Across the pond

Not because he likes it. The British establishment never liked him, and his first wife, had a nasty time, being patronised by the great and good.

But because his business interests are at risk.

His underlings here, have been implicated in the phone tapping scandal, so much so, that his trusted hack, Andy Coulson, has finally had to reisign as the Prime Minister’s spinner in chief.

He has come here to emphasise that he is still the boss, not his son, who has been trying to behave as if he knew something about journalism, apart from what he learnt from his dad.

He  has come here, because he wants to get 100 per cent control of Sky Television, to add to his his existing monopoly control of the British media.

This is not polemnic.

Monopoly power, as defined by the old rules, was more than one thired of the market.

Murdoch exceeded that long ago.

The debate should be about whether Murdoch is not already too powerful, not whether he should become even more powerful.

But the government minister responsible for making the decision, as to whether this decision should be referred to the Competition commission, has said he will give more time for Murdoch to argue his case.

Which only goes to show, that he is totally ignorant of the history of the British media.

There has never been a time, when one company has had so much power.

Murdoch owns the biggest circulation tabloids, in the Sun and the News of the World. And the still highly  respected Times and Sunday Times, amongst the serious newspapers.

As well as Sky Television, which has been enormouslly successful, in purshading people to pay for what they view.

By comparision the rest of the right wing press, is a joke. The Telegraph, owned by the tax exiled Barclay Brothers, still produces a decent serious newspaper, but has no prescence in broadcast. Likewise, the Daily Mail, although it is still a trenchant voice for the British right, and which still gets stories which the rest miss.

The Express, now owned by the Pornographer general, and has few serious journalists. The Mirror struggles, with no financial resources. The Independent goes on, not because it has any economic viability, but because decent journalists are prepared to write for them, even though they don’t get serious money.

But Rupert Murdoch is in town, to tell David Cameron, that he  should toe the line.

Which David Cameron, and his underling, Jeremy Hunt, may well do.

But history will remember, that if they ignore the facts – and to state them again – the Murdoch media already has more than a  monopoly of British media, that Cameron and Hunt kissed arse.

As the Americans say.

It is blunt and unpleasant.

But it is saying it as it is.

And Hunt and Cameron should remember, that Rupert Murdoch, is not hooked on political ideology. Although he is undoutedly right wing and Christian, he is totally prepared to support winners, which is why he helped Tony Blair and the Labour Party to power.