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Murdoch Watching
139/Granville Williams
Rupert Murdoch believes that in three years there will be three global media corporations and his company, News Corporation, will be one of them. He made this comment after releasing the company’s half-year results in February, 2004.For years, Murdoch’s strategy has been to build a global media group with a firm hold on content and distribution, and he has been willing to shift political allegiances, even his nationality, to achieve this. One part of that strategy was realised last December when he secured US distribution for all his content businesses by buying the US satellite pay-tv group Direct TV for $6.6bn.
The UK, however, still remains an important focus for Murdoch and two recent news items should give us cause for concern. Back in 1995 we carried an article by John Pilger, analysing the significance of Tony Blair’s trip to Australia to address News Corporation’s executives. It signalled the start of the process, which led to Murdoch’s papers backing Blair in the 1997 and 2001 general elections.
Fast forward to 2004. The Independent (2 March) carried the report: ‘Michael Howard, the Tory leader, will be the star guest at the tycoon’s global conference this month.’ Murdoch has already raised the possibility that papers like The Sun could switch allegiance from Blair to the Tories if they look like a viable alternative government.
It is worth mentioning that Michael Howard’s press secretary is Guy Black (formerly secretary of the Press Complaints Commission) and a long-standing friend of Rebekah Wade, the Sun’s editor. Through the connection he has succeeded in getting the Conservatives favourable coverage in the tabloid.
Murdoch’s dominance in UK media has also been boosted by Sky News winning the contract to supply news to Channel Five. The disturbing aspect to this is that ITN chief executive Mark Wood described Sky’s bid as ‘predatory and aggressive’ and said, ‘We could not produce a quality news programme at the kind of reduced price levels at which the new contract seems to have been awarded.’
We have been here before.
Murdoch ruthlessly used predatory pricing in the 1990s. He was willing to bear huge losses during the price wars to weaken and close other newspapers.
Sky also weakened ITN in aggressive bids for the ITV news contract, forcing ITN in turn to slash the cost of its own bids to retain the contract.
The Channel 4 contract is now exposed when it comes up for renewal in 2007, especially if by then ITV has swallowed up ITN, which the Communications Act allows it to. In which case Sky could be the only bidder for the Channel 4 contract.
Rupert Murdoch’s newspapers have been the loudest and most consistent advocates of abolishing the impartiality regulations in broadcast news. Chris Shaw, programme controller at Five, also believes that the impartiality requirements on broadcast news should be relaxed. There is a great danger that sections of UK broadcast news could be subjected to the same treatment as Fox News in the US.
We have long argued that Rupert Murdoch’s media power has given him an excessive and dangerous influence in UK politics. Politicians foolishly think they can do deals with him when the only sensible course is to challenge and limit his media power. Tony Blair may soon regret that he did not follow this course, if after all the attempts to ingratiate himself with Murdoch, the media mogul decides it is time to dump Blair before the next general election.
Last modified: Tuesday, April 13, 2004
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Notices
Events & Announcements
World Press Freedom Day
More reporters are currently imprisoned in Turkey than in any other country in the world. Only a matter of weeks ago lawyers failed to persuade a Turkish court to release a 76-year-old journalist from a Turkish internet news station.
World Press Freedom Day on Friday May 3, 2013 is being marked in Britain by a rally to highlight the dangers facing journalists in Turkey and in this podcast, Nicholas Jones speaks to Barry White, Organiser at the Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom, and Sam Bamford, the TUC's policy officer for Eastern Europe and Africa about the importance of a campaign to highlight international press freedom.
The World Press Freedom Day rally is being staged by the National Union of Journalists at the NUJ head office, Gray’s Inn Road, London WC1 on Thursday May 2, 6pm-8pm.
DATELINE: 27/4/13
UK launch of EU media campaign
DATELINE: 13/3/13
The UK launch of a 'European Citizens' Initiative' calling for EU rules against concentration of media power will take place on Thursday March 21 from 11:00am – 12:30pm in Committee Room 4A at the House of Lords, London. Guest speakers will include actor and activist Hugh Grant (pictured), media consultant Claire Enders, Professor Steven Barnett, Barry McCall (President of the NUJ) and Marc Gruber (Director of the European Federation of Journalists).
A European Citizens' Initiative is an official petition, like a Downing Street petition. If it succeeds in gathering a million signatures across the EU, the Commission is obliged to respond.
This petition calls for the EU to act to protect media pluralism and press freedom.
CPBF Annual General Meeting
DATELINE: 1/3/13
Make a note in your diary
Saturday 13 July 2013 from 10.00am
NUJ HQ, 308/312 Gray's Inn Road, London WC1.
Leveson, media ownership, CPBF future work.
DOWNLOAD FREEPRESS NOW
DATELINE: 26/3/10
Download Freepress in PDF, ePub or mobi format. Issue 194 now available.
MEDIA FOR ALL CONFERENCE
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Papers from the Media for All Conference
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DATELINE: 26/3/10
The media’s job is to inform and entertain us but we rely on them too to tell us what our rulers and representatives are up to. In the run-up to the Iraq war the government used spin and disinformation in the media to create panic and mislead people. The truth is coming out now, but we need stronger, more independent media to be able to scrutinise governments and make informed choices.
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Previous stories
Miscellany
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book review: Tell Me Lies: Propaganda and Media Distortion in the Attack on Iraq, ed David Miller (Pluto Press £12.99)
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