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TechnoratiToday's news that the Bancroft family has agreed to News Corp.'s $5 billion dollar buyout offer for Dow Jones, is a powerful reminder of how media consolidation is constantly eroding the foundational structures of our democracy. America's founders understood that a truly free press -- enlivened by diverse perspectives and beholden to the public interest -- is the keystone to a flourishing democracy. With the purchase of the Dow Jones Co. and its flagship Wall Street Journal another vital voice is brought under the umbrella of one conglomerate -- and one man -- that already controls too much of what Americans see, hear and read every day.
Since Rupert Murdoch's offer was made public, volumes have been written on what this historic deal might mean to journalism in America. A fair bit of the criticism and concern surrounding News Corp.'s bid for Dow Jones has focused on Murdoch himself and his well-documented penchant for employing his media outlets to advance his personal and business interests.
The Wall Street Journal is regarded as a bulwark of journalistic independence, seen by many as one of the most reliable sources of business news and a critical watchdog of corporate behavior. With less and less hard news being covered by the corporate media, newspapers like the Journal hold a powerful place in American society, helping to shape the national news agenda. Murdoch's influence over editorial policy at the Journal will have profound effects on what we see and hear on the news. Those concerned about the journalistic independence and editorial integrity at the Journal have good reason to be worried.
In addition to fears over his heavy-handed influence on editorial decisions, many worry about how Murdoch will streamline operations to create "synergy" between his various media holdings, such as Fox News and the recently announced Fox Business Network. Synergy is usually just another word for layoffs. These strategies have contributed to the dramatic staff reductions at newspapers across the country. Budget cuts have slashed things like investigative reporting and foreign bureaus in favor of "infotainment."
Above all, we ought to be most concerned with the health of our media system. Media consolidation, by its nature, diminishes the diversity of voices represented in our media or able to access to the presses and the airwaves. With fewer points of view available, those select few with an outlet increase their capacity to shape public opinion, politics and daily life. It is easy to make Murdoch a target, but this deal is not about one man so much as it is about a whole system of policies that creates a rich media but a poor democracy.
Some may say we should just let the market take its course. But today's media system isn't simply the evolutionary result of "market forces at work." It's the result of policies created by Congress and enforced by the FCC. Without those policies, Murdoch couldn't have built his media empire. Only by restoring public input in the policymaking process, can we reverse this trend and make America's media a healthier place where a marketplace of ideas and the free market can co-exist.
We can't change Rupert Murdoch. But we can change the policies that allow companies like News Corp. to control our media. We can create new policies that foster the kind of diverse, accessible and vibrant media that our country's founders imagined and our democracy needs.
To find out more or to take the first step in reforming the media explore www.StopBigMedia.com, visit www.FreePress.net and sign up as an e-activist.
Josh Silver is Executive Director of Free Press.
© 2007 Huffington Post
22 Comments so far
Show AllACQUISITION OF THE WALL STREET JOURNAL BY MURDOCH
We can now expect the influence of FOX news to be extended to the WSJ, who unlike FOX has generally maintained reliability (excluding their editorial page). This would be of little concern if so many were not influenced by such biased & deceptive reporting, guided by right wing extremists & special interests.
By poisoning our press, this native Australian has inflicted damage on our system, which will only be compounded unless this acquisition is halted. If not we can chalk up victory for the Bush team & their right wing supporters–and a defeat for journalism & our republic.
Robert Settgast
San Rafael, CA
415-492-1747
rhsettgast@hotmail.com
I think that alyosha has a good point. Part of what Murdoch does, besides making himself obscenely wealthy, is to pollute the journalistic environment to the point that no one will mistake journalism as practiced today with any objective search for truth. It has become spin on top of spin on top of spin... ad infinitum, without any concern for or need for an actual underlying verifiable event.
Years ago, as capitalism became the predominant economic model, it was commonly justified as utilitarian -- producing the greatest good for the greatest number. But in the aftermath of the fall of the Soviet Union, the predatory capitalists, giddy with their supposed "triumph," have thrown caution to the wind and are jettisoning any pretense at utilitarianism and instead are trying to claim that capitalism follows from human nature (contradicting all anthropological evidence regarding human groups through evolution) and that there is no other choice. They are moving back towards the pre-socialist and pre-labor movement mode of complete and merciless exploitation, believing that socialist revolution is dead and buried forever. And Murdoch, through removing the utilitarian purposes of general journalism, and now, by this latest purchase, by apparently planning on even removing utilitarian journalism for the business class, is the most rapacious and reckless of the lot. I guess there is no honor among thieves.
I'm not sure if I have any enemies on this planet, but if there were just one, it would be that vile piece of walking evil called 'Murdoch'.
