Murdock on politics

The sinister media tycoon Rupert Murdock has decided that Britain’s next ruler should be David Cameron, leader of the conservative party. The mogul is no stranger to the political world, having known possibly as many American heads of state as anyone living today and met every US president since Harry Truman. He set his sights on the Obama camp during the previous presidential elections. Murdock was such an avid supporter that brokered a tentative truce between Obama and the head of Fox News, the influential rightwing network that had regularly ridiculed Obama. The News Corporation chairman said he was “a traditional proprietor “ , as far as the top papers are concerned. Basically, through editorial control, he decides who his media outlets back in elections

His relationship with British politics however, is on more shaky ground due to the implementation of internet paywalls. Two British Corp papers, The Times and The Sunday Times, are raising paywalls around their online news. Starting in June, users will charged a daily or weekly subscription fee. South Africa also plans to follow the British lead, Avusa plans to put paywalls on its Eastern cape titles, The Herald in Port Elizabeth and The Daily Dispatch in East London

This has been met with much protest by internet users and professional s. Many question his ability to understand the nature of the internet and new media. According to his biographer Michael Wolf, Murdock does not use the internet, let alone Google, having only recently learned how to use email. So how can such a man possibly understand the dynamics, demands and opportunities of the post-industrial, new-digital media economy. Slight diversion I know, but I just want to point out just how out of sync the old crocodile is with the current consumer milieu. Anyways, the politicians don’t like the idea of a paywall either. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown spoke against the implementation of online paywalls in an interview with Radio Times, arguing that “ people will pay for certain things, and should pay for certain things, but I think there’s a whole sort of element of communication that’s got to be free. People mind paying for basic news”. Brown’s timely comments seem to me to have a political impetus to woe support of young internet users , who are often indifferent to print press and electoral process. Ironically, those wishing to read the interview online might be disappointed. The Radio Times is not available on the web, never mind being hidden behind a paywall. The interview has had various effect on the web, generating several rants and tweets. the most interesting one however, is the fact that Murdock’s titles recently switched from supporting the Brown’s Labour Party towards backing it opponent the Conservatives in the current elections. All journalists wish they had more say if not influence in the political world, but this type of influence leaves one thinking of a Darth Vadersque character looming over the junction between politics and new media.

Internet challenges censorship laws

May 3rd was World Press Freedom Day. In recent years, the internet has increasingly become the new battleground for press freedom. Repressive governments around the world are cracking down on bloggers and other online journalists who are breaking the bonds of censorship.

China for example continues to filter foreign and domestic content on the internet, it has 150 million internet users and despite government restrictions of online content, both domestic and international stories that censors prefer to control, manage to slip through government information firewalls. Northern Asia media expert Ashley W. Esarey conforms that it is indeed most likely that the internet will play a role in Chinese media reform, because its “absolute control has proven difficult if not impossible.” The primary space for freedom of speech in China is the blogsphere, where journalists use humour and political satire to criticise the Chinese government. In mainstream media, editors find ways to test the rules as readers in country’s flourishing economy demand hard news. However, journalists covering social issues which their editors won’t publish will simply post their stories online, such stories tend to be more edgy and critical of the social status quo in the country.

The Committee to Protect Journalists says that more online journalists are now in jail around the world than traditional journalists. This is because in the past journalists could count on news organisations for legal protection. However, with the advent of internet media the playing field has changed. According to Deputy Director of the Committee, Robert Mahoney, “Now more and more of these bloggers are independent, freelancers, who have no backing, they are on their own when their up against these huge oppressive government bureaucracies.”

African journalists too are no strangers to online censorship by government. In Tunisia, which was the first African country to ban websites, journalist Muhammad Abou was arrested and subsequently imprisoned for publishing an article on a banned website where he compared the president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.



African dictators and paranoid readers are beginning to discover cyberland where, unlike traditional media, freedom of expression is much more difficult to control. Nigeria has a huge online presence not only from bloggers but from news portals, forums and discussions groups, most of them highly critical of the government. Many dissidents and activists from the Nigerian Delta and the Igboland , both very politically unstable regions, use the internet to publish their writing which would be banned in Nigeria. Such journalists however often find themselves in the government’s radar.

After online elections observers are currently reporting larger regularise in Sudan’s first multi-party polls in 24 years. Civil society groups are also being blocked away from their internet tool monitoring the elections and their results. Access to the Sudan Vote Monitor website, a collaborative platform created by Sudanese civil society with the aim of facilitating independent monitoring and reporting of the elections and their results has been partially or totally blocked over the last week . This comes after president Omar al Bashir has supposedly ordered the end to state censorship of the media in 2008.

Although the Sudanese government is indeed cracking down hard on online journalists at such an key point in the country’s history, their feeble attempts to control online media are not enough to completely control domestic and foreign content.

Politicians climbing the social ladder one hit at a time

It seems like everywhere you turn on the internet there is another social networking website taking the internet by storm. Myspace.com paved the way for groups of all sorts to network their identities. Actors, musicians and amateurs and now politicians abound are climbing the social ladder faster than ever with the help of networking sites. The reason for the popularity of such campaign sites is that politicians gain more visibility especially to younger individuals who depend on the internet for a bulk of their information and networking interactions.

British election candidates are currently getting on the social media bandwagon. The liberal Democrats have organised political flashmobs, a Facebook campaign to stop hopeful David Cameron from becoming the prime minister. The site has already attracted 200 000 users. Conservative Tim Montgomerie, is using a more practical approach by using his blog to run a fund raising campaign. On a lighter note, Conservative, Greg Knight, who is a drummer with the Parliamentary band MP4 is using their music for campaign purposes on his website.

South African Youth leader Malema is no stranger to online music. He is known to whip crowds with political chant that many may feel to be a dangerous throwback to apartheid SA. Many internet users however are quite enthusiastic about Malema’s unwitting incursion into music . Various DJs have turned Malema’s outburst against BBC journalist into house music. The tracks often feature his exclamations “agent” and “bastard” scored with a hip hop and house beat. The remixed tracks are being circulated on social networking sites and mobile phones. Another Youtube posting of the track, “Revolutionary house mix by Malema”, has had about 5000 views.