Turn autoplay off
Turn autoplay on
Please activate cookies in order to turn autoplay off
By sacrificing the News of the World the Murdoch dynasty lives to fight another day
Since James Murdoch arrived as BSkyB chief executive in 2003, he has been nicknamed by News International employees "JRM", a nod to the ways in which he resembles his father Keith Rupert Murdoch. At the time he was pitted against siblings as the potential heir apparent.
His astonishing announcement of the closure of the News of the World was shot through with Murdoch DNA. For James the personal and professional stakes cannot be higher. The closure of the News of the World amid the biggest ethical crisis in journalism in living memory, is subsidiary at News Corp to preserving the family dynasty, the company and his ambitions to be at its head.
The announcement was breathtaking in its implications. It was swift and brutal, it was both brilliant and cynical and it was focused on business expedience at a moment of deep crisis. Moments like this have marked the growth of the world's most remarkable family company; from the audacious bid Rupert made for the Times and Sunday Times in 1981 to the subsequent smashing of the print unions in the move to Wapping. There was the launch of Sky television in 1989, the takeover of its rival BSB in 1990, through to the moment BSkyB blew the UK TV establishment out the water with its Premier League football bid in 1991. News International "“ and its parent News Corporation "“ has grown to both extraordinary size and unparalleled power by betting bigger and smarter than rivals, and squaring governments and regulators in any way it can.
James's Wapping moment sees him making a gesture he hopes will be grand enough to soften the focus of any phone-hacking inquiry, bold enough to allow the company to extricate itself from present trouble and, in the process, allow him to reshape News International around the digital television platforms he feels both more comfortable with and which are undoubtedly more profitable.
James has created a single moment more dramatic than any his father managed, in circumstances which could hardly be more adverse. But the success of his strategy will rely on exactly the same formula; squaring power for commercial ends and leapfrogging its competition. Whether this can be done, for once, is not in the hands of the Murdochs alone but with those in power who they so assiduously courted and captured.
Your IP address will be logged
See also
23 Mar 2010
Times and Sunday Times losses rise
1 Dec 2008
The Mail/Indy office share will not be the last peculiar pairing
7 Jul 2011
Murdoch under pressure to contain phone hacking scandal within the UK
10 May 2011
Why integration can be a barrier to innovation in the digital world
Your IP address will be logged
7 July 2011 9:23PM
This comment was removed by a moderator because it didn't abide by our community standards. Replies may also be deleted. For more detail see our FAQs.
7 July 2011 9:24PM
As the REM song goes
" Its the end of the World that we know it"
" And I feel fine"
7 July 2011 9:24PM
Family businesses often have incestuous little secrets - but closing the NOTW is like Daddy burning down the stable after Sonny's horse has bolted. - only for Daddy to rebuild a shiny new one next week.
Watch this space...........
7 July 2011 9:25PM
Yeah but he still looks like an evil toerag.
7 July 2011 9:25PM
Like a foreign army, gutting each and every country it is allowed entry to, through the corruption and venal nature of politcians and the weakness of public life.
Down with the evil empire.
7 July 2011 9:25PM
Let's face it. Rupert is 84 and doesn't have that many decades left. And none of his children, certainly not Jimmy, seem to have the same intimidating effect. I think we're witnessing the beginning of the end for News Corp.
7 July 2011 9:25PM
I they start publishing The Sunday Sun its nothing more than a re-branding exercise.
7 July 2011 9:26PM
By sacrificing the News of the World the Murdoch dynasty lives to fight another day
Hopefully that day won't be far away. The whole scandal still smells rotten, even if the carcass of NoW is being buried. There are many questions about NI that still need asking.
7 July 2011 9:26PM
500 more jobless, hope you are happy Guardian. btw if this had been the culture at the NoTW why did you not go after them when they were supporting Blairs Labour.
Are you a News of the World journalist? If so, I'm sorry you've lost your job but you should be angry at Rebekah Brooks and Darth Vadar, I mean the old bastard, I mean Rupert Murdoch.
7 July 2011 9:26PM
Well done. Thanks.
I've no idea the reason behind all the jubilation. The sun will assume the role of NOW and nothing will change. Meanwhile NI will keep their heads down till autumn and the BSB package will be ratified when it's all blown over.
This is nothing to celebrate. It's just another pill for the masses.
7 July 2011 9:26PM
500 more jobless, hope you are happy Guardian. btw if this had been the culture at the NoTW why did you not go after them when they were supporting Blairs Labour.
Yes, it's all the Guardians fault that NotW broke the law, lied about it, got busted repeatedly then sacked their entire staff in a hasty attempt to build a firewall around one of their guilty as feck employees.
Read Full Article »