The latest issue of the Spectator features an article in qualified defence of Rupert
Murdoch by William Shawcross, author of Murdoch: the Making of a Media Empire. In it, Shawcross writes:
‘Simon Jenkins, now a Guardian columnist, wrote before the current horrors that Murdoch ‘is the best thing that ever happened to the British media and they hate it.’ He was right. There are obviously many things wrong with Murdoch’s group, but without his epic victory over the print unions in the 1980s, there would be far fewer papers in Britain today. Murdoch means pluralism…Who else would have subsidised the huge losses of the Times, an excellent paper, for so long?’
Say what you like about Rupert Murdoch (and it is the height of fashion to so this season), but he deserves a little credit for subsidising quality broadsheet reporting with profits drawn from elsewhere.
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in