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Showing posts with label Rupert Murdoch. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Dish the Dirty Digger!

The Dirty Digger

When the history of UK Media comes to be written then the “Tale of the Dirty Digger” Rupert Murdoch will come to be writ large. This was no uneducated yokel who clawed his way up; rather he is the Oxford educated scion of a wealthy Australian Newspaper owner who more than anybody else has been singled handedly responsible for destroying the integrity of the media in Australia, Britain and the United States (of which, ever the opportunist, he became a citizen) whilst corrupting and vulgarising society. The corruption was through political patronage and endorsement, the vulgarising was through his trashy Tabloids and his corrupting of the News agenda with Fox News and the right wing Chav politics of the Sun and the News of the World or “News of the Screws” as it is known from its main fare, trashy exposes often with the help of illegal eavesdropping or subterfuge such as its notorious “False Sheik.”

The delightful Rebecca Brooks who like all News of the World editors knew nothing about phone hacking

So widespread illegality and criminality occurred seemingly untroubled by the long arm of the Law or indeed the laughable “voluntary” Press Complaints Council whose motto seems to be “Scum regulating the Scum” although it is careful to pay good money to have as its head a plausible “Lord Frontman.”

Indeed the original investigation into phone hacking was led by none other than our old friend “shy” Andy Hayman who is now on News International’s payroll, writing without any discernible hint of irony on “Policing Issues.” But now the years of rampage have come home to roost as pressure piles on News International;

Shy and sensitive Andy Hayman

Read about "shy" Andy;

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2007/12/policemans-lot.html

Police warned Holly and Jessica families their phones may have been hacked by News of the World private eye

Car giant scraps adverts as Npower and Halifax 'consider' following suit

Scotland Yard contacted schoolgirls' parents in connection with hacking scandal, it has emerged

Rupert Murdoch's Long Island mansion - naturally any stalkers, paparazzi, hackers or prowlers here will be dealt with using the full force of the law. How dare they intrude on the Boss's privacy!

Revelation comes on day of claims murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler also had her phone tapped by the paper

Questions raised over whether it could have hampered police investigation into Milly's disappearance in 2002

Ed Miliband has led calls for former editor Rebekah Brooks to resign

Ms Brooks says she is 'appalled and shocked' over allegations Milly's voicemail was hacked

John Prescott has called on the Culture Secretary to block News Corp's proposed takeover of BSkyB

Shamed private investigator Glenn Mulcaire apologises to victims

The News of the Screws

This from anti-Murdoch Group 38 Degrees

How much lower can Rupert Murdoch's media empire sink? Today, one of his papers stands accused of hacking the phone of murdered teenager Milly Dowler, causing her family even more pain, and risking a police inquiry. [1]

Rupert Murdoch's empire is now under investigation by the police. [2] But at the same time, he’s getting ready to take even more control of our media. This week, Murdoch’s expecting to get the green light from David Cameron’s government for his takeover of BSkyB. [3]

If we work together, we can make sure this week doesn't end with Murdoch getting awarded even more power. Let's stand together for higher media standards and against Murdoch's latest power grab. Help break Murdoch's grip, sign the petition now:

https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/murdoch-deal-petition

The final government inquiry into Murdoch's power grab ends this Friday at midday. [4] We'll deliver a copy of the petition to the inquiry - demanding that the phone hacking allegations are taken into account and the deal is halted.

PR Dave and Andy Coulson

The government wants to approve Murdoch’s BSkyB takeover. They say that Murdoch promises to respect media independence, so there's nothing to fear from giving him even more control. They want us to trust Rupert Murdoch! [5] But how can we trust Murdoch when his paper stands accused of hacking into the phone of a murdered teenager?

We’ve got until noon on Friday to prove to the government that the public wants the brakes put on Murdoch’s power grab. Let's get over 100,000 signatures by then – add your name now:

https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/murdoch-deal-petition

Yesterday, Murdoch's empire thought this deal was in the bag. Our people-powered campaign had helped delay things - but they had just one hurdle left. The minister in charge, Jeremy Hunt, was clearly on Murdoch’s side. Murdoch's backing for the Conservatives at the election and his executives’ cosy dinners with David Cameron all seemed to be paying off.

But now, we have a real chance to stop this power grab. [6] Across the UK, people are shocked at how one of Rupert Murdoch’s papers is accused of heartlessly abusing a family facing one of the worst situations any of us can imagine. Let’s work together to make sure this is a turning point in the battle for higher media standards in Britain.

Please sign the petition now:

https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/murdoch-deal-petition

Thanks for being involved,

David, Hannah, Johnny, Becky, Cian, Marie and the 38 Degrees team

PS: Would you take a promise from Rupert Murdoch at face value? Help break Murdoch's grip, add your name to the petition now:

>https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/murdoch-deal-petition

NOTES:

[1] http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/jul/04/milly-dowler-voicemail-hacked-news-of-world
[2] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/8617299/News-of-the-World-executives-to-meet-police-over-Milly-Dowler-phone-hacking-claims.html
[3] http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/01a242ce-a2df-11e0-a9a4-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1REVIppSL
[4] http://www.culture.gov.uk/news/media_releases/8258.aspx
[5] http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jun/30/news-corp-bskyb-bis-jeremy-hunt-approval
[6] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14023233

A SCANDAL THAT JUST WON'T GO AWAY – The Diary of Shame

November 2005 The NoW publishes a story about Prince William's knee injury, prompting fears that his aides' phone voicemail messages are being intercepted. Complaints by three royal staff members spark a police inquiry.

August 2006 Detectives arrest the News of the World's royal editor Clive Goodman and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire.

January 2007 Goodman is jailed for four months and Mulcaire for six months after they admit intercepting voicemail messages on royal aides' phones, including some left by Prince William. News of the World editor Andy Coulson resigns from his post, saying he 'deeply regrets' what happened and takes 'ultimate responsibility' for it.

May 2007 The Press Complaints Commission says in a report that it is satisfied no-one else at the News of the World knew Goodman and Mulcaire were tapping phone messages.

July 9 2009 The Crown Prosecution Service announces an urgent review of material provided by the police in 2006.

July 21 2009 Mr Coulson tells MPs on the Culture, Media and Sport Committee things went 'badly wrong' under his editorship of the News of the World, but insists he knew nothing about alleged phone tapping by his journalists.

November 9 2009 The Press Complaints Commission says it has seen no new evidence to suggest anyone at the News of the World other than Goodman and Mulcaire hacked phone messages, or that the paper's executives knew what the pair were doing.

February 24 2010 A Culture, Media and Sport Committee report finds no evidence that Mr Coulson knew phone hacking was taking place at the News of the World, but says it is 'inconceivable' that no-one apart from Goodman was aware of it.

John "well I be buggered" Prescott

November 4 2010 Mr Coulson is interviewed as a witness by Metropolitan Police detectives investigating the phone tapping allegations. He is not cautioned or arrested.

December 10 2010 The Crown Prosecution Service says no further charges will be brought over the News of the World phone hacking scandal because witnesses refused to co-operate with police.

January 5 2011 News of the World suspends its news editor Ian Edmondson.

January 7 2011 Scotland Yard asks the News of the World for any new material they may have in relation to hacking.

January 26 2011 The Met Police launch a fresh investigation after receiving 'significant new information' about activities at the News of the World. Ian Edmondson, is sacked.

9 February 2011 The Met Police release a statement saying officers have identified more potential victims of hacking while reviewing files relating to the original Goodman and Mulcaire case.

18 February 2011 A judge rules that Glenn Mulcaire must provide information about whether other journalists at the NoW were involved in hacking.

5 April 2011 News of the World chief reporter Neville Thurlbeck and former news editor Ian Edmondson are arrested on suspicion of unlawfully intercepting voicemail messages. They are released on bail until September.

8 April 2011 News International announces it will offer an unreserved apology and admission of liability to those suing over alleged phone hacking.

