He owns 60% of the world's media.
And 70% of Australia's.
His mother is actually rather lovely.
And despite his best efforts, we still have journalists left with honour and integrity.
So who is he? You guessed it, he is the Grinch who stole media, and he goes by the name of Rupert Murdoch. And now he is planning on making a few extra bucks by introducing charges for content on his online newspapers. In order to encourage folks to pay up, he is also considering removing stories from Google's search index.
Rupert dear, is your rich ass not rich enough already? The beauty of news online is that it is free and easily accessible to all.
But then again, really who am I to judge? We all have to struggle for those extra few dollars. (Or those extra few billions). It's a daily hussle in this is cold, hard world. One day you could be sitting on top, the next day you might not afford to fly your private jet. That is the sad reality people!!!!
Plus the outcome of this might just be that less people read his crap. And wouldn't that be a sigh of relief :)
Apart from stifling media freedom around the globe, Rupert also enjoys running his mouth on every goddamn issue under the sun:
Mr Murdoch took a swipe at US President Barack Obama, saying he was "going badly".
But his comments on the Prime Minister were the most striking.
Mr Murdoch described Mr Rudd as "delusional" for thinking he could shift global thinking on climate change and accused him of being over-sensitive to criticism.
He also said Mr Rudd seemed more interested in running the world and not Australia.
Why oh why do you think your political opinions are so important? Oh thats right, because 33% of those who recieved their news primarily from Fox thought Weapons of Mass Destruction had been discovered in Iraq. (As Rupert says, he doesn't tell the editors what to write, but he does "choose the editors.")
Our ever-so-classy Aussie-born Grinch also hit back at the ABC's managing director, Mark Scott, who recently likened News Corporation to an empire in decline (all of a sudden I like this Mark Scott dude):
Mr Murdoch says Mr Scott's push to launch an international TV service to rival CNN and BBC World is folly.
"Spending $800 million putting Australian culture and didgeridoos around the world is huge over-reach," he told Sky News."
I'm sensing a little jealousy, tinged with a tiny bit of-oh dare I say it- racism there Rupert?? Or atleast disdain for Australian and Indigenous culture?
I can just imagine what you were thinking: Those Aboriginals with their didgeridoos! Don't those bloody people realize Pussycat Dolls are the only acceptable form of entertainment!
You shouldn't worry about that though Rupie, even President Obama is racist...Don't you agree?
One song seems to come to mind..
"You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch.
You really are a heel.
You're as cuddly as a cactus,
You're as charming as an eel...."
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5 comments:
Mr Murdoch, who was the key figure in the coarsening of modern Britain, has risen to the challenge of keeping abreast of our times.
His reliquarium, The Sun, has just successfully parasitised the grief of a bereaved soldier's mother in order to turn political tricks against the UK Prime Minister that exploit his sight problems and his efforts to express personal condolence.
All's fair in politics - but we don't really want you in our politics, Mr Murdoch.
We definately don't! He's also turned on Kevin Rudd in Australia, so we can expect the newspapers he owns here to do the same. Thankfully we still don't have anything quite as bad as Fox news in the US, which I've had the (dis)pleasure of viewing. I don't mean this lightly when I say that half of the "journalists" he has working on that networ are severly mentally unstable.
I'm still scratching my head as to how it is legal for one man in Aus to own 70% of the media??? As if there aren't laws against that kind of monopoly!
Did you know that blogging really took off after 9/11 because people were dissatisfied with the news? Also, polls in America show that most Americans do not trust news stories to be accurate. One study I found last month also shows that 30% of people find blogs to be credible sources of information. Also, although I am in my fourth block of classes, my instructors still have to tell the class that wikipedia is not a credible source for primary information.
Unfortunately, the distrust of news media is going to make people turn to more blogs even more. Yet, most blogs can't pass simple credibility tests.
New media has definately impacted the way that traditional media is now making money. For example, even within traditional media, commercials are now paid for by views which can be tracked like television viewership. Traditional media has revamped the way it is charging for advertising on their websites, and some media companies are now even creating and producing commercials for companies. A whole show was created for Microsoft 7 where the show "Family Guy" was dedicated to one charachter learning how to use Microsoft 7 - Microsoft actually rejected the show after the completion because if you've ever watched this cartoon - well, it's pretty crude and Microsoft did not want to be associated with it.
I'm sure that Murdock's companies have been very effected by the economy in which traditional media is suffering while new media is actually prospering. Perhaps, the simplest idea is to create money through websites that doesn't count on advertising revenue. However, taking the approach of charging customers to view online news might be profitable in the short term but doesn't take into account what might happen in the long term.
I suspect that such a move would actually boost blog popularity even more. Which in the long run will curb the desire to purchase online news. Especially if organized blogs like HuffPo become keen to purchasing subscriptions and commenting on stories where readers have no need to purchase online news subscriptions. This also creates another disadvantage to news sources who charge for viewing because there is no way for readers to actually read the whole article. This also helps with the marginalization of Murdoch's media companies who charge for viewing because it will only be those whose views are represented by these companies that will pay for the subscription. Before, it was available online for free and therefore even the slightest controversy - which is about daily from Fox, no? - would bring those that agree and disagree to see what the fuss is about or what are "they" saying.
Stupid move on Murdoch's account but perhaps a welcome move by people sick of the vomit thrust upon us by this media group.
lol - did any of that make sense?
Great post! Rupie is one greedy SOB - and his opinions need to stay out of the news, but since he owns most of it, there's not much we can do. Shame!!!
Hey Samaha-haha yes that did make sense :) I had no idea that blogs started gaining popularity after 9/11. Makes sense.
"Stupid move on Murdoch's account but perhaps a welcome move by people sick of the vomit thrust upon us by this media group."
Definately agree with that. U guys have fox in the US, how do you deal with that crap??!
Susie-thanks for visiting. I know, but atleast thanks to the internet there are now many more different opinions available :)
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