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If I Had My Way |
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To: Joe Bodell - joe@mnprogressiveproject.com To: The Big E - eric@mnprogressiveproject.com Cc: Glenn Greenwald - GGreenwald@salon.com Cc: Paul Krugman - (Address unknown, please forward) Cc: Doc Searls - dsearls@cyber.law.harvard.edu Cc: Dave Winer - dave.winer@gmail.com Cc: Jeff Jarvis - jeff@buzzmachine.com Cc: Jay Rosen - jr3@nyu.edu From: Doug Skoglund - skoglund@pdmsb.com Date: Monday, Jul 18, 2011 Subject: My Way XXXII - The Big Question... Caveat: I am adding two fellows that I found late last week. Joe and Eric have a small group they call MN Progressive Project that looks quite interesting and that I hope to learn more about in coming weeks. Back to The Big Question -- How far can we expect the News Corp. inquiry to go?? Talk about rats and sinking ships -- the Wall Street Journal posted, "A tabloid's excesses don't tarnish thousands of other journalists" (author unknown): When News Corp. and CEO Rupert Murdoch secured enough shares to buy Dow Jones & Co. four years ago, these columns welcomed our new owner and promised to stand by the same standards and principles we always had. That promise is worth repeating now that politicians and our competitors are using the phone-hacking years ago at a British corner of News Corp. to assail the Journal, and perhaps injure press freedom in general. Krishnan Guru-Murthy posted, "Veteran Watergate journalist Carl Bernstein tells Channel 4 News that Rupert Murdoch 'intimidated journalism' and created a culture of manufactured controversy and sensationalism in his newsrooms." Channel 4 News presenter Krishnan Guru-Murthy spoke with the veteran journalist about the phone-hacking scandal that is rocking the Murdoch empire today. And Jeff Jarvis posted, "What's next for News Corp. and its worlds." There's no telling how the News Corp. saga will turn out, but I'll try. Here's a scenario that leads to the breakup of News Corp., the Murdochs out of power, the deflation of institutional journalism, a break in the too-cozy media-government complex, an unfortunate rise in regulation of media, and a fortunate opening for newcomers. This story of legality and morality will quickly shift to one driven by business. Obviously, there were many more -- each with some kind of special slant saying more about the writer than the subject, Rupert Murdoch. Now, here is a quote I heard a long time ago (source unknown): If you are going to fool around with the Personal Computer, you better understand what you are doing or it will bite you in the ass when you least expect it. I would say that Rupert Murdoch has been bitten. Obviously, he is ultimately responsible; however, I have trouble accepting his active participation -- He can't be that stupid. I only hope that he fights for an open, honest, comprehensive investigation -- all the way back to the Microsoft Anti-trust affair. As I have written many time before, my people, the technical types, led by Bill Gates, did a very poor job with the technical details of the Personal Computer and the Internet, and I acknowledge my share of the blame. And "the press" did a very poor job as "watchdog" to allow a broken system to get this far -- the shit has hit the fan, and all journalists, and other members of "the press," must acknowledge their share of the blame. So, what are WE going to do about it?? I would suggest that we start talking about the problems as opposed to ignoring them. Doug Skoglund skoglund@pdmsb.com This page posted at http://ifihadmyway.com/myway032.htm Update: Roger Cohen just posted, "The Cameron Collapse" -- and I quote: Murdoch is a flawed genius whose very ruthlessness has now led him to his comeuppance. He knew, more viscerally than anyone, what postmodern societies wanted to satisfy their twisted appetites and he provided that material in all its gaudiness. I don't think he created those appetites. But he sure fed them. Nuff said??
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