10 April 2011 The News of the World apologises for intercepting voicemails between 2004 and 2006 and says its past behaviour was a 'matter of genuine regret'.

14 April 2011 News of the World journalist James Weatherup is arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to unlawfully intercept communications.

7 June 2011 At a brief hearing at London's High Court, News Group - the owner of the News of the World - formally apologises to Sienna Miller for hacking into several of her mobile phones. The actress, who does not attend, formally settles for £100,000 damages and legal costs.

22 June 2011 Football pundit Andy Gray accepts £20,000 in compensation from the News of the World owner News Group Newspapers, plus undisclosed costs, over voicemail interceptions.

27 June 2011 Police arrest Laura Elston, who covers royal stories for the Press Association news agency.

July 4 2011 Lawyers for the parents of Milly Dowler confirm Scotland Yard told them the murdered teenager's phone was hacked by an investigator for the News of The World.

The murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler

John Prescott has called on the Culture Secretary to block News Corp's proposed takeover of BSkyB

Read more:

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2011182/Milly-Dowler-News-World-phone-hacking-Police-warned-Soham-families.html%23ixzz1RGdhyBfn

Dish the Dirty Digger!

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

TV -- PT. 2: WHY TV MATTERS

In his classic book "1984", George Orwell wrote: He who controls the present, controls the past. He who controls the past, controls the future.

There is, today, a larger truth that Orwell could not have guessed at in the pre-TV days in which he was writing: Those who control the electronic media, control everything.

OWNERS AND LIARS

And that's why I'm blogging about TV. That's where, sadly, most people get their information from: commercial (and even public) stations with owners/advertisers/donors/CEOs determining their agendas.

Information of any real import, that comes from your TV (or newspaper or radio or commercial Internet site), is very rarely pure and objective. There are too many important people with a lot of money at stake who have an interest in what we-the-people do and don't know.

And these people own the media. Or they are in the same class of power elites. And the last thing they need is the truth about corporate welfare or Afghan babies being blown to pieces or how they (i.e. the elites) craft the news stirring up the masses and upsetting the gravy train.

When you think about it, you don't have to be an atom-splitter to see that this all makes perfect sense.

OPTIONS? WHAT OPTIONS?

And ask yourself this: Why, with so many news "options" (CNN, NBC, CBS, Fox, New York Times, Washington Post etc. etc. etc.), do all these outlets run pretty much the same stories in pretty much the same way?

There are a few answers:

1/ The mass media is owned by a relatively small number of corporations.

2/ Many news services feed off the same sources.

3/ All of these outlets make their big money by selling advertising space (profit motive = self-censorship).

4/ And above all, the status quo, the way things ARE, is what makes the elites the elites. So they aren't going to change anything about what kind of stuff they report or how they report it. Apart from the odd story here and there to give them the look of legitimacy or "balance."

So, really, you don't have much in the way of options -- or alternative points of view -- at all.

CHECK OUT CHOMSKY

The expert in this field is Noam Chomsky. Take a look at his books on the media. And a classic resource is the documentary about Chomsky and his life of analyzing the media "Manufacturing Consent". (You can watch it online here.

Your TV delivers propaganda. Through news, commercials, and subtle messages and stereotypes in virtually every show you watch. And when it isn't doing that, it is dumbing us down and encouraging us to "veg out" and just not think. Again, that's what the folks in control want: If we think, we might start trying to change things.

Technically speaking, the airwaves belong to us -- public property! -- but they have been stolen by corporations. That's a fact. We should send the bastards a bill.

The Internet is an alternative means of mass communication that has great potential: but the corporations are trying to narrow our access there too. I will be writing on that another time.

WHAT CAN WE DO?

The "big idea" behind "House On Fire" is that if we are to make the world a truly better place for everyone, we need to change the structure of society: how things are owned and run, and by whom. We need to change the institutions, including the mass media. Yes, it's a very big notion, but not impossible. First, we all need to get better educated and better motivated.

-- Watch less TV. You'll feel better for it.

