tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post7170920130055775030..comments2024-03-29T04:46:01.420-04:00Comments on Murder is Everywhere: The Belly of the Beast (3)Ovidia Yuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05749549092493567689noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-77692088169611757522011-07-08T17:39:43.952-04:002011-07-08T17:39:43.952-04:00Beth - I agree. Investigative journalism will soon...Beth - I agree. Investigative journalism will soon be a lost art. I hope, probably in vain, that some newspapers will look at Nick Davies and see what happens when you support and cultivate a journalist and his investigation.<br /><br />Norm, you are probably right. Except I hope, in vain again perhaps, that at least a regulatory body with some teeth will emerge from this. But make no mistake, there has been a sea change in journalism. It may not amount to much, but we will be spared some of the worst excesses.<br /><br />lil - thanks and I'm glad you enjoyed the books. Murdoch's decision to close the paper summed him up. He cares little for the institutions he owns, and everything for his own skin.<br /><br />Cheers Chris - you must let me know more.<br /><br />Jeff - the early signs are closing the paper hasn't made the story go away quite as they hoped. The Prime Minister is copping a lot of flak for his decision to hire Coulson as he press officer, and rightly so. Some more terrible revelations are said to be pending. It could run and run.<br /><br />Stan - there is every chance James Murdoch could be questioned by the cops. No chance, sadly, that his old man will. We can live in hope. I hope it doesn't make me sound too cruel and malicious that I derive a certain satisfaction from the fact he is still alive to see his empire and reputation crumble.Dan Waddellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04320741202757960766noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-87460512821777889212011-07-08T17:15:59.823-04:002011-07-08T17:15:59.823-04:00"A free society cannot flourish without a fre..."A free society cannot flourish without a free independent press." In the US, freedom of the press is guaranteed in the Constitution but newspapers have long since stopped using their power to encourage society to flourish. Instead, the newspapers pander to baser instincts of those who will waste their money on trash or they pass stories around from one press service to another so that every big city newspaper reads like every other.<br /><br />In 2003, the Boston Globe won a Pulitzer Prize for Public Service "for its courageous, comprehensive coverage in its disclosures of sexual abuse by priests in the Roman Catholic Church." That started a firestorm that has led, finally, to a modicum of justice for the victims and a blow to the church from which it may not recover for at least another generation. This is the reason for freedom of the press. Unfortunately, investigative journalism is expensive and the journalists capable of putting in the days, weeks, months of research have all been downsized out of their jobs.<br /><br />Murdoch is a blot on society and he has his power and money because people want to wallow in gossip, innuendo, and someone else's tragedy. The Milly Dowling episode is so egregious that anyone with a scrap of conscience who buys any of Murdoch's papers or buys the products that pay for advertising time on his television outlets should collectively choose a day on which they will not pay one dime to anything that can make Murdoch one penny richer.Bethhttp://www.murderbytype.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-51738713344062309082011-07-08T15:36:35.929-04:002011-07-08T15:36:35.929-04:00The tragedy is that the press, politicians and TV ...The tragedy is that the press, politicians and TV media are all mates together, as Cameron showed when he hired Coulson. This will probably all blow over in a few weeks. There will be a very expensive enquiry, some people will be sacrificed, and as with the expenses scandal all will be back to "normal" in a year.Uriah Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02046023583067265187noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-18272273971702733432011-07-08T14:59:33.842-04:002011-07-08T14:59:33.842-04:00A very powerful post, and it could just as easily ...A very powerful post, and it could just as easily apply to too many of the news outlets in the USA. Murdoch was certainly draconian, wasn't he? Inflicting more pain on people who have no more jobs, and kill off a paper with so much history. This is a society that had lost its moral compass, it seems, and too many people will pay.<br />(Totally off topic or maybe not-I've discovered your books, and they are a joy. I love history-in addition to the mystery.)lil Glucksternhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09288522126331817172noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-47350539954477152322011-07-08T11:02:32.803-04:002011-07-08T11:02:32.803-04:00A good read Dan, as a tog I missed most of this, b...A good read Dan, as a tog I missed most of this, but some of the things I was asked to do in the name 'of news' left me disillusioned to say the leastChris Fieldingnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-30333221213890267172011-07-08T09:23:21.246-04:002011-07-08T09:23:21.246-04:00UHH, let's quote/type that accurately, Jeffrey...UHH, let's quote/type that accurately, Jeffrey: "We must all stand together or assuredly we will all hang SEPARATELY."<br /><br />--JeffJeffrey Sigerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00718317707555064653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-76316810847296438652011-07-08T09:21:28.074-04:002011-07-08T09:21:28.074-04:00Quite a powerful bit of reporting, Dan! Let's...Quite a powerful bit of reporting, Dan! Let's hope Murdoch's rather obvious sacrificial lamb gambit doesn't provide political cover to those in government capable of doing something about a media far more powerful than any single elected official--in the UK and US. <br /><br />As the American Revolutionary war icon Benjamin Franklin is often credited with saying, "We must all stand together or assuredly we will all hang together." But the danger then was far less formidable, for it was only the British Empire, not its press.<br /><br />--JeffJeffrey Sigerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00718317707555064653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-31274605450776210582011-07-08T08:45:05.657-04:002011-07-08T08:45:05.657-04:00Wonderful post, Dan. I boil when I read the unadu...Wonderful post, Dan. I boil when I read the unadulterated crap written in newspapers under the rubric of NEWS. Little in the US newspapers is news anymore - most of it is opinion (or propaganda). Of course little can match the UK tabloids. I hope Murdock and his complicit employees are charged, tried, and found guilty.<br />StanAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com