Rupert Murdoch has stepped up his rhetoric about the evils of new media at a shindig in that bastion of press freedom, China. You can read all about it at Derek Barry’s Woolly Days.
The sheer onion-ness of President Obama’s Nobel win yesterday has deflected international attention from the fact that a conference of media Canutes had just declared war on the Interwebs. The announcement came at a three day “world media summit” between Western media elites and Communist cadres that Japanese Kyodo News dubbed “Beijing’s Media Olympics”. Among others, Associated Press’s CEO Tom Curley and News Corp boss Rupert Murdoch joined Chinese leader Hu Jintao on stage in the Great Hall of the People to denounce the people for the way they used media content.
Elsewhere: Spinopsys and Jeff Jarvis (link rich post).
The irony is just too obvious. At the summit, Chinese leaders tell media leaders to create just ”’true, correct, comprehensive and objective’ news coverage.” As we say online: Heh.
Elsewhere: Spinopsys and Jeff Jarvis (link rich post).
I know the debate so far has emphasised the looming struggle between ‘Newscorpism’ and citizen journalists, but I really think Murdoch has lost it if he thinks the free-to-air commercial networks and the public broadcasters around the world will join him in erecting paywalls for Internet news articles. That makes as much sense as hoping for CBS or Deutsche Welle to start charging people for their existing old-style programmes.
Silly old bugger should focus on putting the quality back into the Times and the Oz. Value adding is the only slim chance he has to make something like this work.
When I first saw this story, I thought “What would Rupert’s reaction be to this if he ran Google?”
“Sure thing fellers, let me get my chequebook out …”
Rupert knows very well that if he takes his banners behind a firewall he’ll leave the internet to the likes of the ABC, BBC, DW, and PBS.
His banners will wither and die.
Checkmate, Rupe.
Hummm….. sounds like a few people are betting against the wisdom of News Corp.
Good luck with that and I look forward to seeing what eventuates.
Murdoch is exposing himself as completely out of touch with teh modern world. What an idiot. Old newspaper men never die apparently, they and their empires, fortunes and dynasties just f-f-f-fade away. As will dishonourable chinese dictators – who have just censored/disappeared my email contact with mainland china. Bastards. They deserve Rupert and his pissy retro advice – and they can all go down the gurgler of history together – ha! I will laugh my face off at that.
“Rupert knows very well that if he takes his banners behind a firewall he’ll leave the internet to the likes of the ABC, BBC, DW, and PBS.”
Rupert and son have scheme in mind to do damage to a major player. Plans are well underway to castrate the Beeb when Cameron takes over. Another conservative government, here, will merely need to up the dose for an already groggy Aunty.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/how-cameron-cosied-up-to-murdoch–son-1795742.html
“the wisdom of News Corp”
There is wisdom at News Corp? In what sense, surely not financial?
Rupert will never get the big 3 US networks plus CNN to go along with a new paywall culture. I don’t care just how much juice people fantasise about him having—those competitors he has in the biggest TV market will happily watch him lose all his influence as a trendsetter. He can’t intimidate them like he intimidates political leaders.
Yet most of his newspapers’ content that is on the Internet today just isn’t much better than what commercial TV the world over produces for their own sites.
Time-Warner doesn’t own newspapers, and the magazines they do have are the kind that will live-or-die according to what lifestyle niches they can corner (hence the ‘Sports Illustrated-ification’ of all the news weeklies).
Anyway, that Murdoch may waste his final years trying to preserve newspaper culture by demagoging the Internet is, what? Sad? Ironic? Elegiacal?
grace pettigrew, kinda says it all really. Ouch!
“In one of my favorite Murdoch stories, his wife, Wendi, who had befriended the founders of Google, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, told me about how the “boys” had visited the Murdochs at their ranch in Carmel, California. When I marveled at this relative social mismatch and asked what they might have talked about, Wendi assured me that they had all gotten along very well.
“You know, Rupert,” Wendi said, “he’s always asking questions.”
“But what,” I prodded, “did he exactly ask?”
“He asked,” she said, hesitating only a beat before cracking herself up, “‘Why don’t you read newspapers?’””
http://www.vanityfair.com/business/features/2009/11/michael-wolff-200911
Murdoch shouldn’t be expecting friendly legislative rectum saving treatment from Obama or Rudd given the political filth his empire creates against non-conservative governments.
Governments will relish Rupert on his back choking to death and may offer a legislative foot on throat if that would finish him off more quickly.
The best thing that could happen to the planet would be the bankruptcy of News Corp.
Tom Paine, I think you’re exaggerating a bit. While the bankruptcy of News Ltd would certainly be a great good, it’s not, in itself, the best thing that could happen to our planet.
However, it’d certainly facilitate the best thing that could happen to our planet.
Oh, to hell with this stinking, decrepit, ultra-right,ancient capitalist. I too hope he goes belly up. I never buy his neo-fascist propaganda now, and if I can’t read it for free in coffee shops or on the internet I won’t read it at all. The old crone is utterly deluded.
If you knew Wendi
Like we know Wendi
Oh, oh
Oh what a gal!!
-lines on the ascent of good Chinese girl in Empire of Arch-capitalist Tycoon Plutocrat after Plutocracy Discovered Best Theme for Everyone-Good-Capitalist-Now Ten Steps Forward Campaign, Who Cares What Colour The Cat Is So Long as it Subscribes To Brother Rupert’s Pay TV?
Miaow Tse Tung,
Never a Paper Tiger
Always a Paper Kitten
I fondly foresee Rupert’s newspaper empire collapsing around him while he becomes increasingly demented, ultimately ending up in the loony bin endlessly squawking in cockatoo fashion: “Rosebud!”
Meanwhile, one London paper is taking the exact opposite gamble to Murdoch:
Socratease: an old Cook cartoon – Rupert’s Last Words were “sell Rosebud”.
AN: I like that better.
It looks as though Rupert has his mother’s genes for longevity, and I believe he considers that a blessing. However, it may well turn out to be a curse as he lives to sees his empire and former power crumble before him.
James Packer seems to be living up to the old adage of “clogs to clogs in three generations”. I wonder what Lachlan will do with what’s left of News.
Indeed Joe2, how dare the Beeb cast freeby pearls before swine.
(With apologies to Deng Xiaoping)
Heh. Buckets of shit don’t know which way they are being thrown.
Bit rich this speech of Rupes coming as it did as he and all the major news organisations were dropping their pants and grabbing their ankles while being lectured to by President Hu on what the media’s job is. And I looked at Punch the other day with all its links to other publications Kleptomania or aggregation? And when he starts paying his columnists on Punch maybe we will take notice. Rupe is just trying to sucker everyone else like Fairfax to get behind the wall Such a move would kill Fairfax as at the moment it out views News.com.au on the Internet. Once he has dragged them down in the hole and thrown dirt over them he will drop the walls and hey presto he has domination. It will be a trick he will try in all major media markets. Problem will be that most of us will find we can live without News.com.au and might not be around when he resurfaces.
And look out for a coencerted attack on the ABC taxpayer funded news starting no doubt with the Australian.