Rupert Murdoch at Brave New Films

Headzup: Murdoch's Meeting

2008-05-11T20:34:43Z

Rupert Murdoch calls a meeting of all the media owners to try and stop the National Conference For Media Reform being held in Minneapolis, MN, June 6-8.

Find out more about the conference here--
http://www.freepress.net/conference

Download daily Catch and Release Comedy™ political cartoons to your mobile phone or iPod at www.headzup.tv

Watch the video

Citizen Murdoch Lusts for Newsday

2008-05-11T21:08:27Z

Here’s a question: Exactly how much power over the media should one person be allowed to have? Because Rupert Murdoch is going to put that to the test.

On Tuesday, Marcus Brauchli, the managing editor of the now Murdoch-owned and formerly reputable Wall Street Journal, suddenly resigned. From Editor & Publisher:

Newsroom union members at The Wall Street Journal are looking at the resignation of Managing Editor Marcus Brauchli as the loss of "a buffer who would maintain editorial independence," according to the union's top leader.

Steve Yount, president of the Independent Association of Publishers' Employees, said word that Brauchli is planning to step down after less than a year in the top editing post has drawn concern among members who believed he helped keep some newsroom independence under the new News Corp. ownership.

"It was reassuring that he was there because he was not a News Corp. guy," Yount said Tuesday. "They had hopes he was maintaining the editorial independence."

Typical Keith Rupert Murdoch-brand "journalism," British stylee

2008-04-13T10:25:43Z

To give us "morally superior" Americans (or so Fox ~~News~~ Prolefeed Channel wants us believing) a taste of what made Keith Rupert Murdoch "the Dirty Digger" (in British eyes), consider as illustration the following specimen from this week's edition of Keith Rupert's British Sunday tabloid, News of the World, as demonstrates what K.R.M. considers "responsible journalism:"

