Four years ago, I wrote about the functions of bigotry in the mass media, and the ever charming Melanie Phillips was my case study. Then, somewhat counter-intuitively, The Daily Mail made use of Mel to get the lefties in and boost their clicks per second average. Every idiocy that tripped off her keyboard was then, in […]
Posts Tagged ‘Rupert Murdoch’
Why media conglomerates should be broken up
Jul 8th, 2014 by Michael Meacher.The hacking trials aren’t even half the issue. The hard, unavoidable fact remains that the power of the Murdoch press – the real unspoken stain behind the Brooks-Coulson trials – is undiminished and has still not been broken. It is best illustrated by the run-up of events to the long-planned Murdoch campaign to take over […]
Share:
Rebekah Brooks: “Not Guilty”. OK?
Jun 28th, 2014 by Michael Meacher.Now that the case is over, it is worth noting some of the details which hitherto could not be reported. Milly Dowler was a child who was abducted and then killed by a predatory paedophile. News of the World (NoW) journalists chanced on a voicemail which suggested she might still be alive and working in […]
Share:
Sham regulator just a device by Murdoch & co to distract from real press accountability
Jun 3rd, 2014 by Michael Meacher.The launch last week of the press industry-backed press regulator is a farce, but one that the media moguls are determined to run for all it’s worth. This is press industry-driven self-regulation again in all but name. The press industry is one of the three biggest powers in the State, along with the finance industry […]
Share:
The media barons’ last pitiful throw
May 1st, 2013 by Michael Meacher.They really have got a nerve. After unanimous agreement of all parties in Parliament for a Royal Charter to ensure proper press standards (which among the UK tabloids at present are arguably the worst in Europe), they deign to produce an alternative without a shred of remorse or apology so that they can carry on exactly as […]
Share:
Hunt’s referral on ministerial code should be decided by Parliament, not PM
Jun 2nd, 2012 by Michael Meacher.On the face of it the evidence for referring Hunt to the independent adviser on the Ministerial code seems overwhelming. Hunt has always maintained his role was “quasi-judicial”, i.e. he should act like a judge in keeping his distance from all interested parties and certainly not showing favour to one of them. Yet, almost incredibly, […]
Share:
How does one stop over-cosy relationships between politicians and media moguls?
May 31st, 2012 by Michael Meacher.Andy Coulson’s arrest for alleged perjury in the Tommy Sheridan trial isn’t just an embarrassment for Cameron. It raises a much wider and more difficult issue: how can a deeply insidious, unhealthy and toxic relationship between politicians and media proprietors – specifically the Tories (Thatcher), New Labour (Blair), the Tories again (Cameron) and Murdoch – […]
Share:
It’s not Hunt’s neck that’s now on the line, it’s Cameron’s
May 13th, 2012 by Michael Meacher.The evidence revealing the inappropriately close relationship between Cameron and News International in the run-up to the BSkyB bid gathered pace in the last two days with the appearance of Coulson and Brooks before Leveson. First, there was Cameron’s insouciance about hiring Coulson to No.10 without thorough checks on what he may have known about […]
Share:
Leveson chain reaction will reach No.10
Apr 26th, 2012 by Michael Meacher.In typically British Establishment manner Adam Smith, chief of staff to Jeremy Hunt, fell on his sword but not before uttering the the ritual words required to exculpate his master: “the content and extent of my contact (with News International) was done without authorisation from the Secretary of State”. Pull the other one. For over […]
Share:
News International upholds probity? So be it
Mar 26th, 2012 by David Osler.The righteous, so the rabbinical maxim has it, have their work done for them. After yesterday’s Sunday Times so perfectly skewered the venality of the Conservative Party, all the average lefty need do is sit back with a big wide smirk on his or her face. Some commentators are suggesting that this operation was carefully […]
