Will Murdoch destroy the Journal? Will he undermine the paper’s values and call that “investment”?
Guessing Murdoch’s Strategy for The Journal
By RICHARD SIKLOS
Since the News Corporation’s offer for Dow Jones & Company was made public three months ago, Rupert Murdoch’s business career, character and motives have been dissected in an effort to predict what he might do as the owner of The Wall Street Journal.
The Cincinnati Post to say farewell Dec. 31
Owner Scripps cites market pressures, changes in announcing newspaper’s end after 126 years
Now we officially become a one newspaper town.
Will the Press Idiocy Ever Stop?
The U.S. political press corps distorted the Bush-Gore presidential race of 2000 by repeatedly misquoting Al Gore to transform the Vice President into a delusional braggart. This dishonest media coverage influenced the votes of millions of Americans and set the stage for the disastrous presidency of George W. Bush. Yet, the apocryphal quotes — such as Gore supposedly saying “I invented the Internet” — live on.
Wall Street Journal reporters protest possible sale
Wall Street Journal reporters skipped work Thursday morning to demonstrate the need for editorial independence as owner Dow Jones & Co. weighs a $5 billion offer from Rupert Murdoch, the employees’ union said.
The Murdoch Factor
by Paul Krugman
In October 2003, the nonpartisan Program on International Policy Attitudes published a study titled “Misperceptions, the media and the Iraq war.” It found that 60 percent of Americans believed at least one of the following: clear evidence had been found of links between Iraq and Al Qaeda; W.M.D. had been found in Iraq; world public opinion favored the U.S. going to war with Iraq.
Cable competition bill a threat to local programming, critics say
A bill that would rewrite the rules governing cable television franchises in Ohio and help telecommunications giant AT&T Inc. enter the video market threatens to wipe out local public access channels, critics say.
Reinventing newspapers is Murdoch’s long-range goal
In Rupert Murdoch’s world, two things are certain: the sun never sets on the kingdom, and a television is always on in the background.
U.S. Media Have Lost the Will to Dig Deep
A changed news culture has let several important investigative stories slip through the cracks.
By Greg Palast
April 27, 2007
On the Media and Imus
via Freepress.net
Don Imus and What’s Ailing the Media
That people took advantage of their rights to help convince networks and advertisers to abandon Imus is much less a threat to democracy than the fact that control over what we read, see and hear through the media is in fewer and fewer hands.
Joseph Hughes, TPM Cafe
Imus Is a Symptom of Centralized Media
Lost in the debate over Don Imus is any discussion of U.S. media policy, which created and sustains a system that richly rewards “shock jock” programming.
Wally Bowen, Ashville Citizen Times
Big Media and the Imus ‘Accident’
Stations that aired Imus’ talk show were more likely to be owned by large group owners — companies that own stations in multiple markets or own more than three stations in a single market. None of them were minority-owned stations.
Timothy Karr, StopBigMedia.com
Pay attention to the world
In a previously unpublished essay, written just before her death in 2004, Susan Sontag makes a passionate case for the moral superiority of the novel in a mass-media age
News War: What’s Happening to the News?
Frontline
Tuesday, February 27, 9:00pm
Lowell Bergman examines the economic pressures the news industry faces because of aging audiences and the Internet. Included: comments from “Daily Show” head writer David Javerbaum; Ted Koppel; former L.A. Times managing editor Dean Baquet.
Newswar
Secrets, Sources & Spin (Part I) started 4 minutes ago on PBS. You can watch it online if you miss it.