THE brazen mum of Shannon Matthews ABANDONED her first baby in a screaming street bust-up over a fiver for ciggies.
Karen Matthews expected £15 from a pawn shop for her stereo. But when lover John Bretton got just a tenner she stormed off leaving him with their two-week-old son.
Revealing all on his ex's squalid life John said: "Karen's a total slob."
READ: Shannon Matthews timeline
The mother of abducted Shannon is workshy and cares about nothing except booze and fags, says the first man to father one of her seven kids.
<table width="200"><tbody><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td>HER EX: John felt used</td></tr></tbody></table>John was just a boy of 16 when maneater Karen jumped on him, got pregnant and launched into a life devoted to milking the benefits system.
In a shocking insight into slovenly Karen's mucky world John said: "When we met she was 19, good looking, and nicely dressed. But she turned into a total slob."
In ghastly detail, he told how Karen, now facing trial in connection with her daughter's kidnap:
DUMPED him and their newborn baby outside a pawn shop in a bust-up over £5 for cigarettes.
VENTED her foul-mouthed rage in violent rows, chucking pots, pans and furniture at him.
PUFFED up to 60 cigs a day even when she was pregnant.
SCOFFED endless pizzas on the sofa in front of the telly.
BOOZED nights away on budget beer topped up with the cheap fizzy wine Lambrini.
NEVER cooked her kids a meal from scratch and was too lazy even to get takeaways.
Speaking at his home in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, 29-year-old John said: "Karen just goes from one bloke to the next, uses them to have a kid, grabs all the child benefit going and moves on. That's all she wants out of it.
Blag
"She's had seven kids with five men and I was her first victim.
"She was staying with an uncle of mine and I used to go over there and hang out.
"It was obvious Karen fancied me and after a few weeks she took me to bed and that was it. We never went out anywhere or anything like that, we just met up at the house.
"She never bothered with the Pill or any other contraception and after a few months she was pregnant. I really thought we had a future together, but as soon as she got what she wanted, she was off.
"None of the blokes she's had ever have money so she doesn't bother going for maintenance from them.
"She just relies on handouts and what she can blag off the council."
John said Karen, now 32, was not what you'd call a natural at motherhood. "Our little boy Tony was just two weeks old when she abandoned both of us in the street," he recalled.
"I'd taken our stereo into the pawn shop to sell it so we could buy essentials for the baby, nappies and milk. But typically Karen just wanted cash for cigs and baccy.
"She demanded that I go in and get £15 for it. But when I came out with just a tenner she absolutely hit the roof.
"She was stood there screaming and bawling how she needed the extra fiver for smokes. Then she just turned her back on me and disappeared off down the road and went AWOL for days."
After several months the couple patched things up briefly and got a council house in Dewsbury.
But John's hopes of settling down were wrecked when he came home unexpectedly one day and found Karen-now remanded in custody charged with child neglect and perverting the course of justice-leading a strange man into the house. She simply told John: "It's over between us, all done and dusted. I've got someone new so get lost!"
<table width="200"><tbody><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td>No 1 SON: Dad fears for Tony, 11</td></tr></tbody></table>John said: "Again it was behaviour that I just couldn't believe. No one else would act like that. And one thing I didn't miss when we split was Karen's violent rages-especially when she was pregnant.
"I was hit by almost everything in the house-flying pots, pans, plates, picture frames, even chairs.
"If she could have lifted the table she'd have slung that, too. It's just a miracle that I never ended up in casualty.
"Her foul language turned the air blue, too. It was the worst swearing I've ever heard, and that's saying something!"
Until two years ago John, a kitchen assistant, regularly visited Karen's house on the Dewsbury Moor estate to see Tony, now 11, and watched first hand her sickening descent into squalor.
"I never knew her prepare a single meal from scratch with fresh food for those kids," he said. "She was happy to let them eat burgers, sweets and other rubbish morning, noon and night.
"Karen would just lounge on the sofa scoffing pizza and pie and peas while they had to fend for themselves.
"All of her grub came from the freezer, she was too lazy to go out and get takeaways.
Filthy
"Because of my work I knew about good food and at the very start when we were together I even made our own baby food from fresh. But later on those kids had nothing like a proper diet.
"All she cared about first and foremost was filling her face and chainsmoking on Lambert and Butlers, Richmond or any fags she could get her hands on.
"She's terrible for smoking and never stopped puffing despite being pregnant or having a house full of kids around her.
"She'll smoke at least 60 a day if she can get them. She must have spent a fortune on cigs over the years, it's the one thing in life she really does love.
"The house was a total tip whenever I called round-and the kids' bedrooms were just a filthy mess.
"Sometimes I told them to tidy up and they did it. But Karen couldn't be bothered to even ask them.
"The kids were used to suddenly having strange blokes around the place and having to learn to call them ‘Dad'-which Karen insisted on. I know my son hated that.
"But there was no real respect or discipline, no structure for them to grow up in.
"When it came to school, Karen would just let an older kid from the street take them along, or get one of her friends to do it. And when she thought they were old enough, but still too young in my view, she'd send them to and fro on their own.
"They were cleanly dressed, but she never got round to ironing anything.
<table width="200"><tbody><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td>BEST PALS: Karen's fags and booze</td></tr></tbody></table>"She did manage to get herself out of pyjamas during the day, but often not until dinnertime.
"It's a terrible thing to say, but she really was a complete slob-no example for any of those kids, unless you happen to see Harry Enfield's Waynetta Slob as a role model.
"And on top of everything, Karen is a big home drinker.
"She loves beer more than anything else, although she'll top it up with Lambrini given half the chance.
"Whenever I've been around there's been plenty of cans of beer plus bottles of vodka that her mates bring round for boozy nights in front of the telly. And there's always loads of empties." John revealed randy Karen even made another play for him after splitting with one of her string of lovers. "Karen was in between blokes and so I went round now and again to help out," he told us.
"I had a steady girlfriend but Karen just leapt on me and we ended up having sex. She told me she'd always loved me and still did.
"To look at, she's not got much going for her. But the way she gets blokes is just by THROWING herself on them.
Stupid
"Afterwards she begged me to leave my partner and come back to her. But when I refused she swore that was it and that I'd never see my boy again.
"It was such a stupid thing to do. And when I confessed what had happened to my girlfriend she forgave me, although we broke up soon after."
<table width="200"><tbody><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td>HELD: Mick Donovan</td></tr></tbody></table>John then moved on to a new steady relationship with a girl who is now the mother of his six-month old son.
"Things are great for me now," he said. "We're trying to get our own place so we can build a proper family life.
"I haven't seen my son Tony for about two years and I know he's had a lot of problems, but there was nothing I could do as Karen wouldn't let me near.
"My hope is that when everything's settled down, maybe he can come and live with us and have a new start in life-which is what all Karen's kids deserve after the way she's behaved."
As well as charges relating to nine-year-old Shannon's disappearance Karen was this week exposed as a benefits cheat.
She lied to officials, claiming she was bringing up her kids alone.
But for four years she shared her house with fishmonger boyfriend Craig Meehan, 22, who was bringing in £16,000 a year from his supermarket job.
<table width="200"><tbody><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td>CHARGED: Shannon Stepdad Craig</td></tr></tbody></table>Meehan is also now in custody accused of 11 child porn offences. He was denied bail this week due to fears for his safety. Meehan's 39-year-old uncle Mick Donovan is the man charged with kidnapping Shannon and false imprisonment. He is due to stand trial at Leeds Crown Court in November.
John said he had never known Meehan-but heard worrying gossip about the way he treated the children.
"I didn't like the sound of him at all," he added.
"When I saw him in Asda once I went right up to his face and wanted to hit him, but I calmed down and just told him to keep away from my son."
John then told how bed-hopping Karen actually enjoyed spreading confusion about the paternity of her children, winding her lovers up about who's really the daddy.
"First there was the false rumour that I was actually Shannon's dad," he said.
"And I know Karen told some of the dads their kids were actually fathered by their brothers."

