Murdoch’s Last Laugh

Hey Rupert - you interested in Northern White Cedar lumber, paneling, siding, or log cabin material? www.cedarnetwork.com (The Cedar Network). Thanks. (I just didn't want Mr. Murdoch the SOLE benificiary of FREE ADVERTISING!!!!

I am disturbed that no one seems to "get" how DANGEROUS it is for information sources to be gobbled up by so very few wealthy men. It's imperative that we arm ourselves fiully with facts that cut through the hypnotic trance appeal of Murdoch's media potions. PLEASE, google "Outfoxed Rupert Murdochs War on Journalism". Watch it on google video or buy the DVD! Don't be in the dark. Please!!

Murdoch isn't a problem. Other publishers bad judgment is the problem
Pressure by publishers to maximize and increase circulation. To achieve this, many editors succumbed to the temptation to sensationalize stories, to go the tabloid route. This appeared to be successful and every newspaper (and TV also) adopted this approach. And here is the foundation of their ultimate failure. They assumed that the increased circulation represented the majority of their readership. The had chosen to make content fit the desires of that small percentage that represented the additional readership, not the interest and demands of the majority of their established circulation, that majority that insured the ability to charge certain advertising rates and that covered the cost of a professional operation. Editors with a fanatic zeal for professionally written stories (those with the Who, What, When, Where, Why and How, that left out the adjectives of judgment, leaving to the reader to decide Good and Bad) were retired and replaced with men not so zealous and who were on the same page with the publisher???s view of the world and of the business
What they did not realize was that the rise of the Internet allowed everyone to find that source that fed their own opinions much more finitely than could a newspaper with a limited circulation area. That base that had supported them for years was eroded because the newspaper ceased to provide News without opinion on the front page. Many people bought papers where they never read the Editorial Pages because they knew that they disagreed with the Publisher???s and Editor???s point of view, but they bought them because they got straight news in the rest of the paper.
So now they have a problem of their own making, not Murdoch's.

I remember reading how most of the people who worked there; upon reading the news of Murdoch's purchase; cried and drowned their sorrows because they knew it was the end of the paper's neutrality; unbiased and straight-forward reporting; and reputation for being an unaffiliated business paper.

Let's see. The NYT, Boston Globe, Seattle Post Intelligencer, LA Times, etc. are all going broke and meanwhile the WSJ is thriving. i wonder why? When will the hard Left (including Newsweek) stop deluding itself? The dogs aren't eating what you are feeding them. Maybe they should stop talking only to each other in Manhatten, Hollywood, and Georgetown and start appealing to a wider audience. There's a great big country out there. I think you refer to it as "fly-over" country.

I see katiec blames it all on Fox News and Rush Limbaugh. That's a little silly isn't it?

Now let's see. The NYT, Seattle Post intelligencer, Boston Globe, LA Times, etc are going broke but the WSJ is thriving. I wonder why? When will the hard Left (including Newsweek) stop deluding itself? The dogs aren't eating what you are feeding them. Maybe these publications need to start appealing to an audience that extends beyond Manhatten, Hollywood, and Georgetown. Maybe they need to stop talking only to each other and try to attract a wider audience. There's a great big country out there. I believe you call it "fly-over" country.

I see Kataic blames it all on Fox News and Rush Limbaugh. That really is kind of silly isn't it?

Murdoch's actions, policies, and far-reaching influence give new meaning to the phrase "evil empire."

Murdoch, the multi-billion media tycoon, is fast becoming the most authoritative man in the world, more powerful than any global political leader.

The reason is obvious. Media can reach all corners to influence the thinking of people. With media ever flourishing to greater heights, it masterminds practically everything.

Unfortunately, whoever controls the media indirectly dominates everyone.
Take note, leaders of all human endeavors in the world.
(Tan Boon Tee)

How exciting to see that someone still has what it takes to make a growth industry and change the old dinosaur ways of a culture moving to extinct itself. I hope we see more savvy business men like this to spur our economy on.

"I also can't forgive his decision to condone the nastiness at Fox News all the time...the "journalists" and "anchors" who make comments like "smelly and stupid" protestors, et cetera, when they should be reporting and not editorializing themselves." ???

If you don't like editorializing on the news pages, you certainly won't like the NY Times. At least on TV (I don't see the Post very often) Fox makes it clear that their commentators are expected to present opinions; and, even at that, politicians on the left say that Fox gives them a good chance to present their side of the argument. I guess fair and balanced is more than just a slogan; after all, if they believe they are right, what do they have to fear from letting people hear both sides of a story?

"Rupert could buy NYT and coach it back to life!"??? Why should he put in a lot of work trying to fix the biased, ideological, leftist NY Times, when he has, as planned, a better alternative New York newspaper? The Journal has been a better paper forever, and now he has expanded its range of coverage to provide more of the general interest stories that the Times has tried to bring us. I don't see the Journal much lately, but occasionally I pick one up, and it's encouraging to see it on the newsstand in a small city in darkest Taxachusetts, home of liberalism.

Rupert could buy NYT and coach it back to life! He has the know-how. I applaud this man!
He's a Genius in making it happen.
When someone succeeds, the masses prefer not to think "what a good thing he has done" but to lambast him and "it all comes down to jealousy" in my book!
the bergers illinois

Rupert Murdoch is a Genius! I applaud this man!
He's a cool Aussie in my book!
The NYT is in dire straits...maybe Rupert can buy it and coach it back to life!!!! Show 'em Murdie!!!!!!
betty jo, chicago

Rupert Murdoch is a freaking Genius! I know!
He gets it done and with his achievemants I applaud this man!.

What a great time to be in competition with the troubled (collapsing?) NY Times. As the Times' move away from news to political orientation has become known to its advertisers, they have a credible alternative known for hiring actual journalists! The NYT's may be the first obit carried on P.1 of the WSJ.

Frankly, I think Murdock is right on target. He is the only publisher that I am aware of who understands the opportunity presented in news today...all readers need to find a source that provides them with facts and not opinion on their news pages. The changes he has made to the WSJ make it a desirable alternative to the other papers where the entire publication is one giant op/ed publication. Only a well run newspaper can afford to pay professional journalists to properly source stories and check facts. The internet is fine for raw data, but most of us do not have the time or the expertise to fact check every blog, and even when we attempt to do so, we make amateur errors. At the height of the profession, a professional journalist's goal was to write a story that both sides of the story could read and feel that it was fair. In a badly targeted attempt to gain additional readership (read "profits") papers became tabloid mongers of sensationalism. Murdoch has expanded the coverage of the WSJ so I now need only the one paper to cover items of import...and the coverage is superior to the NYT and other papers because it gives me more facts with less opinion.