Loving the enemy: Why we should give Rupert Murdoch a break

One thing that over the last few weeks that has been inescapable is the current crisis for empire Murdoch. How many of us have delighted to see his company stumble in it’s BskyB bid, how we laughed as they announced the death of News Of The World. Oh it has been a good week for us. The illegal actions taken by those at NewsCorps finally seem to be being brought to some justice. Everything seems to be just as it should. But I do have an odd feeling in my gut, a bitter taste in my mouth.  Know now that I in no way support the phone hacking scandal, though I have some issues with celebrities and they concepts of rights to privacy I do honestly believe that they have right to some privacy at least. With the emergence of new evidence that phone hacking was done to the late Milly Dowler and may have caused a delay in her case only infuriates me. The feeling in my stomach and the bitter taste in my mouth is that I know in part the attacks on NewsCorp and its infamous ruler Rupert Murdoch is nothing more than pretentious bullshit.

It seems many people hate Murdoch for one thing, that he is good at what he does, that he is very successful. But why should we. He started out with a newspaper in Australia and has since used his good business knowledge as well as a talent to know what people want to spread his empire far and wide. He owns newspapers and internet domains, programmes and broadcasting companies. He is friends with many people in high places. Yes there’s another thing people may not believe, the reason he meets with lots of important people is probably because they move in the same circles and may well be genuine friends. Obviously some will be crying out in anger at the fact that many of the companies under his enormous wing publish inflammatory news and celebrity gossip as well as general rubbish and right wing propaganda. But unfortunately for those screaming out that would seem to be what is popular, and for someone who owns a company it makes sense to sell what’s popular. Besides the concept that we should only put out high class complicatedly written left sympathising papers is elitist bollocks and nothing more that censorship.

So I implore you to be angry at the hacking scandal to cheer the punishment being rightly levelled, but don’t make a monster where there isn’t one. Rupert Murdoch does not hide under your bed and whisper evils in your ears. He publishes information in a format that pleases a great number of people, don’t like it, don’t buy it.