-- Make your voice heard about the censorship of the news and the garbage that you are being served up. (Write to the stations, newspaper editors, politicians.)

-- Don't let your kids get indoctrinated by Ronald McDonald or Coca Cola or the idea that "sex sells," or that cute-n-innocent Katie Courac or, for that matter, Rupert bloody Murdoch. Limit their TV time and monitor what they watch and TEACH THEM what you learn about TV.

-- Look for genuine, objective, non-profit sources of news like the excellent DemocracyNow.org (recorded daily in New York City).

-- Comment on Internet message boards.

-- Surf the Net for sites and organizations such as FAIR that are critical of the mass media .

CONCLUSION

Think of it this way: You wouldn't let a stranger -- someone with a sketchy background and questionable motives -- into your house. Well, every time you turn on your TV, that's exactly what you're doing.

And the TV execs know how to get you to smile while they make themselves at home.

If that's not adding insult to injury I don't know what is.

Take care and kill your TV,
Adrian Zupp

IF YOU LIKED THIS POST you might like to read TV -- PT.1: GETTING A GRIP ON REALITY or THE IDIOT CULTURE.

Saturday, July 17, 2010

NO TIME FOR BULLIES

I just read an article in a year-old Vanity Fair about one of those private schools in New England that caters to the filthy rich and upwardly groveling wannabes. An all-female institution called Miss Porter's School, located in Farmington, Connecticut. Your garden variety elitist idiot factory.

It seems the esteemed institution had a bit of bother when a student filed suit because she was bullied and the school took no action. The institution and many alumni were outraged, of course. Thriving, as they do, on their cloistering and traditions that, for the most part, don't add up to squat.

Apparently the unspoken tradition involved here was "toughen up and deal with it."

What a load of crap.

As someone who went to a high school that cost, literally, 30 bucks a year in fees; where the law of the land was usually a swift left hook to the head; and where the teachers never hesitated to whip us with canes or offer to settle things with boxing gloves on; I think I'm qualified to address the "get tough" rejoinder.

Bullying is cowardice. Period. Here's the litmus test: Take all those alumns and students and parents and administrators who think this young lady just needed to get some starch, and give them a week in a federal prison. Or working on roads in the blistering heat. Or taking a beating at the hands of a trained boxer of their own gender. THEN we'll discuss toughness.

It's easy to be tough when you aren't tested to your limits. This girl had reached her limit and been pushed further. And clearly she wasn't one of those painful "popular" girls so she had the added test of going it alone.

I have never had time for bullies and never will. They're gutless.

And that goes for hazing in the military and frats (c'mon, grow up already), men/women who bully their spouses and/or kids, bosses who bully or harass those "under" them, teachers who bully students, students who bully their peers, corporate hot shots who bully anyone who gets in their way [pictured], or world leaders who bully tiny nations they wish to exploit.

Any fight you know in advance you will win is not a fight. Any person you know you can dominate before the curtain goes up, you should leave alone. Unless they're a bully themselves. And even then there are usually better ways to deal with the situation than to respond in kind. Which is what the aforementioned student did -- and got mass-bullied for her efforts.

Watch out for your kids and watch for the signs. Bullying is dangerous and is NOT the way that people become genuinely tough.

And stand up to corporate and socio-economic bullies. Pull them out of their comfort zone and confront them on YOUR terms and you'll see that they're paper tigers.

Or, as we say in Australia, just shorten them up.

Take care and keep smiling,
Adrian Zupp

IF YOU FOUND THIS BLOG ENTRY INTERESTING you might like to take a look at GAY SUICIDES -- IS ANYONE GETTING THIS?

Monday, March 22, 2010

THE IDIOT CULTURE

Back in the ’90s, while I was still living in Australia, I read an article by Carl Bernstein (pictured) entitled “The Idiot Culture.”

Bernstein, you might recall, was one half of the Woodward and Bernstein journalism team that broke the whole Watergate thing in The Washington Post in the 1970s – the political event that is perpetually trotted out as a luminous paragon of the American checks and balances system.

