The London Sunday Times is owned by Murdoch

[librarycard]

So, why did this ultra right wing owner allow the publishing of the Downing Street Memo?

Just asking...

[SteppingRazor]

1. Murdoch likes money, not the GOP

In America, siding with the GOP is how you make money. In Britain, whoever lands big, expose stories gets the money. In fact, the Times of London is generally seen as one of the more conservative papers.

Also, in the end, while Murdoch can mandate his media acquisitions have a conservative edge, he doesn't greenlight everything they do. The editor of the Times OKed this story, so it's more important to look at his politics. And if he's a conservative in England, then doing something that gets Blair (i.e. The Labour Party) in trouble is a good thing.

Make sense?

[librarycard]

2. Yep

Thanks! Appreciate it!

[Cleita]

3. Because England has laws about what they

publish and especially it's accuracy. Even Mr. Murdoch must comply. Even the English tabloids that are so notorious can't print anything that is untrue and undocumented without incurring hefty fines. In the case of the memos I would say it's about keeping up with the other papers. If every paper is publishing them and they don't, it looks like censorship, doesn't it?

This seems to extend to TV media. Although CNN International, whose headquarters are in London, is under the same corporate aegis as CNN Atlanta, the quality of the news coverage is what we want CNN to do here. But since CNN Atlanta is only a propaganda mill for Bush, it doesn't.

[librarycard]

4. Why didn't the BBC get the memo before the Sunday Times?

Granted, BBC doesn't have a newspaper, but at least it would have received worldwide coverage on the web.

[Cleita]

5. That I don't know because I'm not privvy to how they handle

hot potatoes, which this is. I'm sure the BBC, has it's reasons and since what we get in the USA is geared toward American Audiences, it could be someone at the American offices of the BBC erred in judgement.

[SteppingRazor]

6. That's an easy answer too.

BBC is state-run. The Times of London is not. And, if I recall correctly (and I'm fairly sure I do), The Labour Party was working on its budget in April and May, as reported by the BBC.

Wouldn't want them to suddenly see their funding slashed, yeah? It's just a hypothesis, but whatever the situation in politics, it's usually about money.

[Cleita]

9. BBC America isn't state run here in the good ole USA

but must rely on advertising. Read their FAQ's.

http://www.bbcamerica.com/about/about.jsp#whyads

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. The reporter Michael Smith must have a personal contact who made the leaks

He was working for the Telegraph (another right wing British newspaper) in September 2004 when he got the story for most of the other memos, and then he moved to the Sunday Times before the May 2005 leak.

Michael Smith served for nine years in the British Army's Intelligence Corps as a latter-day codebreaker before going to work for the BBC Monitoring Service. He has written for a number of newspapers, including the Financial Times, the Sunday Times, and most recently the Daily Telegraph, where he is Defense Correspondent.

http://us.penguingroup.com/nf/Author/AuthorPage/0,,0_1000029904,00.html

When the Sunday Times reported the story, it was immediately picked up by the BBC, The Observer, and the Independent on Sunday - all had stories that were posted on DU on May 1st.

[sweetheart]

8. check out how the times reported on the lynching apology

It must be clinton's fault.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,171-1653521,00.html

An ignorant reader would have no idea that it was republicans
that are voting against it... murdoch is alive and well
misreporting the news in london.