John advised treating a lot of his ex's claims with caution. "I know Karen has said on a TV documentary that she went into care as a child but I don't believe that's true," he told us.
"She never mentioned that to me and there was no need for it to be a secret because I've been in care myself. All I know is that her family were a pretty weird bunch."
Shock
Talking of his horror at what has unfolded since Shannon was found 24 days after she vanished, under a divan bed in a house at nearby Batley Carr, he said: "Now I'm in shock over what may have been going on in Karen's place.
"I trusted her with my son and that's been betrayed. I'll fight to find out the truth of everything that's happened to him."

Now where's the outrage?

Murdoch Makes First Visit to WSJ D.C. Bureau, Tells Giant Lie

2008-05-09T11:48:52Z

Rupert Murdoch made an unannounced visit to the Wall Street Journal DC bureau last Friday to see what his $5 billion bought him. And to reassure staffers that WSJ would not become a crappy, salacious rag like Murdoch’s New York Post or a republican propaganda machine like FOX, Murdoch attempted to soothe their nerves with a gigantic, laughable lie. From Politico:

In his first visit to the Wall Street Journal’s D.C. bureau, Rupert Murdoch told staffers Friday that he would put more resources into Washington coverage and take on the New York Times, while reassuring them that he is not a "conservative” pushing an agenda in the news pages. –snip-

Doesn’t everyone feel better? After all, Murdoch had also stated that FOX News would be “Fair and Balanced” and would be, in fact, the ONLY non-biased news channel in America. And that turned out to be TOTALLY true. But what I found more frightening is this:

Regardless of Murdoch’s reputation, he made clear that more money would be allocated for Washington and political coverage, a stark contrast from his billionaire competitor Zell, who wants to slash the LA Times staff in D.C. –snip-

So at a precarious moment in the industry, when the NY Times is talking about layoffs and buyouts—and facing a challenging shareholder revolt in April—Murdoch could be in the ideal position to beef the D.C. bureau if he’s willing to open his wallet.

Spot the inherent irony here, and then some

2008-02-02T19:59:48Z

"Our motto is truth. Our practice is the fearless advocacy of the truth."

Thus the News of the World, perhaps the most ironically-named newspaper anywhere in the world, launched itself on October 1, 1843 in London.

And it was Keith Rupert's purchase of the long-established Sunday paper in 1967 as was his first foray into Fleet Street (as British print journalism has long been traditionally known, for its location in the City of London).

Methinks "the Dirty Digger" may have reduced that motto to farce all along, considering Truth to be a subjective based on certain irrational and/or illogical formulae as needs to take a back seat to "giving the people what they want" (i.e., pandering to the lowest common denominator), no matter how pornographically depraved it may be.

And just so long as the target audience between Land's End and John O'Groats is poor, undereducated and easily-influenced enough to accept what the News of the World publisheth as Truth. Even if deception is resorted to in procuring the story.

Would it be fair to suggest that such flippant disregard for Truth extends to Fox Noise?

Challenge the system: The Edwards movement is growing

2008-05-05T03:29:37Z

John Edwards isn't a media celebrity, but is the only Democrat challenging the corporate establishment. He is the only Democrat talking about poverty in America. He is the only Democrat to have never taken a dime from lobbyists. John Edwards hasn't raised $200 million like Obama and Hillary. The media won't cover his message. He's an underdog. But you can help him win. Register to vote. Donate $10. Volunteer. johnedwards.com

John Edwards comes right out and says Rupert Murdoch should NOT be able to own the number of newspapers, networks, news corps that he does….. and now even The Wall Street Journal! Imagine it – a politician who is not accepting money from Murdoch, is not out wining and dining with him, but actually standing up and uttering the words that what is happening is WRONG! You won’t hear any other candidate brave enough and honest enough to say those words to Murdoch, in fact the media industry has donated close to one million dollars in total to the two other top tier candidates.

This video was produced by an independent supporter and is not affiliated with the campaign.

Watch the video

Fox Business Network Hiding in Australia at Midnight

2008-01-12T20:49:12Z

The Fox Business Network may only be in 30 million U.S. homes (adding Detroit and Chicago this week), but you can see the channel if you're down under, in the middle of the night. A TVNewser tipster tells us News Corp.'s Sky News launched a business channel in Australia and during the overnight hours, FBN is simulcast.

Next they'll be piping it in free to nursing homes and prisons to get those hits up!!! Good luck FBN, I'm looking forward to many more lackluster months to make fun of.

Oil Hits $100 a Barrel for the First Time

2008-05-08T09:31:00Z

Thankfully, we have Paul Krugman to remind us of the brilliant right-wing predictions of years past:

Rupert Murdoch, on the eve of the invasion of Iraq:
The greatest thing to come out of this for the world economy, if you could put it that way, would be $20 a barrel for oil. That's bigger than any tax cut in any country

Why, golly gee, I wonder who's profiting from the higher oil prices? Ahh, remember the good old days, when the Bushies tried to scare everyone about the horrid possibility that gas would go above $1 dollar a gallon if Al Gore were elected.

Now, let's see what position the ruling class has put us in for the coming years...

Watch the video

John Edwards: “I am not particularly interested in seeing Rupert Murdoch own every newspaper in America.”

2008-01-12T20:46:10Z

Score one for John Edwards:

John Edwards isn’t shy about letting Rupert Murdoch know how he feels. When asked a question about media consolidation at a recent campaign stop, Edwards said:
“I am not particularly interested in seeing Rupert Murdoch own every newspaper in America.”
Nicely done, John. This answer responds directly to the heart of the question and points an incriminating finger at the industry’s worst offender.

But so many people whine and moan about how negative Edwards is becoming!

Edwards continues to solidify his position as the candidate most committed to media reform and supportive of efforts to rollback consolidation. He has spoken out on many occasions on the need for independence and diversity in the press and he has been a leading voice of opposition to the FCC’s policy of weakening regulations on ownership caps. He was also the first candidate to refuse to participate in Fox News-sponsored primary debates.

He's so mean! The pundits tell us that, so it must be true.

But every time Edwards takes a principled stand, the pundidiots can’t help but crack-wise at Edwards expense. In the item linked above, James Pindell of the Boston Globe follows the Edwards quote with this bit of irrelevancy:
“It should be noted that Edwards received nearly $800,000 in a book contract from one of Murdoch’s companies, HarperCollins.”
Why, pray tell, should that be noted? It is not a political contribution or evidence of electoral support. It is a payment for publishing rights to an author from a book publisher. It is the free market at work. And if anything is notable about it, it is that Edwards will act on his principles even if it is contrary to the interests of corporations who lay out big bucks to do business with him. In other words, they can’t buy him.

Attaboy, News Corpse, who goes on to compare Hillary's soft response to Edward's principled one, comparing their "independence and integrity".

Edwards:

“It’s time for all Democrats, including those running for president, to stand up and speak out against this [News Corp./Dow Jones] merger and other forms of media consolidation.”

Hillary:

“I’m not saying anything against any company in particular. I just want to see more competition, especially in the same markets.”

News Corpse:

That is the same characterization they make of him when he advocates for the poor - something the media apparently believes rich folks should never do. And for his trouble he is ganged up on by sanctimonious pundits that would rather point a finger at targets of their imagined hypocrisy than left a finger to help those less fortunate.
If you’re paying attention it’s easy to see who the phonies really are.

