Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Rupert Murdoch's Come Uppance

When one man or one Corporation controls so much of media around the world, arrogance and complacency is bound to set in. With world's major newspapers and television channels in his camp, Rupert Murdoch played God with politics.

His Fox TV became a mouthpiece of the extreme right wing in the US, promoting Republicans and Tea Partiers whether they were right or wrong. His Sun newspaper in UK blatantly supported Conservative Party, not to mention the sleaziest of newspapers - The News of the World allegedly bribed policemen, hacked in to people's telephones and voice mail messages.

Even the former Prime Minister Gordon Brown was not spared as his phone was allegedly hacked into. Some of his newspapers deliberately published false stories about Palestinians in order to provide support to Israel. It is beyond belief that Mr. Murdoch did not have a hint of all this, that went on for years.

The uproar in UK is well justified, even the British Prime Minister, David Cameron has become tainted with the scandal for hiring a former Murdoch employee who was already under investigation. The British Prime Minister has started an inquiry and who is conducting the inquiry - the Scotland Yard, many of whose policemen were on the take from News of the World? It would behoove the Prime Minister to constitute an independent inquiry commission.

It is time for U.K., U.S. and other countries to examine the possibility of releasing Mr. Murdoch's stranglehold on world media. The US Senate may soon hold an inquiry into the affairs of News Corp, Mr. Murdoch's flagship. The highly respected newspapers like 'The Wall Street Journal' and Britain's 'The Times' should be spun off quickly in order to spare them from this scandal.

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