Rupert Murdoch: Rebekah Brooks – The Sacrificial Cow
THE difficulty with the News International – Rupert and James Murdoch and Rebekah Brooks unravelling tale is it’s complexity.
It has become hard to know which way to look since the Murdoch web covers almost all of the British Establishment. The rich and powerful, the meek and the minor… all are tainted by the reach of this media monolith.
At the heart of this web is not a spider but hard-headed media giant. Whatever else Rupert Murdoch is, he is the greatest media mogul the world has ever seen. From a newspaper background to multi-national tycoon. He is no fool and is the pinnacle of the media baron’s art. Greater than the sum parts of all previous Colossus personalities.
He will not shine at today’ appearance before UK MPs since even they must be stunned by the rapid succession of resignations and now a probably loosely associated death. The tycoon is not a good speaker and angry questions will not be the right ones and provoke anger in return.
As this story started to run it was predicted here there would be a feeding frenzy and when the shark pack is made up of media, police and politicians then, as with all feeding frenzy packs, the snapping and biting carries on regardless and EVERYONE gets hurt.
Murdoch has triumphed in the past and was THE king maker. Without the support of the Murdoch media machine then no politician could make progress.
Various pundits have been paraded out to claim Murdoch was not a power crazed media mogul but merely a business man who did well.
Not true. Rupert Murdoch was, and the word was is chosen since the game is well and truly up, the last great media giant. There will be no others…at least not any with the Murdoch trademark high profile.
Brooks is no longer the Murdoch Ginger Tabby and once police get to the bottom of last night’s tale of an alleged dumped computer and phone (which Charlie Brooks says were his and not his wife’s) the headlines may very well be ‘Rebekah the Sacrificial Cow’.
The web reaches to heart of UK Government and still there has been no mention of investigation of the undoubted links between high ranking civil servants and the media.
It is not only politicians who brief and counter-brief. Whitehall elders may also be looking at pension escape clauses.
The Murdoch taint is pervasive.
Two days ago I was walking in a remote hill area of Scotland. Around the corner of the easy pathway came the figure of an elderly man carrying a huge backpack. I recognised him as a very senior colleague from years before and we stopped and talked. I was panting and struggling for breath but the bright-eyed 80 something year old journalist was still breathing steadily. He asked kindly after Anorak and the conversation turned to the news of the day.
I asked his opinion since I have always valued it. He made these remarks and I pass them along without comment:
“I worked for Murdoch on his first newspaper in Melbourne when he had just acquired it. The man was an utter bastard then and has consistently lived up to that initial promise.
“Everyone who has had anything to do with him or worked with him since knew what he was capable of and richly deserves what is coming their way.”
We shall see shan’t we? – Alan White
Posted: 19th, July 2011 | In: Reviews Comments (13) | TrackBack | Permalink
