It is often claimed that the media in Russia is not free unlike that of the West. The West is the model to follow. But in practise some of the most important media in this country is not free - it is under the control of oligarches, the West's equivalent of Berezovsky. Oligarches such as Murdoch - does Murdoch influence the editorial direction of his media outlets? He most certainly does, as Andrew Neil, most certainly not a left-winger, and a former Murdoch editor says.
"Rupert Murdoch was an enormous presence in my life. He leaves you in no doubt that if he's not there in person he's there in spirit and you've got to stick to the parameters. "
Essentially if you don't you are in trouble and you will loss your job.
But this comes from secondary sources, what about the primary sources? Well Murdoch himself admitted to a Parliamentary committee that he exerts control over issues such as what party to back in elections and what views to express about Europe.
So is the media in the UK free? The answer is no. When you read the papers or watch certain TV stations you are in fact being feed the party line according to Murdoch.
"Rupert Murdoch was an enormous presence in my life. He leaves you in no doubt that if he's not there in person he's there in spirit and you've got to stick to the parameters. "
Essentially if you don't you are in trouble and you will loss your job.
But this comes from secondary sources, what about the primary sources? Well Murdoch himself admitted to a Parliamentary committee that he exerts control over issues such as what party to back in elections and what views to express about Europe.
So is the media in the UK free? The answer is no. When you read the papers or watch certain TV stations you are in fact being feed the party line according to Murdoch.
This post ignores the dozens of other media outlets, such as the not insignificant BBC, which are not controlled by Murdoch. And it also ignores the fact that it is government control over the media which is the measure of an unfree press, not the degree to which the owner of media influences his output.
ReplyDeleteBBC owned by government, Sky etc. owned by Murdoc. Public v. private.
ReplyDeletewhen it comes to the media the notion of free is secondary to comprehensive and it is more and more evident to the critical reader that western media is not interested or capable to represent the different sides of any issues.
ReplyDelete