A serious media and political culture would always oppose concentration of corporate interests. Alas, that does not happen and hence the Murdoch empire has accumulated ridiculous amounts of power over the last decades. It should be challenged, including here in Australia. So it’s unsurprising that the corporate press, which lives and thrives by maintaining a…
Showing all posts tagged Australia
Talking Murdoch hacking on Portland indy radio
I was interviewed last week by a progressive Portland radio station, 620KPOJ, on the Murdoch phone hacking scandal and the empire’s pernicious effect on democracy (interview begins around 21 minutes):
Bleating of the oppressed Murdoch multinational
Life is tough for an organisation that constantly speaks about high morals and noble wars and yet finds itself under the spotlight as a corporation that bullies opponents and conducts illegal acts in the name of “journalism”. Hilariously, Murdoch’s Australian today says the glorious empire remains glorious and dedicated to holding politicians to account. Apart…
Feeling sorry for Serco?
British multinational Serco, the company that runs Australia’s immigration detention centres, is facing constant fines from the government. A story in yesterday’s Australian (headlined in the paper edition, “Breaches sending detention firm bust”, which is completely untrue) shows the dysfunctional nature of the relationship between contractor and government. No transparency exists: The company running Australia’s…
Australian cricket team should not visit Sri Lanka
When a country such as Sri Lanka proudly flaunts its human rights abuses against the Tamils and refuses to investigate war crimes, the world has a responsibility to act. The Australian cricket team is soon to travel to the country and voices are growing that such a trip should be cancelled, to send a strong…
Clearly the MSM don’t think that massive military exercises between US and Australia is news
Apart from a few small stories (here and here), we have to rely on a Chinese government service to tell us what’s happening in our own country. Have media companies been asked not to report details about the exercise and agreed? Does the general public have a right to know what the US is planning…
Serco damages worker’s lives but government wants more privatised staff
Two stories today that highlight the pernicious effect of British multinational Serco in Australia. One from today’s Australian (to its credit, the only serious newspaper tackling this question regularly): The company running Australia’s immigration detention centres has acknowledged the work is traumatic for staff following the death of a young guard troubled by the hanging…
Investigate the Murdoch empire in Australia
An eminently reasonable call. This should be extended to the influence and power of all corporate media interests. How are benefits achieved? Who is meeting whom? When and how? A real democracy doesn’t allow one family to own so many media titles: The leader of Australia’s Green party has called on the government to investigate…
My Al Jazeera English interview on Murdoch’s excessive global power
As Rupert Murdoch’s empire faces unprecedented pressure in Britain over phone-hacking, criminality, ethical breaches and romancing of the political and media elites, it’s time to assess how one man and one family has amassed so much power in countless Western democracies. It should be challenged. Here’s my interview on Al Jazeera English yesterday: