Murdoch Media Empire, Will it Fall?

Not at all

 By John E. Jones

The exposure of Murdoch’s part in capitalist propaganda is not limited to Britain. The Murdoch empire dominates the English speaking countries. While the corruption of the police and politicians that is being exposed is very damaging to the image of the sham democracy that has prevailed; the real damage is to the indoctrination machine.
The phone-hacking scandal tha led to the closure of the News of the World has brought to the surface the real state of things within the British establishment. The rottenness of a regime, that prides itself at being a model of “democracy,” is out in the open for all to see.
What has now been revealed is that a powerful media empire that for years has played a key role in British politics, making and unmaking political leaders, has been buying police officers, using influence with politicians, and all this peppered with out and out criminal activity.
This is not just any ordinary scandal that after a brief airing can be swept under the carpet and hidden again from public view. It is part of a more general crisis of the whole establishment.
Millions of ordinary working people in Britain are angry and disgusted at what has been revealed in the recent period. But, more importantly, the scandal risks destroying the authority of important pillars of the state, key instruments that are used by the ruling class to justify its position in society.
The media is an important weapon in the armoury of the establishment, for it is a means of getting across the views and opinions of the ruling class to the millions of ordinary workers.
This is clear during any important strike. How many times have we seen the media playing down the real numbers at demonstrations and rallies of the labour movement? The March 26 trade union demonstration is a clear example.
However, it is not just the numbers taking part that is lied about. Striking workers are always presented as greedy and unreasonable.
Especially the gutter press, such as the News of the World (NoW), have made it their trade to spread stories about so-called social security scroungers and how the problem is all due to excessive spending on the part of the state on welfare benefits.
All this can have some effect so long as the media is seen to be a source of objective “truth.” This scandal has seriously brought that idea into question.
Under capitalism “democracy” is a system where ordinary basic democratic rights exist, such as the right to vote, to free speech, etc., but where the real power is in the hands of the big corporations, such as Murdoch’s media empire.
Important decisions such as who the capitalist class want to govern the country, what policies they should carry out, and what interests they should defend are not really in the hands of ordinary working people.
We have no powers within this parliamentary system to decide when we should all retire, how many hours a week we should work, how much of our money should be spent on healthcare and education, whether or not to go to war, such as in the case of Iraq, etc., etc.
The problem is that the ruling class consists of a very small group of people. The vast majority of the population works for a living, gets a wage from a boss, whether in a factory, on a building site, in a classroom or at a desk working on a computer.
The interests of this huge majority are diametrically opposed to those of this clique. That is why the credibility of the media, the police and parliament itself is so important, so “central to democracy.” This credibility is required to maintain a grip on the consciousness of millions of working people.
This government has embarked on a savage attack on everything that makes for a minimally civilised existence for working people.
But this already provoked a massive student protest in November last year, followed by the biggest trade union demonstration in the history of Britain on March 26th and June 30th saw huge strike action by teachers, lecturers and civil servants.
That was merely a taste of even bigger things to come. In such a situation the establishment needs all its arsenal in place:
The media to convince the masses that austerity is necessary, the police to attack the workers when the media fails to stop them protesting, and the government and parliament with their authority intact in order to continue pushing forward the austerity measures.

 Response

Sadly, the article posted above is entirely wrong in asserting that the authority, or credibility, of the media has been challenged (at least on a large scale, or here in the US even). The fullness of the scandal has not, nor will it ever be fully realized. People in Britain have known for some time now, and America as well, about the corruption in their government in co-operation with their media. The response has been one of total apathy, honestly, it's amazing they're angry over the plight of the poor girl who was murdered.

And if anyone things the Murdoch Empire has been exposed, the answer is yes, and no. Those who oppose his media empire are learning nothing new, and those who adhere to it are eagerly gobbling up the apologies and excuses given.

Fox News and Newscorp have already gone on the attack path, distancing themselves from having anything to do with the, News of The World, scandal. In fact, if anything, they will blame the apparent corruption on Britain's, "far-left" "socialist policies".

Police at Scotland Yard taking bribes? Politicians corrupted with money?

Well that's what you get with socialism.

Trust me, that's what the party line will be, or something like it.

At the very least, Fox News is already arguing that it isn't a very big deal

and that the British public is overreacting.


No, no, no, the only chance of it ever have any impact here in the states is if Fox News did something that widely angered the public to such and extent that the ensuing boycott and loss of viewers causes them to close their doors. But that hasn't happened, and it's extremely doubtful that it ever will.