Dogpile U K

Rupert and the Media Dogpile

There’s no doubt that a body blow has been delivered to Rupert Murdoch’s mighty News Corporation empire. Leading politicians, who until very recently had been both obsequious and fearful, now want to put themselves at least a bargepole’s length away from the media mogul. As Media Lens reader ‘Keith-264’ noted on our message board:

‘Rupert's down and is getting a tabloid handbagging from lots of people who hitherto hid under a stone at the mere sound of his name.’ (July 14, 2011)

Spreading around the blame in an attempt to dilute his own culpability, Cameron stated :

‘The truth is, we have all been in this together—the press, politicians and leaders of all parties—and yes, that includes me.’

There was no sign that he, far less the government, would resign over the matter.

A Guardian team lead by investigative journalist Nick Davies did much to stoke up the heat on Rupert Murdoch, his son James and Rebekah Brooks, as well as the Metropolitan Police in London. While recognising the good journalism undertaken here, the Guardian has not been entirely convincing about its role in ‘warning’ Cameron about Coulson’s connections to a private investigator with a criminal record. As John Hilley asks :

Is it the role of this country's 'leading liberal' newspaper to act as a 'vetting agent' for top politicians?

We asked Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger , deputy editor Ian Katz (who actually placed the phone call to the Tory inner circle) and the ‘unreconstructed idealist’ George Monbiot . Not one of them responded. It appears that Monbiot is a ‘professional troublemaker’ so long as it does not entail asking questions of his own corporate employer.

We must also bear in mind that it makes good business sense to put media competitors under  the spotlight; The Times and Sunday Times are, after all, in the same ‘quality press’ market as the Guardian and the Observer. Weakening the grip of News International on the UK media would have many benefits for the other corporate media players. But the notion that a more honest media would thus emerge, one capable of systematically challenging official propaganda that facilitates military ‘interventions’ and abuses of planet and people, is highly suspect. The same structural constraints ensuring propaganda services on behalf of elite state-corporate interests remain in place.

Dogpile.co.uk - Website Information, Website Worth Calculator ...

Offers a single source to search the Web, images, audio, video, news from Google, Yahoo!, MSN, Ask and many more search engines.

The concise new Partridge dictionary of slang and unconventional English

Key Methods in Geography

E-retailing

Researching Your Family History Online

Using the Internet, level 2 diploma for IT users for City & Guilds