The book entitled The Man Who Owns the News is a biography of Rupert Murdoch, authored by Michael Wolff. The title might have been true three years ago, when the book was published. Back then, the Australian media mogul controlled an empire that claimed 70 percent of Australia's readership, and the Fox News Network in the United States, which boasted the highest number of television viewers in America, in addition to other major and minor newspapers, and a sway over the British media with Sky Television, and the two tabloid papers, the Sun and the News of the World whose publication was stopped in huge scandal. This is not to mention the most prominent of all of Britain's papers, the Times, along with the Sunday Times. Murdoch was trying to do the same in China; however, the Chinese government blocked his plans, and after two decades, he stopped trying. The media empire built by Rupert Murdoch is being eroded from within. There is a word in English that has no equivalent in Arabic, which is ‘implode' or the opposite of explode. And indeed, Murdoch's empire has imploded, shrunk, and shriveled. The world has been saved from the clutches of an extremist right-wing media, some of it having the sole purpose of furthering Israel's interests, like the media section in the Wall Street Journal, a prestigious paper in everything except this section. The credit for this, however, cannot be given to any leader in the East or the West, but to the Milly Dowler, a thirteen year old teenager who had been tragically abducted and murdered. The News of the World had hacked into her voice mail before deleting her voice messages, despite the fact that a terrible murder had taken place and despite an ongoing criminal investigation. To be fair, credit must also go to Chris Bryant, a gay former British MP and bishop, who staged a one-man campaign against the News of the World, following the phone hacking scandal. Even though the newspaper had prosecuted and humiliated him in London, he has refused to be intimidated or back down. Today, the scandal that began in London has taken on a global dimension. For its part, the FBI is currently investigating the possibility that the phones of the victims of 9/11 had also been hacked, while U.S. lawmakers are seeking to prosecute Murdoch's media under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. In parallel, the Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has hinted at a possible investigation in Murdoch's country of origin as well. As a result, Murdoch's aides have begun fleeing, like rats from a sinking ship: Les Hinton resigned from his post as Dow Jones chief. He was Murdoch's right-hand man. Hinton has known Murdoch for 53 years, and had started working with him in Australia when he was 15. Rebekah Brooks also resigned. The phone hacking scandal had broken out when she was at the helm of the News of the World. She was rewarded by Murdoch by appointing her in 2009 as a CEO of News International. However, she resigned again from her post this month, also under pressure. Andy Coulson then left his post as communications director at 10 Downing Street, the Prime Minister's headquarters. David Cameron admitted before parliament that in hindsight, he feels that he made a mistake when he appointed Coulson, after he left as editor of News of the World where he had succeeded Brooks, following the same scandal. Then Neil Wallis, Coulson's former deputy at the paper, was arrested on suspicion that he might have given his friend Coulson information obtained through phone hacking in his official capacity. What was even stranger than this is the confession by Sir Paul Stephenson, who also resigned as chief of Scotland Yard, before a parliamentary commission of inquiry. He said that out of 47 employees at the Public Relations department in the British Police, ten were former employees of News of the World. Most likely, the British Prime Minister will pay a price for his ties with Murdoch and for hiring Coulson. This is not to mention for not standing up to Murdoch's group's attempt to take over the BSkyB network. While I do not know how the investigation will end, and who will be convicted or not, I am certain that Murdoch's empire has indeed shrunk and imploded, and would not regain its former influence. Rupert Murdoch is a cheap crook, and the politicians who did his biddings are even cheaper than him. I remember from the late seventies, with the dispute between the trade unions and Margaret Thatcher at its fiercest, and with strikes beleaguering the Times and the Sunday Times, that Murdoch announced his intent to publish an evening paper, and built its headquarters in Wapping. Then no sooner had the building been completed than the two major papers were moved there, and the building was surrounding with barbed wire and put under police guard, and it turned out that the evening paper business was all a ruse. Today, Murdoch will not find enough barbed wire to protect himself. The freedom of the press, the real freedom for everyone, is the winner here, by having broken the chains of commercial and political monopolies on the media, monopolies that harm integrity and professionalism. [email protected]
