Murdoch....

[johnny9fingers]

I've been thinking of Rupert Murdoch's coming attempt to charge for news and his ongoing battle with the BBC.

Murdoch has stated that he will attempt to charge for online access to News Corp's various online titles like The Times, and The Sun, and Fox News sometime next year. Evidently this will be after the Conservative Party win the coming general election in the UK, and his tame puppets-in-government enact legislation to prevent the BBC from putting its news content online.

Now, for all my US chums, which news organisation would you rather read or watch online? Fox News? or The BBC? And even if you'd rather read or watch Fox, which organisation would you trust to give accurate facts?

I think the Tory Party have to distance themselves from Murdoch. The old model of newsgathering and journalism is dead, much like the old model of the Music Biz, or the old model of the retail book trade before Amazon. Recognising this fact, and also recognising the fact that this is the last election which an old-fashioned newspaper Baron will ever be able to influence, does David Cameron really want to emasculate the BBC just to pander to either Roops, or the anointed son James.

If he does I will not forget, nor will many other folk.

As is Roops appears to be batting on a losing wicket. Even if he manages to charge for news on the web, he won't be able to stop people from disseminating the information across the web. I await to see the stroke-of-genius (apart from, of course, suborning the Tory party) which will rescue the old-fashioned notion of journalism from the evils of the interweb.

Comments

[johnny9fingers.livejournal.com]

It's more that there is the possibility of the BBC's news service across the net being shut down, rather than not being able to access it. The BBC is funded publically, and although it is free from political bias, its funding is arranged through a licence fee, which is the equivalent of a mandatory tax. Now this tax pays for lots and lots of BBC services. An incoming Tory government in thrall to Roops may have made promises to him to limit or stop the BBC from putting 'free' news across the net, on the basis of infringement of NewsCorp's trade, and unfair competition.

However, the BBC's journalists and editorial staff have standards many times higher than NewsCorp's. Also the BBC is subject to regular and close public scrutiny. You get pretty unbiased news from the BBC. Alas the same cannot be said of any private newsgathering companies.

Because of the BBC's public funding, some Libertarians would prefer privatisation, objecting to paying a tax for this sort of thing. I reckon the quality of the output provides the best defence against this sort of threat, especially when compared to the quality of output from the private sector.

[mister-bitters.livejournal.com]

Sadly, I don't think the argument protects Americans from Libertarian idiocy. It might save the Beeb, but I can't see such rational thought working here. We're talking about a country that can't find our own ass with both hands glued to our butt cheeks.

[johnny9fingers.livejournal.com]

I hope that folk this side of the pond don't have to save the Beeb, and next year's incoming government will not castrate it.

I think folk might well get hugely upset if the Tories fuck with the Beeb.

[mister-bitters.livejournal.com]

I hope so. Even over here, I rely on the BBC for news that I can trust. I enjoy NPR and believe in public radio and television, but I rely on the BBC to not lie to me about what's going on. I also rely on their web presence for information. I should look into foreign financial support for it.

[wc-helmets.livejournal.com]

Yea, your whole royal mandate thing has me confused when it comes to taxation and the BBC as we have no model like that in the States. I'd never thought about it in terms of a checks and balance in regards to the news, but I like that idea that a media outlet somewhat publicly funded being held accountable to the public. Anyway, I certainly hope things don't go the route of BBC not having an internet outlet.

[donolectic.livejournal.com]

I reckon the quality of the output provides the best defence against this sort of threat, especially when compared to the quality of output from the private sector.

Precisely. The BBC is performing a public service for the world and is one of the best sales cards for the UK in the world. From my perspective, there is no better organization in the english speaking world.

And it's not just the news I love, I also get Radio One through my satellite radio. :-D