成人论坛

News of the World shut down

| Thursday, 7 July 2011 | 17:54 - 20:30 GMT


I began my morning looking at the Huffington Post's new UK incarnation. And swiftly moved to the Independent as the HuffPo was linking across to a column by former WHYS presenter Steve Richards. In it he argues that this week the influence of Rupert Murdoch over British politicians has been reduced, and that that is to be celebrated.

There is certainly is no disputing the scale of Mr Murdoch's influence not just in politics, but also sport, news, films and to a lesser extent music (mySpace didn't go to plan and has recently been off-loaded).

A blog post is not the place for a broad ranging sweep of Rupert Murdoch's power and influence (there have been books which struggled to pack it all in), but I can start a conversation about whether we should acknowledge, that with that power and influence has come innovation, entertainment and investment in the media that we like to consume.

Let's consider some of this:

POLITICS
Rupert Murdoch famously invited Tony Blair to visit him while Mr Blair was the leader of the opposition. Shortly after the soon-to-be leader jumped on a plane to Australia for a meeting. It was a measure of Mr Murdoch's importance - and you could argue that Tony Blair had a point as The Sun, The Times, the News of the World and the Sunday Times are all in his stable.

And it's not just in the UK where Rupert Murdoch has serious political influence. No US politician could afford to not speak to Fox, and in Australia, politicians are as keen to keep the Murdoch press sweet as their British counterparts. How politicians should approach the man is addressed in this Matthew d'Ancona column.

Another important question here is whether that's any different to any number of other businesspeople and media owners trying to have their say.

JOURNALISM
Fox News may not to be everyone's taste, but it's handed out some lessons on how to get people watching news in decent numbers, and how to up the ante on the style of TV news. Those of us who work for 成人论坛 News watch Sky News closely, not just because it's a rival but because it has an appetite for innovation that makes you think about what you do. I'm not saying I like everything Fox and Sky go for, but they're pushing things all the time and that, you could argue, has forced TV news to evolve.

In a completely different arena, let's remember that it was Rupert Murdoch more than anyone else who has bucked the trend of free content online, and said to us all pay or you won't see it. We won't be left wondering if paywalls work, because News International is happy to find out for us, putting up restrictions on The Times' website for instance.

TELEVISION
There's huge investment taking place in India and China to add to vast cash injections into US national and regional stations. Again, the presence of Murdoch stations not only gives you more to watch but arguably gives you something distinct to watch too (though some of you may not like it). It's worth adding that it's Mr Murdoch who pays for the Simpsons.

FILM
Rupert Murdoch owns 20th Century Fox and as such is a huge player in the film industry. Did you see Avatar? The hundreds of millions that that ground-breaking film cost were put up by 20th Century Fox. I'm not saying if the film was good or not, but James Cameron was given the means to do some things which hadn't been done before. Should we applaud the investment? Here's a list of other big 20th Century Fox films.

SPORT
The English Premier League has been built on Rupert Murdoch's money. If you like seeing Drogba, Tevez, Fabregas, Nani and co ply their trade for the big English clubs, that is in no small part to the huge lift in incomes which came with Sky's investment in the game. That's not to mention the revolution in the way that it was filmed.

Australian and American sport too have seen major investments from News Corp owned companies.

Your comments

  1. Comment sent via SMS

    • 19:16
    • 115089277

    We鈥檙e being reactionarily unfair to the paper. I鈥檓 sure we all savored those stories at the time. Can we accept we鈥檙e partners in error? Julius jeh of monrovia

  2. Comment sent via SMS

    • 19:11
    • 118514738

    Jambo, in kenya we think of food price鈥檚 not newspapers.

  3. Comment sent via SMS

    • 18:47
    • 118203006

    The ghosts are laughing! Keep it up.

  4. Comment sent via unknown: 23057

    • 18:43
    • 118514488

    C'mon people, Murdoch isn't "closing" #NOTW, he's "rebranding" it. @bbc_whys

  5. Comment sent via SMS

    • 18:37
    • 108835405

    The public outrage verges on hypocritical given that the newspaper pandered to the public mania for gossip, sleaze. schadenfreude and vicarious emotion. -missing Fragment-

  6. Comment sent via unknown: 23057

    • 18:34
    • 118514403

    I love @成人论坛_WHYS. Especially when it has the elongated rapping intro music. Currently discussing #notw and it's suprisingly interesting xx

  7. Comment sent via SMS

    • 18:30
    • 113334884

    I try to understand this story of England tabloid. It鈥檚 some serious issue there is as soon as British Parliament took a part in it. I listened yesterday full

  8. Comment sent via unknown: 23057

    • 18:22
    • 118514281

    Just had my tweet () read out on @bbc_whys (成人论坛 World Service)

  9. Comment sent via unknown: 23057

    • 18:26
    • 118514319

    @成人论坛_whys talking about #notw fallout now.

  10. Comment sent via unknown: 23057

    • 18:22
    • 118514282

    @成人论坛_WHYS The root cause of the behavior is Murdoch. Nothing honorable in his action. The worst day in that papers life when he bought it!

  11. Comment sent via unknown: 23057

    • 18:22
    • 118514280

    @成人论坛_WHYS Harbutt stating that Murdoch is a genius has forgotten that innocent employees have lost their jobs cos of him protecting the few

  12. Comment sent via unknown: 23057

    • 18:18
    • 118514228

    @成人论坛_WHYS Plenty of people can claim genius status. It doesn't make them good, productive members of society.

  13. Comment sent via unknown: 23057

    • 18:18
    • 116538392

    @成人论坛_WHYS This is real sad. A few bad journalists took down a 168 year old institution!

  14. Comment sent via unknown: 23057

    • 18:14
    • 118281127

    @成人论坛_WHYS #Rebekah Brooks - Brings down 168 year old title and is allowed to carry on regardless?

  15. Comment sent via unknown: 23057

    • 18:11
    • 118337950

    @成人论坛_WHYS This is a case study in how to ditch a toxic brand. It's a small part of News International's empire. #notw #whys #bbcwhys

  16. Comment sent via unknown: 23057

    • 18:11
    • 118281127

    @成人论坛_WHYS "@LewLew94: Sorry to hear about the death of NOTW. I'm off to hack into the phones of its relatives to hear how they're coping."

  17. Comment sent via unknown: 23057

    • 18:08
    • 117988890

    @成人论坛_WHYS Are the Journos at NOTW paying for their sins?

  18. Comment sent via SMS

    • 18:04
    • 118203006

    I for one want to carry on and take Murdoch down and you journalists at the 成人论坛 and elsewhere know why if you鈥檙e honest. Ian, Phnom Penh