Independent UK: The shadow of a monstrous power (Rupert Murdoch)

[marmar]

Adrian Hamilton: The shadow of a monstrous power
He has the power to propel policy where it matters to him because the cost of quarrelling with him appears too great

Friday, 4 March 2011


If there was one thing that has been certain in this uncertain world of politics today, it was that Rupert Murdoch would be allowed to go ahead with his bid for full ownership of BSkyB without referral to a competition inquiry. Tens of thousands might write petitions opposing it; half the media might come out against it; MPs might rail against the phone-hacking apparently prevalent in the News International stable; and Vincent Cable, the Business Secretary, might declare that this would be the defining moment when Murdoch would be brought to heel. But as surely as night follows day, no government – of whatever persuasion – was going to set itself up in battle against the mogul that is Murdoch.

It is the reasons given for avoiding a referral that are so pathetic and so demeaning. All this stuff about hiving off Sky News into a separate, publicly quoted company, with an independent chairman and a set of rules keeping Murdoch at bay, are so much guff. Even more humiliating is the publication of the correspondence with the Culture Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, suggesting that Murdoch had somehow been forced to swallow his pride and accept that his family, who had founded SkyTV and Sky News, would be prevented from ever having a seat.

Make no mistake, Rupert Murdoch and his heirs despise all this business of terms and obligations. He has been through it before with the takeover of The Times and The Sunday Times and more recently with the Wall Street Journal. He does whatever is needed, appointing independent directors and accepting self-denying ordinances for editorial interference, and they mean nothing to him.

This is not because he has some subtle plan for the domination of editorial opinion on the airwaves or print. Far from it. In his mind all such protestations about the purity of content are simply irrelevant. He believes he knows how to make money out of old-fashioned and tired media and he has proved he can do it. In this case he wants full ownership of the satellite television corporation he founded because he sees it as a source of what he has always valued most – a steady flow of cash. Nearing 80, he wants a clear-cut organisation that can survive for his children, by his Chinese wife as well as his Australian one. .......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/adrian-hamilton/adrian-hamilton-the-shadow-of-a-monstrous-power-2231624.html