So pay attention.

Fox And Private Equity: Perfect Bedmates

2008-05-08T15:29:40Z

Via Nicole Belle Via Greatscat!, we learn the following:

From Reuters yesterday afternoon:
Rupert Murdoch's News Corp [..] will sell eight U.S. television stations to private equity firm Oak Hill Partners for about $1.1 billion.
I couldn't help but wonder who was buying up tv stations in an election year, so a quick check of Oak Hill Partners :
Oak Hill Capital Partners traces its roots to Robert M. Bass, one of the four brothers who founded Bass Brothers Enterprises in Fort Worth, Texas.
From Texas, eh? A little more checking as a Texas based company raised my eyebrows right away:
Robert Muse Bass is a Texas billionaire worth approximately $5.46 billion as of 2006.
Bass was born into an extremely wealthy family with an uncle, Sid Richardson, worth $810 million. He and his three brothers Lee, Ed, and Sid Bass all attended Yale University, where they solidified their moneyed and political connections. Ed Bass was a classmate and personal friend of George W. Bush, and the brothers, especially Lee Bass, helped Bush financially both before and throughout his political career.

Ta da, I give you another way in which ultra-rich, private equity profit-gorgers-cum-beneficiaries-of-Bush-tax-policy buy up media organizations from other Bush friends so they can promote Republicans in 2008 (thankfully no Bushes...yet). But Rudy has bought into the oil pipeline down there, and got could he use some good coverage! So let's see what happens....

In any case, if matters like these don't wake us from our collective slumber to fight the consolidation of our media in the hands of a few ultra-wealthy elites, I don't know what will (ps watch the video to learn more about what is at stake)...

Watch the video

Rupert Murdoch and the Holy Grail

2008-05-08T15:30:01Z

Watch the video

Headzup: Murdoch Buys The Wall Street Journal

2008-03-22T21:54:48Z

It seems about right to me...

Respected Journalist John Harwood Leaves The Wall Street Journal For The New York Times

2008-04-20T06:24:37Z

Is this going to be the beginning of an exodus of respectable reporters from the WSJ, now that a certain guy named Murdoch owns it? A man, um, to put it kindly, not known for a devotion to journalistic propriety...

FOX: "A Myth in the Unmaking"

2008-04-20T06:25:39Z

I haven’t yet addressed the Judith Regan lawsuit against News Corp. (owner of FOX, the NY Post, MySpace, etc etc). You can read the court filing at the SmokingGun.com — it really reads like a corporate mob hit, where people at News Corp. saw that Regan could be a liability to Giuliani’s campaign due to her affair with indicted Giuliani BFF Bernie Kerik and set her up to be whacked. I repeat: “senior executives” at News Corp. told Regan to lie to people investigating Kerik because it would hurt a presidential candidate. It’s a pretty fascinating read and I’ll be writing more about it in the future.

But Michael Tomasky of the UK Guardian knows what this lawsuit could mean. First, he nails what FOX really is, “a lock, stock and barrel servant of the Republican party,” then goes on to what FOX clearly is not:

Journalism with a point of view is a fine thing. It's what I do. The difference is that I say I'm a liberal journalist while Fox executives and "reporters" insist they play it straight. But everyone in the US knows that my description is true. This is precisely why its fans watch it. Walk into any bar, hair salon, gym or motel lobby in the country; if the TV is tuned to Fox rather than CNN, you know that the owner or clientele or both are Republican. It's a secret - although not actually secret any more - sign of fraternity among conservatives

FOX News Porn craziness

2008-03-22T21:54:43Z

When YouTube flagged the FOX News Porn video as 18+, we got stripped of all our honors and no longer show up on any of the top viewed Youtube pages. This will cost us a lot of views because we won't get any organic traffic from within Youtube.

This has been nuts. You can't send an email blast about porn cause it gets flagged as spam, you can't post on digg cause they want to make out with Murdoch, and you can't survive on YouTube cause conservatives report it.

On the flip side, the Reddit community has been amazing, putting this story at #2 and #3 all day, and organizing a revolt on Digg here, here, here, and here.

Meanwhile, today on Neil Cavuto's show, FOX celebrated our launch with the perfect little story about how Kyla Ebbera, the woman from Southwest Airlines fired for "showing too much skin," is posing for Playboy.

Thanks for the support everyone, and please get the word out. Add us on Facebook, IM your friends, call your grandma.

Oh, and remember. THIS FOOTAGE ALL CAME FROM FOX NEWS.

Headzup: Rupert Murdoch On The Writer's Strike

2008-05-09T15:29:47Z

Billionaire tyrant Rupert Murdoch explains the writer's strike.

Support the writers. Sign the petition here--
http://www.unitedhollywood.com

Download daily Catch and Release Comedy™ political cartoons to your mobile phone or iPod at www.headzup.tv

Watch the video

Could Certain Unhealthy Obsessions of Keith Rupert be showing in Fox News?

2008-01-12T20:35:12Z

It's well-established, boys and girls, that Keith Rupert Murdoch is rather obsessed with cheesecake tending to soft porn--witness the Page Three pinups as appear in his mass-market tabloids in Australia and Great Britain.

And which are no doubt making their influence felt among the female newsreaders on Fox News, come to think of it.

As if that weren't enough, Keith Rupert "himself" expressed unease in the fact of The Village Voice, which News America owned in the early 1980's, "pandering to a homosexual community," prompting his sale thereof in 1985.

No doubt prompting Your Correspondent to recently wonder in the Worst. Weblog. Ever. whether Keith Rupert "himself" may have Certain Unhealthy Obsessions about sex and sexual matters as are letting slip in his numerous media holdings, especially such as cater to the Great Unwashed. Unhealthy Obsessions which may be symptomatic of underlying psychoemotional problems which Keith Rupert, for some reason or another, is hesitant to acknowledge.

Let alone, for that matter, come to terms with.

Could the same be said about the kind of advertising which appears in such scions of mass-market media owned or otherwise controlled by K. R. M.?

In any event ... such a possibility is something interesting as ought be investigated. Especially witness Fox Attacks: Decency and its revelations of doublethink on the subject.

Voices Of Uncertainty - More On The Writers' Strike

2008-05-09T15:30:23Z

If you want to know how the plutocrats are trying to rip off entertainment writers by not paying them for their work, you must watch this.

It crystallizes what this fight is about.

Digital is the key word here. And the usual corporate suspects, the ones who try and screw workers and squeeze every ounce of profit out of everything and anything, no matter the cost to society, are once again the culprits.

Watch the video

Fox News Corp.: Writers strike a good thing. "Murdoch & Co. figured out a way to spin presumed strike-related losses into opportunistic gold. "

2008-01-12T20:34:37Z

This striking writer had the right idea:

One sign bore a doctored photo of Peter Chernin, president of Fox parent News Corp., extending his middle finger over the legend, "Write this!"

Kudos.

During a Wednesday earnings call with analysts, Rupert Murdoch's top lieutenant [Peter Chernin] had the temerity to suggest that, far from being a fearsome prospect, the writers strike could be, like, a good thing for Fox. Other honchos, such as NBC Universal's Jeff Zucker, have downplayed the strike's effect. But they haven't matched Chernin for zesty optimism: Strike? Yes, please -- may I have another?

Oh Peter? I just thought of a new use for the long part of a picket sign.

Calling the strike "probably a positive" for the company, Chernin added: "We save more money in term deals and, you know, story costs and probably the lack of making pilots than we lose in potential advertising."

Want to compound the anger you may have welling up right now? Here's what the columnist, Scott Collins, adds:

As Jon Stewart would say, "Well-played, sir." Telling striking writers that the corporate balance sheet is better off without their salaries mucking everything up is what you might call negotiation by other means. (Grist for someone's interdisciplinary economics/lit dissertation: Try to calculate Shakespeare's "story costs.")

But here's the thing: Chernin's probably right. At least in the short term, News Corp. stands to benefit from the strike, largely because Fox is in a much better position than its rivals to weather the work stoppage.

Mr. Laffy and I thank you. He's referring, by the way, to such stellar examples of television classics as "American Idol".

When you stack everything up, you begin to understand why Chernin and Murdoch are laughing amid the industry panic. And also why, despite all the claims of "Norma Rae"-like solidarity this week, the scribes might end up having to knuckle under for companies that are already practically mocking them. Rage against the machine, indeed.

Rage against Scott Collins is more like it.

When it comes to labor relations, the gods seem to smile on Murdoch. Or more likely, his characteristic brazenness nearly always serves him well in a crisis. In 1986, when unionized British printers tried to put the squeeze on him, Murdoch played hardball and switched to non-union workers in what one account dubbed "the biggest union-busting operation in history."[...] [I]ndustry vets with long memories will recall that Fox also found a way to benefit from the last Hollywood writers strike, back in 1988.
[...] But the point is that Murdoch & Co. figured out a way to spin presumed strike-related losses into opportunistic gold.

That's what they're likely to do this time around too.

How admirable. Collins, you sure do know how to pick 'em.

And if the strike lasts longer than even pessimists predict? Well, the whole point of vertical integration over the last decade is that it's made these media conglomerates diversified. News Corp., as Murdoch likes to point out, isn't just about Fox. The company owns MySpace. It controls newspapers and satellite operations around the world. Soon it will own the Wall Street Journal.

And to hell with the rest of us.

Tell Congress: Stop Big Media And Especially Murdoch

2008-05-09T15:31:21Z

Great video by Free Press. Media concentration may be good for Murdoch, but it is bad for democracy. In this video you'll see such leftists as Trent Lott understand that.

Of course, the best part is the side by side photos of Bush appointee Kevin Martin and Alex P. Keaton. A spot on match!

Watch the video

FOX Attacks Decency... with Bill O'Reilly Leading the Way

2008-05-11T21:08:30Z

UPDATE: Over half a million views! Robert was on Keith Olbermann's show, dozens of blogs have linked, and over 100,000 visitors from DIGG alone!

Most of you are aware, and most likely have been for a while, that under the guise of "news" Fox has offered its viewers a steady stream of bias pertaining to social and political issues since its inception in 1996. From attacking Black America to pushing for war with Iran, from demonizing bloggers to distorting environmental issues, theirs is quite a record of achievement in propagating propaganda that is neither fair nor balanced.

Today we have a surprise (well at least it surprised all of us at BNF). Thanks to the terrific work of the News Hounds, we bring you Fox and ole' Billy O'Reilly attacking decency. Yes, you read that right. The self-righteous, pompous, bloviators who deign to lecture on how we should behave in our personal lives, are in fact exploiting women, pandering to the lowest common denominator and pushing smut out on the airwaves on a daily basis!

And this will definitely raise your hackles. YOU ARE PAYING FOR THIS! Yes, you read that right too. So watch the video and pass it along to as many on your email list as possible. We simply must let the FCC know we are mad as hell about having their smut in our homes and being forced to pay for it. And we’re simply not going to take it anymore.

Israeli Cable System Replaces CNN with Fox

2008-01-12T20:32:13Z

Breaking: A cable insider tells TVNewser HOT (the largest cable operator in Israel) took CNN off the air from both their digital and analog platforms at 11:30am local time (5:30amET) this morning. It was replaced with FOX News Channel.
Following...
>More: Earlier reports had indicated HOT would replace CNN with Al Jazeera English. The Cox News Service and The Jerusalem Post reported last week that the dropping of CNN is due to "financial considerations."
>More, More: FNC was already on HOT's digital platform, but is now on analog in CNN's former spot. An insider tells me this widens FNC's distribution in the region to about 200,000 subscribers.

And so it goes. Rupert Murdoch's takeover of world information distribution continues.

Listening Post - Elections in post Communist - 07Sept07-Pt 2

2008-05-10T03:29:47Z

We focus on the elections beginning in Poland and the influence of US spin doctors on the Ukranian elections.

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Listening Post - Elections in post Communist - 07Sept07-Pt 1

2008-05-10T03:29:53Z

We focus on the elections beginning in Poland and the influence of US spin doctors on the Ukranian elections.

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Fair for Fox News to Attack Harry Potter Author J. K. Rowling for a Minor Wardrobe Malfunction?

2008-05-10T09:30:28Z

J. K. Rowling's minor problem with her bra hardly seemed sufficient basis for even the joking attack on her character that I show in these clips from the October 16, 2007, edition of Fox News' "Special Report with Brit Hume." And, as I also show in my video, those attacks may actually have a more sinister source. You can see the article about J. K. Rowling's "wardrobe malfunction" in the also-Rupert-Murdoch-owned British tabloid, "The Sun," at this link: www.thesun.co.uk And, you can get more information about the American Library Association's "Most Challenged Books of the 21st Century" list at this link: www.ala.org

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