If such a thing as 'Satan's spawn' exists, then he is certainly it. How could one man ever come to do SO much damage to an otherwise potentially beautiful, harmonious little planet?
"Get thee behind me R.M."
What planet is Josh Silver from? He talks about the Wall Street Journal as if it were the last bastion of truth, justice and the American way instead of the overtly fascist piece of shit that it is. Bancrofts? Murdoch? Who cares?
Didn't know that...
At least David Letterman just said Murdoch also owns National
Geographic???
Murdoch has the same disease that Bush the inferior and his regime have, GREED. Murdoch has enough money to lose millions running the worst media he can get away with just to make the total payout bigger.
Bush the inferior has enough money and the unique position of president. Both Bush and Murdoch would ruin their reputation for just a little more.
Bush the inferior is willing to be the worst president in the history of the U.S. just to avoid admitting errors and dumping advisers who can't reliably find their ass with both hands.
I wish they would just bow 5 times a day toward a big $. The greedy rich are more devoted to their religion than any Muslim or cult member that has ever existed.
I am ashamed to admit that, as an Australian, we were initially responsible for Rupert. Mea Culpa. His greedy tentacles are all over Australia too.
How come you guys let him grab so much power? Why didn't you put him in Gitmo? Why don't you export him, say to Outer Mongolia.
If ever anyone had doubts about the destructive reality of capitalism, just look at Rupert. He is greed incarnate and he controls the minds of far too many people!
It may be true but you are all beating the wrong bush. The economic situation in the US is not good and is worsening as the dollar falls on the global market and countries work to either diversify their portfolio (a sickening phrase) or outright sell their dollars for Euros. Once Murdoch gets hold of DowJones, the suffering of the journalism and the pushing of a personal agenda will hasten "the end." And...all fall down. Why? the news will be so yellowed, so slanted that the reality of the situation will be hidden until it's just too late. So...Good-bye American Pie, hello crow bait.
FRANK:You got the idea.But see,THERE IS NO CHOICE! The MEDIA is DISNEY/MURDOCH/GE&RCA/VIACOM=Entertainment/Books/Movies/Sports/News.........EVERYTHING! There is NO ASPECT of ENTERTAINMENT/INFORMATION that is not regurgetated by the GREAT OZ! ONE WORLD ONE LANGUAGE ONE THOUGHT ONE MAGAZINE ONE STATION etc etc
Heh, good thing he doesn't have any holdings in places that have democracy or journalism. That would be bad indeed.
Blah blah blah - and we all despise Murdoch so much, we raced to the theaters to hand him hundreds of millions for "The Simpsons Movie."
That'll teach him.
Whadda wimpoid article.The 4th Estate is caving in like a House of Cards in Katrina and we're offered,"What?Me worry?"/Alfred E. Newman Cartoon Revolutionary responses.Sorry Kids.The Shit has hit the fan-FOR REAL!I can't wait.USA TODAY will be THE ONLY NEWSPAPER and TV will offer 250 channels,ALL SPORTING THE SAME IMAGES:Paris Hilton/Lindsey Lohan and whoever just got out of ReHab.PURE DRIVEL.And we sat(sit)back and let it happen while reading CRAPPOLA like this thinking it makes us PROGRESSIVES!ZOMBIES is closer to what History will view us as-NOT REVOLUTIONARIES or "PROGRESSIVES"(this Term will become defined as Novocaine Brained Voyeurs to the Death of Culture)............
It is readily apparent to any thinking person that the mainstream mass media is just another arm of the government, which in turn is a front for the mega-wealthy and international corporations - the real masters. Bush is their perfect "empty suit".
As Albert Speer noted in his book, 'Inside The Third Reich':
"Hitler's dictatorship was the first dictatorship of an industrial state in this modern age of technology, a dictatorship which employed to perfection the instruments of technology to dominate its own people. By means of such instruments of technology as the radio and public address systems [quaint by today's standards - Scorpio], eighty million persons could be made subject to the will of one individual...The criminal events of those years were not only an outgrowth of Hitler's personality. The extent of the crimes was also due to the fact that Hitler was the first to be able to employ the implements of technology to multiply crime."
The Nazis didn't lose WWII. They just changed out of their familiar uniforms into three-piece suits. They wrote the book on how to sucker the population into war and to combine the power of mass media, corporations and the state to control the population. It's all so sophisticated now that people actually believe they still have freedom.
"None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free."
-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
As right wing as the editorial side of the WSJ is, its reporting is at least mostly respected. That will end or be weakened with Murdoch. The real goal is to weaken the idea of "a discoverable truth", in other words to destroy journalism, which is what Fox "News" is all about.
