News Corp Scandal Proves Warnings About Media Consolidation Correct

[tishaLA]

Rupe's scandal shows what we have known all along: that too much media power in the hands of too few is dangerous to democracy. Because News Corp controlled so much of the British print, cable, and broadcast media, it became phenomenally easy for them to drag Blair, Cameron, Scotland Yard, and untold others into their web.

In the US, where News Corp has a smaller media share, but where the maliciousness of their tabloid style is nonetheless felt throughout the media, we have the same problem. The difference is that we have a multi-headed beast, Murdoch being only the worst of a bad lot. There's also Disney and Viacom, Comcast and Time Warner. They have their nails dug into our politicians, they control our broadcast and cable networks, they control our cable systems, and they keep us distracted while they continue merging and acquiring.

So I'll be glad when Rupe is dealt with--if he is--but he's really a symptom of a large problem. When his company faces justice, let's hope we use it an an impetus to start a larger resetting of media.

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. Yes, they need to be broken up

[Prometheus Bound]

2. Murdoch and certain politicians have really made a mockery of democracy in the UK.

Imagine one man, a foreigner no less, and unelected, deciding who gets elected and whether or not the country goes to war.

[aquart]

3. The UK?

[Prometheus Bound]

4. Yes.

[WillyT]

5. K & R !!!

:kick:

[WillyT]

6. Hey tishaLA !!! - You Mght Wanna Check This Out:

Rupert Murdoch's empire must be dismantled – Ed Miliband
Labour leader urges for new media ownership rules saying News Corporation chief has too much power in the UK
Toby Helm, Jamie Doward and Daniel Boffey
guardian.co.uk, Saturday 16 July 2011 21.00 BST

<snip>

Ed Miliband has demanded the breakup of Rupert Murdoch's UK media empire in a dramatic intervention in the row over phone hacking. In an exclusive interview with the Observer, the Labour leader calls for cross-party agreement on new media ownership laws that would cut Murdoch's current market share, arguing that he has "too much power over British public life".

Miliband says that the abandonment by News International of its bid for BSkyB, the resignation of its chief executive, Rebekah Brooks, and the closure of the News of the World are insufficient to restore trust and reassure the public.

The Labour leader argues that current media ownership rules are outdated, describing them as "analogue rules for a digital age" that do not take into account the advent of mass digital and satellite broadcasting.

"I think that we've got to look at the situation whereby one person can own more than 20% of the newspaper market, the Sky platform and Sky News," Miliband said. "I think it's unhealthy because that amount of power in one person's hands has clearly led to abuses of power within his organisation. If you want to minimise the abuses of power then that kind of concentration of power is frankly quite dangerous."

<snip>

More: http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/jul/16/rupert-murdoch-ed-miliband-phone-hacking

:kick: & Rec!!!

:hi:

[tishaLA]

7. thanks.

That's a great piece (and far more specific than what I wrote). I just hope Americans learn important lessons from this as quickly as the Brits have.

[WillyT]

8. You Are Quite Welcome !!!

:bounce:

:hi: