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Nov

Murdoch’s minions

by DougJ

It looks like Comcast will buy NBC now, but this caught my eye:

Other potential bidders have surfaced, including the News Corporation. But talks between G.E. and Comcast have advanced far enough that a deal with another company was unlikely, people briefed on the matter said.

It really is no wonder all the network “journalists” are so eager to defend Fox News.

(via Atrios)

Media | 7:24 pm |

46 Responses to “Murdoch’s minions”

1
November 2nd, 2009 at 7:31 pm
Just Some Fuckhead

Just trying to beat Stuck.
2
November 2nd, 2009 at 7:32 pm
Mark S.

Do antitrust laws still exist?
3
November 2nd, 2009 at 7:35 pm
Bun

I’m confused, where will this leave the Sheinhardt Wig Company in the new corporate structure?
4
November 2nd, 2009 at 7:36 pm
MikeJ

I’m confused, where will this leave the Sheinhardt Wig Company in the new corporate structure?

They will deliver a wig to you some time between 8 am tomorrow and 9pm March 17th, 2068.
5
November 2nd, 2009 at 7:36 pm
freelancer

“Are you suggesting that she and Eric are influenced by money?”

“No, they work for free. And you are a volunteer Executive Producer.”
6
November 2nd, 2009 at 7:41 pm
Chad N Freude

Speaking of Murdoch’s minions, I had the following e-mail exchange with Laura Sunders of the WSJ.

RE http://online.wsj.com/article/.....Collection. The use of the phrase “death taxes” in a purported news report is an excellent example of the reason that I canceled my subscription. Can you explain why this phrase is more accurate than “estate taxes” and is less politically biased?

I actually got a response (which surprised me):

I have had a number of letters about the use of the term “death tax” in my recent story and want to respond.

I don’t write headlines. But I did write the words “state death taxes” in the body of the story. I would never use the term “death tax” to refer to the federal estate tax. However, I have used it for years (decades) with reference to state taxes. Estate and inheritance taxes are very different; estate taxes are levied on the decedent’s assets and inheritance taxes on the heir or heirs, and some states have one and some the other. So I turned to the term as to the term “lawmakers” instead of saying “senators and representatives.” It is shorthand that saves having to say at every turn, “state estate and inheritance taxes.” I remember it long used this way, not just by right wingers.

That said, this usage really hit a nerve. I should add that although I have worked on tax issues for decades, during the recent Bush terms I wrote mostly investment stories and was not aware of the extreme politicization of the term. I will keep this in mind for the future.

Laura Saunders

I don’t know if she’s being disingenuous, but I find it hard to believe that she was “was not aware of the extreme politicization of the term.” To me, it’s extreme politicization on its face. Anyway, it was nice of her to send a gracious response. I hope that isn’t a firing offense at the WSJ.

(In case the blockquote workaround fails, everything through her signature is quoted.)
7
November 2nd, 2009 at 7:51 pm
Zifnab

@Mark S.: Anti-what?

So, here’s a fun joke. Some of the first anti-trust lawsuits in the United States were aimed at unions. It wasn’t until Teddy Roosevelt that anti-trust was used aggressively against actual corporations. :-p

Still, I can’t wait to hear about all the companies we get to bail out next because they are “Too Big To Fail”.
8
November 2nd, 2009 at 7:51 pm
BFR

It looks like Comcast will buy NBC

I, for one, can’t wait to see the new and improved reporting on net neutrality laws.
9
November 2nd, 2009 at 7:57 pm
Brachiator

And so, where is the money coming from to finance this deal? How is it that the credit markets are still tight, and CIT, which lends to small businesses, is going bankrupt, and yet big deals can still be put together?

Earlier, there was a news story that Comcast was trying to acquire a controlling interest in Hulu.

Finally, Comcast is reportedly trying to buy a controlling interest in Hulu with an eye toward ending all free TV on the site. This case may require all-out action from citizens to raise a ruckus with elected officials and the FCC to counteract Comcast’s alleged designs on Hulu’s future.

Also, NBC owns Spanish language network, Telemundo.

Anti-trust is weak tea to all the stuff going on behind this deal.
10
November 2nd, 2009 at 8:00 pm
Chad N Freude

@BFR: Comcast is only trying to enhance Consumer Choice (a widely applied mantra these days, invariably synonymous with “We want to control what consumers can choose”) by claiming the right to exclude choices that consumers wouldn’t want.

I don’t know what the corporate relationships are, but how might this affect MSNBC? I would hate to see Rachel Maddow tossed out to wind up in a women’s shelter.
11
November 2nd, 2009 at 8:01 pm
Ash Can

@Mark S.: I dunno, ask that stooge Reagan.
12
November 2nd, 2009 at 8:03 pm
geg6

Yup, that deregulation of the airwaves has worked out so well. All that competition is just amazing to behold. Mother fucking Ronald fucking Reagan, that zombie mother fucker, strikes again. Is there nothing this guy didn’t start down the road to oblivion?
13
November 2nd, 2009 at 8:04 pm
Mark S.

@Zifnab:

Some of the first anti-trust lawsuits in the United States were aimed at unions. It wasn’t until Teddy Roosevelt that anti-trust was used aggressively against actual corporations.

Wow, I didn’t know that.
14
November 2nd, 2009 at 8:04 pm
General Winfield Stuck

Comcast is only trying to enhance Consumer Choice (a widely applied mantra these days, invariably synonymous with “We want to control what consumers can choose”) by claiming the right to exclude choices that consumers wouldn’t want.

It would all make sense if you weren’t such a point head libtard.
15
November 2nd, 2009 at 8:04 pm
Chad N Freude

@geg6:

Is there nothing this guy didn’t start down the road to oblivion?

Umm … Russia?
16
November 2nd, 2009 at 8:05 pm
MattR

@Zifnab: I am voting for some version of “too big to fail” during regulatory hearings. Except they will argue that NBC is so large that the only companies with the ability to purchase it would all have the same regulatory issues.

@Brachiator: About the only good news in all that is that I would imagine that the other cable companies and DirecTV are going to be fighting this kind of consolidation tooth and nail.

Personally, I wouldn’t mind the government spending some money to bail out Universal/NBC if it leads to NBC being spun off as an independent public company.
17
November 2nd, 2009 at 8:07 pm
ellaesther

Look DougJ, you “what ellaesther said“-ed me last week, and I may or may not have called out to my husband in another room to tell him at the time, and I may or may not still be grinning from the geeky thrill. So I hesitate to disagree and all.

But: As a journalist (note sincerity as expressed by a lack of airquotes), I actually understand what the non-Fox people were doing there. People who work in the same field have a certain loyalty to each other, and that’s what the “we won’t come if they can’t come” was all about. A lot of TV journalists don’t do a very good job, I will grant you that, but I would have honestly thought less of them if they hadn’t done that. And I happen to hate Fox, and agree with the President!

Sigh. I have a feeling that you won’t “what ellaesther said” me today….
18
November 2nd, 2009 at 8:08 pm
ellaesther

@Chad N Freude: Nah, the Soviet Union was well on the road to falling apart before he even came on the scene.
19
November 2nd, 2009 at 8:09 pm
geg6

Chad N Freude @15: LOL! Yes, that’s true. Okay, that’s ONE thing.
20
November 2nd, 2009 at 8:10 pm
Chad N Freude

@General Winfield Stuck: @ellaesther: Not the Soviet Union. Russia!
21
November 2nd, 2009 at 8:10 pm
BFR

@Chad N Freude

I don’t know what the corporate relationships are, but how might this affect MSNBC?

If you liked “Morning Joe” then you’re going to love “Morning, Noon and Night Joe.”
22
November 2nd, 2009 at 8:10 pm
Aunt Moe

I’m out of outrage. I think this is what is meant by ending ‘with a whimper, not a bang.’
23
November 2nd, 2009 at 8:12 pm
Chad N Freude

@Chad N Freude: Sorry. Not directed to His Generalship. Unreliable mouse manipulation.
24
November 2nd, 2009 at 8:12 pm
inkadu

Damnit. I have even LESS to say on this subject than gay rights.

I might as well quit for tonight and enjoy Hulu while I can.
25
November 2nd, 2009 at 8:13 pm
Dreggas

Limbaugh says Scozzafava guilty of beastiality

stay classy
26
November 2nd, 2009 at 8:15 pm
slag

@freelancer: Now I’ve got to see that movie.
27
November 2nd, 2009 at 8:18 pm
Chad N Freude

@Dreggas: I shouldn’t say this, because Limbaugh’s lack of anything remotely resembling human sensibility is serious, and I will feel unclean, but …

Is this an example of polyamory?
28
November 2nd, 2009 at 8:20 pm
freelancer

@slag:

It’s one of my favs.

Lowell Bergman (The guy Pacino is playing) is now a correspondent for Frontline.
29
November 2nd, 2009 at 8:20 pm
bago

OT, but my costume made wonkette. woot!
30
November 2nd, 2009 at 8:22 pm
Just Some Fuckhead

Chris Matthews is particularly retarded this evening.
31
November 2nd, 2009 at 8:24 pm
Chad N Freude

@Just Some Fuckhead: How can you tell?
32
November 2nd, 2009 at 8:28 pm
Just Some Fuckhead

@Chad N Freude: He keeps giggling at nothing.
33
November 2nd, 2009 at 8:28 pm
Chad N Freude

@Just Some Fuckhead: And this is different from what?
34
November 2nd, 2009 at 8:34 pm
KRK

Coincidentally, I just watched a skit of Fry & Laurie slagging on good ol’ Rupert from back in ‘95: “It’s a Soaraway Life.”
35
November 2nd, 2009 at 8:35 pm
ellaesther

@bago: It’s hard for me to tell you just how cool I find that.
36
November 2nd, 2009 at 9:47 pm
Steeplejack

@Bun:

Sheinhardt Wig?! Dude, the smart money has all moved to U.S. Hay. Get with the times.
37
November 2nd, 2009 at 9:57 pm
Steeplejack

@Chad N Freude:

I don’t know if she’s being disingenuous, but I find it hard to believe that she was “was not aware of the extreme politicization of the term.”

I buy her explanation. Not everyone is a Web/blog hound, and my impression is that this issue has been much bigger on the Intertubes than in the print medium. And it’s probably true that in the professional circles (legal/legislative) she moved in the term “death taxes” was long a handy shorthand before it got co-opted by the ~~wingnut~~ Walton extremists.

And kudos to her for writing you a serious reply that obviously required a little thought.
38
November 2nd, 2009 at 10:05 pm
Chad N Freude

@Steeplejack:

And kudos to her for writing you a serious reply that obviously required a little thought.

I agree, I thought it was gracious. And, to her credit, she separates herself from “right wingers”.
39
November 2nd, 2009 at 10:34 pm
Jen R

So long Hulu, it was nice knowing you.
40
November 2nd, 2009 at 11:34 pm
J. Michael Neal

I buy her explanation. Not everyone is a Web/blog hound, and my impression is that this issue has been much bigger on the Intertubes than in the print medium. And it’s probably true that in the professional circles (legal/legislative) she moved in the term “death taxes” was long a handy shorthand before it got co-opted by the wingnut Walton extremists.

Not probably true. Definitely true, and for exactly the reason she lays out. You need to have some term that encompasses both estate and inheritance taxes, and it’s tough to think of something else that would really fit.
41
November 2nd, 2009 at 11:44 pm
Brachiator

@MattR:

About the only good news in all that is that I would imagine that the other cable companies and DirecTV are going to be fighting this kind of consolidation tooth and nail.

If the past is any indication, other cable companies and DirecTV will be looking to make their own deals.

Personally, I wouldn’t mind the government spending some money to bail out Universal/NBC if it leads to NBC being spun off as an independent public company.

NBC Universal doesn’t need a bailout. I have no idea how government money would help anything as far as this goes.
42
November 2nd, 2009 at 11:55 pm
Chad N Freude

@J. Michael Neal: It may be difficult to find another shorthand term for estate and inheritance taxes—I admit I haven’t thought of one yet, but “death taxes” is emotionally loaded and effectively screams at the anti-tax right “Take me, Howard Roark”. They could have stayed with “estate and inheritance” and found some other way to keep the word count down.
43
November 3rd, 2009 at 12:00 am
Chad N Freude

@Brachiator: I think this is simply a way for Universal to fix the result of “We can conglomerate all these disparate businesses and synergize our way to infinite wealth except it doesn’t work that way.”
44
November 3rd, 2009 at 12:33 am
Brachiator

@Chad N Freude:

It may be difficult to find another shorthand term for estate and inheritance taxes—I admit I haven’t thought of one yet.

I know what the estate tax is, but I don’t know what the inheritance tax is supposed to be, at the federal level.

But death tax is catchy because it falsely implies that since everybody will die one day, every person who dies has to pay some tax for the privilege.

I think this is simply a way for Universal to fix the result of “We can conglomerate all these disparate businesses and synergize our way to infinite wealth except it doesn’t work that way.”

I don’t see much for Universal in this deal. I see tremendous prospects for vertical integration by Comcast, and an attempt to control future potential revenue streams, such as video on demand via the InterTubes.

And as I asked earlier, I would really like to see the financing behind this deal.
45
November 3rd, 2009 at 7:06 am
Jack

Lucy Parsons was a bit of a firebrand, but I imagine she’d have something appropriate to say about this deal, and our times.

I won’t post her most incendiary and infamous declaration, what with the NSA chomping away at every hint and allegation of bad thought.

But, here’s a nugget to ponder:

“Never be deceived that the rich will permit you to vote away their wealth.”

Or this:

“If, in the present chaotic and shameful struggle for existence, when organized society offers a premium on greed, cruelty, and deceit, men can be found who stand aloof and almost alone in their determination to work for good rather than gold, who suffer want and persecution rather than desert principle, who can bravely walk to the scaffold for the good they can do humanity, what may we expect from men when freed from the grinding necessity of selling the better part of themselves for bread?”

What does this have to do with Murdoch or Comcast acquiring NBC?

I don’t know.

Sometimes, though, when the feudalists who run the US economy cobble together another merger or acquisition which further erodes the economic foundations of liberty, I turn to Lucy or Red Emma or Mary Harris Jones, and remember that the proles in the US was not always so inclined towards mere whimbling…
46
November 3rd, 2009 at 7:07 am
Jack

argh – ‘were not so inclined’