At the high level Leveson inquiry in the UK, Ex-Prime Minister, John Major, stated under oath today that Rupert Murdoch, a non citizen, demanded that the government change its policies or we (the Murdoch organization) would oppose him. Major’s government didn’t and Murdoch then supported Labour, who won the election. This seems to directly contradict Murdoch’s testimony at the Leveson inquiry – that he never asks for anything from a Prime Minister. Major complained that this is against the idea of one person one vote; Murdoch controls one third of the British Media, and hence wields huge political power.
The striking thing here is that Murdoch also controls about one third of the US Media, vertically integrated across network and cable TV properties, newspapers, movie studios, book publishing and the internet. For the corporate news media pundits and politicians to ignore what is going on in the UK, and to not point to the obvious parallels between Murdoch’s techniques in the two countries is extraordinary. He literally brainwashes 30% of the US, demands who knows what from politicians, and the public hears not a peep.
For more on John Major’s testimony read this article from the Guardian.