Think of a completely alienating world in which you cannot trust anything you hear or read, similar to 1984. This is why Keith Olbermann calls Fox "The Ministry of Truth". Murdoch's purchase of the WSJ and the demise of journalism is a further step in this direction.
It's not about Murdoch. It's not about the blaming the media. It's about the criminal negligence of Congress and the president regarding media mergers.
Any industry as monopolized as our media is will produce low quality product, because the bigger firms in the industry won't face enough competition from the smaller firms in it. By the way, any business firm can do a merger (i.e., a bigger firm isn't necessarily a better one.)
Using campaign spending limits to get America better politicians is the only way to solve America's problems enough.
I don't know why everyone is upset over this. Rupert Murdoch is a predatory capitalist, the Wall Street Journal and Barrons are required reading for such people.
Who could doubt this is a marriage made in neocon predatory capitalist heaven?
Josh Josh Josh..
Think about the fact that Murdoch is buying the Wall Street Journal. Rupert Murdoch gained fame in this country in the 1970's because of the smut magazines. Since then, he made a natural extension to his smut business by creating Fox News.
Murdoch creating a network simply to legitimize and help fabricate the talk radio jibber-jabber into honest news is simply wrong. But you must remember he knows the obscene smut business inside and out ergo, Fox News. So he simply hires Freedom hating, low-life, cowardly, scum that he knows will carry out his agenda. This should open up lots of job for the MSM.
One wonders since Murdoch's agenda will soon be the entire republican parties' platform. Therefore, this Bush administration is likely to pass, "The English Brotherhood Act". We will most likely be told after-the-fact this act is necessary to help streamline the elections and eliminates the cost burden on the hard working republican's for their generous campaign contributions. This would also free our benevolent corporations from their burdensome yet generous donations. Additionally, all Americans would be united and not divided.
The Murdoch family would simply be declared our royal family with him being the king. Who would be opposed? Talk radio would tell the amoral mob (moral majority) it's a good deal; it would be a good deal for Wall Street and the MSM.
The king is dead long live the king. Oh the constitution may need to be slightly adjusted but that's no biggie compared to what this Bush administration has already done. The republican stacked Supreme Court would go alone for the ride.
Sure there might be a few cry baby liberals but then there always is.
Sorry it is already too late.
ps.. Could I have another order of "Freedom Fries"?, this time with some "Freedom Dressing" sounds kinda crazy but it's yummy...
I've seen this show before. A few decades ago, another paper, The Times (London's, not the New York imposter by a similar name), fell into Murdoch's clutches. He did introduce a bingo game based on stock prices, but beyond that The Times remained what it always was, the morning paper of those who ran Britain (The Financial Times is read by those who own the country, the Guardian by those who think they ought to run the country, and the Telegraph by those who think the country ought to be run the way it was 100 years ago).
Yes, The Times abandoned the broadsheet format, but so did the Guardian and the Telegraph. The photos are in color now, and the ink doesn't come off on one's hands quite so readily.
At the time, a few anti-Murdoch people started up another paper, The Independent, adding yet another quality paper to the country's news-stands.
The WSJ is a puffed up, capitalist propaganda rag and has been since it was launched. The reporting is, indeed, excellent, but its readers don't want stories that will challenge the system, so reporters never file any. We aren't losing a damn thing because Murdoch's history suggests he isn't going to change it all that much. He doesn't need to.
WSJ does have excellent reporting, and they do tell you more than what you gt in regular newspaper, but WSJ is so damn right wing I really don't care that Murdoch is going to come in and screew it up
The Wall Street Journal under Murdoch will not change its tone or aims. Murdoch is only acting out the what the WSJ has been promoting, capitalism. If the WSJ was suddenly promoting Socialism then one could voice some wonder. I no longer read the WSJ nor put any value on their editorials it is so much rubbish. Murdoch is welcome to the rag, possibly one thing may start to appear on the front page to spice it up,in true Murdoch fashion, some pretty young women!!
The way to deal with this war criminal murdoch is to acknowledge that he is already guilty of felony monopoly-he owns more stations RIGHT NOW than is legal. Arrest him, seize and redistribute all his stations to PEOPLE, and all his assets to PEOPLE, and announce the species realization that his kind of predatory capitalism is something we recognize as malignant, and that we have outgrown it. Hope you like prison, boy murdoch. just cause you're old doesn't mean you're not a woman in some crackhead's eyes.
You look at that very old man and wonder what his intention's are. What motivates him? Is it for more money? The consolidation of the media has gone way too far. I don't believe a damn thing I read, see or hear from the mainstream media. The system is beyond broken. Everything is just so contrary to what we always believed was the American way.