Big Brother's Information Minister

In a post yesterday, I had written about the propaganda mouth pieces at FOX News. Wish I had caught this bit of news as the post's premise has just been confirmed – by none other than Rupert Murdoch:

Last Friday, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Rupert Murdoch sat on a panel where he lamented what he described as a "loss of power" due to the ascension of the Internet and other new media. The notion that this captain of one of the most dominant media conglomerates in the world is trembling in the shadow of bloggers is simply absurd. Especially when you consider the fact that his company is also a dominant player on the Internet with an aggressive acquisitiveness that includes MySpace, the world's largest online social networking site.

But there was a more shocking exchange that took place that ought to have caused more of a stir amongst professional journalists and all freedom loving people. It was an exchange that revealed something that most conscious beings knew, but which I have never seen explicitly articulated.

Murdoch was asked if News Corp. had managed to shape the agenda on the war in Iraq. His answer?

"No, I don't think so. We tried [...] We basically supported the Bush policy in the Middle East...but we have been very critical of his execution."

As stated so capably by Juan Cole:

......He said that they were critical of the execution of the war, though. He doesn't watch or read his own media if he thinks that. It is never a discouraging word and 'what were the RNC talking points today?' over there in Foxland.

Murdoch's remarks are a good reason for which the news conglomerates should be broken up so that a wider range of views can be published. While Murdoch complains about competition from the internet, the fact is that far more people watch television than get their news from any blogger.

Murdoch's media have done more to cheapen American values and drive the country toward fascistic ways of thinking than anything since the McCarthy period in the 1950s. The airwaves belong to the public, and this man only licenses them. When will the public take them back and use them for purposes of which Washington, Jefferson, Madison and Franklin would have approved?

So, Murdoch – the head of a huge media conglomerate, admits that he tried to influence the agenda of a phony war by manipulating information and spreading government lies. Murdoch was toying with the American public, treating them as suckers who would believe any pablum they were fed. Did he care at all about the lives involved – the answer is clearly no. Fox News is nothing more that a neo-con tool, their propaganda peddler. If his admission is not the final nail in the FOX "News"coffin and if it does not cause America to turn this propaganda outlet off – then we are in serious trouble.

Murdoch has the blood of innocent's on his hands – just to make a buck. I wish him a long life – in hell.
Posted on The Human Stain