Bernstein’s article made a big impression on me – despite the fact that it didn’t go nearly far enough in its analysis or criticism. (Bernstein, now 66, still talks on the subject at various venues.)

The thrust of the piece, as the title suggests, was that the Western World is hooked on garbage entertainment. Throwaway icons and shallow creativity. TV shows that woo the voyeur in us. Paparazzi snapshots of “stars” who just don’t matter. Mind-numbing pseudo news that weighs us down rather than lifting us up.

The whole “idiot culture” thing could be a thesis or a book, not merely an article. Actually it has been: Take for example Neil Postman’s deeply analytical book “Amusing Ourselves To Death.” Postman and his ilk – including lauded socio-political commentator Professor Noam Chomsky – posit, correctly, that public discourse – the things we talk about and think about – have moved from the somewhat meaningful to the painfully absurd in the past half century or so.

The net result is that we have become junk-info addicts who are almost completely distracted from the important issues that affect us, those we love, and our fellow human beings around the globe. More to the point, to a large degree we are no longer even aware of what is important. We have been fed sugar-coated rat poison and dragged out beyond the margins of true culture to whither and die, spiritually and mentally.

The simple point is this: If we don’t focus our thoughts and energies on learning about the real and profound problems our planet is facing, and on taking actions to remedy them, then we’re closing the door on hope. Like anything worthwhile in life or history, saving the world (literally) will only be achieved through true understanding followed by concerted effort.

There are some vital things we need to do if we are to survive. We need to change the way the world is governed; we need to see that poverty is put to the sword; we need to end the suicidal environmental degradation of our planet; we need to assign anything with the word “nuclear” attached to it to the archives. And much more.

That’s a lot of thinking and a lot of work. We really need to dig for the truth and see that that truth is served. And we are not going to find truth on reality shows or in tabloid magazines; in the pitiful tirades of TV’s political talk show ego turds or the endless mire of nonsense that clutters much of the Internet. And no, we can’t even turn to traditional news sources or the likes of Carl Bernstein. We have to go to more pure information sources. More courageous ones. And we must find similarly concerned citizens. But first we must want to apply ourselves and not seek addiction-escapism by sinking into the couch and praying to the tube.

While Bernstein was right to rail against our toxic non-culture almost two decades ago, he has certainly been a beneficiary of it. His work on Watergate and subsequent lecturing on “serious journalism” have given him (and Woodward) a kind of demigod status. In a sense, they have accrued credibility in large part because of the contrast between themselves and the lower reaches of the idiot culture. But that contrast creates a false credibility: They are merely at the "high end" of that culture.

The fact is, they – and The Washington Post – are still part of the timid/privatized media industry and are hardly daring in what they do. Nixon was just a twisted creep who made for a good story. He was relatively easy to axe. But where are these pillars of pious journalism when it comes to things such as COINTELPRO, Gitmo, U.S. imperialism, the exploitation of Third World economies, the rape of the world ecosystem, the real and present danger posed by nuclear weapons and energy, the severe lack of democracy in America, or profoundly dissecting their own industry? It’s easy to make a bit of noise about Jerry Springer and Paris Hilton. Taking on Rupert Murdoch or transnational corporations in any serious way is another matter. And that takes a courage far greater.

Do we live in an idiot culture? Turn on your TV and flip through 20 or 30 channels and you tell me. Are we idiots? No, we are not. But the people with their hands on the levers want us to act like idiots. Passive consumers of their faux information and unnecessary products. So far, we've been pretty much playing into their hands.

But we can stop any time we decide we're ready to.

***********

Thanks for reading and check back soon. In the meantime, check out www.democracynow.org for some brave and honest journalism. Yes, you can handle the truth.

Adrian Zupp

IF THIS BLOG POST WAS OF INTEREST TO YOU you might also like to read REMEMBERING SIMPLER TIMES or KIM KARDASHIAN NUDE VS. GAY SUICIDES -- WHAT PEOPLE ARE TALKING ABOUT.