Comments on: Citizen Murdoch

By: Derek Leaberry

Derek Leaberry — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 13:14:23 +0000

Mr. Candido, I fully agree with you on the bigger issue of chain newspapers and chain television stations. The Gannett machine cares very little about individual communities from Maine to California but wishes to spread its pap-filled tentacles for profit and to spread its soft left political swill. Ironically, because the Republican Party in general approves of a radical free enterprise policy and thus supports conglomerations like Gannett and Murdoch, it is giving the Left the rope to strangle Republican interests and conservative interests. A strong anti-trust law would be beneficial to conservatives and to Republicans but a majority of both species are too ideologically blind to figure it out.

By: Philip Candido

Philip Candido — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 01:48:13 +0000

The mix of a young wife(Wendi is not yet 40), four children from two previous marriages, and two toddler children with his current wife is a potentially combustible mix when it comes to carving up the Murdoch Empire some time in the next twenty years. Who knows, Murdoch’s Empire may come apart as quickly as Charlemagne’s a millennium ago. The Murdoch Empire may prove to be ephemeral. Bill Kristol, Sean Hannity and Brit Hume take note.

Even so, it doesn't address the larger problems of large, unaccountable, corporate media ownership, which would continue even with a big Murdoch empire split. One facet of this article I most definitely approve of. Smaller media enterprises run by families or small corporate entities are more likely to invest time not only in the local community but also in getting things right and serving the said community, which is the source of its income. A wealthy owner of 100 or so media outlets does not care what the consumers in a given region think about, care about or prefer. That is the major reason why the major newspapers are all going south. Most people I know still prefer print, as do I who don't own a television and I try to limit my internet time.

By: Derek Leaberry

Derek Leaberry — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 16:49:43 +0000

Citizen Murdoch has been married three times. His first marriage was to the former Patricia Booker with whom he has a daughter named Prudence, age 49. Marriage two was to the former Anna Torv and produced three children- Elisabeth 39; Lachlan 38; and James 34. Lachlan and James are involved in the Murdoch Empire to some degree today. Murdoch's current marriage is to the former Wendi Deng. He has two children with the current Mrs. Murdoch, Grace 5 and Chloe 4. The mix of a young wife(Wendi is not yet 40), four children from two previous marriages, and two toddler children with his current wife is a potentially combustible mix when it comes to carving up the Murdoch Empire some time in the next twenty years. Who knows, Murdoch's Empire may come apart as quickly as Charlemagne's a millennium ago. The Murdoch Empire may prove to be ephemeral. Bill Kristol, Sean Hannity and Brit Hume take note.

By: Nicholas G.P. MOSES

Nicholas G.P. MOSES — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 16:23:39 +0000

"Whether any or all of these calamities come to pass, the liberal-media elites, as one would expect, opposed Murdoch’s acquisition of the Journal for the wrong reasons."

Frankly, I fail to see how this could possibly damage the Wall Street Journal, at least as far as its editorial page is concerned...

"No conservative would put naked women on Page Three of his newspapers, or produce ribald television programs such as Married With Children, or jump into bed with the Chicoms. Nor would a conservative donate money to Sens. Hillary Clinton and Charles Schumer. Murdoch has done it all. His London tabloid, the Sun, endorsed leftist Tony Blair. His FOX News Channel is a shill for the Bush administration."

I heard someone insinuate a while back that Murdoch's plot was to flash as many disgusting, immoral and pornographic images and sound bytes as possible throughout every medium imaginable. This would prompt a backlash from conservatives terrified at the state of popular culture. Thus, they would be stupid enough to vote Republican on the dubious understanding that the G.O.P. would do something about it, and once in power, these Republican low-lives would enthusiastically give Murdoch all the deregulation he needed to conquer every TV channel and newspaper on Earth.

I don't like to endorse conspiracy theories, but this one is far from unthinkable.

"Presumably Rupert Murdoch, age 75, can not live forever, at least on this Earth. What will happen to his holdings when he dies? I can not see his heirs willing to subsidize neo-conservative publications; conspicuous consumption is much more fun."

One can only hope...

By: Derek Leaberry

Derek Leaberry — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 12:49:27 +0000

Presumably Rupert Murdoch, age 75, can not live forever, at least on this Earth. What will happen to his holdings when he dies? I can not see his heirs willing to subsidize neo-conservative publications; conspicuous consumption is much more fun.