1. News Corp executives are in it for life, its a ruthless kiss up and kick down culture, where scheming and conspiring IS the culture. There is no room for sentimentality or even personal lives. You are married to the Company. Execs and Editors this is extremely true. Most of the editors I knew where workaholics and if they where married it was often suffering. One very long serving editor's wife was dying of a degenerative disease and he took time off, and was obviously effected by this. He was also basically a center-left-moderate and part of the pre war on terror, pre neoliberal old guard. The fact that his wife was dying and he was not suffering meant stuff all, even though he literally was one of the longest serving, most loyal and decent editors. He was shifted sideways to set-up an educational foundation, research and develop it, and then something like 12 months later, once safely out of the editorship, the foundation was defunded and he was practically retired, kicked up stairs. He was replaced by a neoliberal, ultraconservative, luddite as editor who was gung-ho for tabloid journalism (at a broad sheet).
I'd suggest that the reason the NoTW and the News Corp culture generally, is so capable of sensationalism, cruelty and sociopathic behaviour, as evidenced by the missing girls case, the 77 victims families and war veterans circus is that the editors and executives are not normal people, with families and relationships. Except the the Company. They have no decency because they have no connection to reality. I imagine the same is true for Ms exec and Cameron's media advising consulare. They are married to the job, to the family, and are capable of ritual, media assassinations. Its part of the rites of passage up the levels.
2. TABLOIDS: the article below focusses on tabloid print and ommits to mention that the US is dominated by NoTW-style tabloid journalism. its called Fox News. The UK has a very sophisticated TV industry, and the level is set by an overfunded BBC which has incredible budgets and programming. PBS is a sad joke in comparison. ITV is the commercial rival to the BBC and hosts such serious leftist, Murdoch hating, ant-war, socialist journalists as John Pilger. Even BSkyB is a quality TV network. Standards are higher in TV in the UK. Also, there are strong criminal libel and slander laws. i.e. you can go to jail for speech or written acts against the powerful. Indeed Jimmy Goldsmith, father of Cameron's billionaire minister Zac Goldsmith, former editor of The Ecologist and strategist behind the Tory Vote Blue Go Green strategy (which has basically co-opted the environmental movement, with the alignment of the Green Prince Charles).. Jim Goldsmith spent a small fortune taking the editor of Private Eye to court for criminal libel, trying to get the editor to prison. Big media have a legal filter and make every editorial decision based on how much it will costs in court to settle or defend vs how much circulation will be increased. Its ok to hurt people, you can buy them off, and you get sales. Same with war, its ok to hurt people, it sells papers. Just like 911, huge boost, next to JFK and Dianna
Fox News is tabloid journalism in the extreme and to focus on the print media is to ignore the fact that News Corp is a global integrated mass multi media corporation (thanks Tony Blair for the definition).
3. NoTW is a shell. The Wapping production facility that houses NoTW also houses the Times and The Sun and who knows what else. Its an media factory. There are mastheads on shelves ready to be rolled out. Every ambitous young journo (and some older) have plans for products that get partially developed in house and sit, waiting for a chance to be incubated and released. Its interesting that Murdoch family are ok with firing journos i.e. workers, but execs are special. No doubt a pissed off former exec could really be a liability. better to keep her in house and defend her then let her loose. Maybe she will take a fall but she is unlikely to talk. Many of the journos may be rehired in a month, who knows, but it will be nothing for the Sun to roll-out a Sunday paper, whats one more day ? They may even use the same office as the NoTW. Even if they have a physical difference, they will use the same platforms and processes and its a global integrated multi media corporation after all
http://counterpunch.org/cockburn07082011.html -- Nicholas Roberts US 510-684-8264 http://Permaculture.TV http://permaculture.coop