers don’t know the difference anyway?
And desperate.
Apparently Fox News won’t touch Murdoch story with a “ten foot turban”
http://www.boingboing.net/2011/07/14/fox-news-wont-touch.html
According to this PR guy on Fox New, NTW is the real victim in all this
http://www.boingboing.net/2011/07/17/fox-friends-lash-out.html
Besides it all happened so long ago, and there are currently more pressing issues.