Reply to: NOW - Ding Ding - Round Two.

[PAH]

Yeah. We're seeing the decline of printed news and them struggle to get people to pay for news online when there are already loads of free sites offering similar content, even Google News.

It's like the end of the roman empire. They won't go quietly.

Not sure if the beeb are expecting some major developments today, they've got a live coverage page on their site. I'm surprised Murdoch hasn't got it on Sky pay-per-view.

BBC News - Live: Phone hacking row

[Sysman]

2. Sky is more profitable than the brit papers

Apparently the News International papers in Britain only bring in 10% of their worldwide newspaper cash.

And probably a bit less than that since last week.

[PAH]

Murdoch won't get his hands on BSkyB now. Cameron is in hot water over Coulson and his only way out of trouble is to block the bid or kick it into the long grass. Besides, News Corp have withdrawn their offer to spin off Sky News -- strange move I thought because this just makes Cameron's task much easier.

On Newsnight last night they were summising that the strategy is to let the brit papers change owner so News Corp can take over BSkyB with Sky News included.

Reasons for the strategy:

1. The 'contagion' of NOTW may be spreading to the other papers in wapping, beyond News International.

2. Sky is more profitable than the brit papers

3. The Competition Commission that is now overseeing the proposed buy-out will not be an issue if News Corp only own the TV news and not paper based news.

So if this is the case why did they burn NOTW instead of trying to offload them all together? Looks like a game of chess that still has everything to pay for. Especially now we have Gordon stepping into the war:

BBC News - Brown accuses News International of using criminals

News International respond with 'no comment' on above story. Where's my popcorn this war is getting interesting.

[d000hg]

Beautifully vitriolic article by Trevor Kavanagh by the Sun. Looks like News International isn;t going to take this completely lying down and appears to be lining up it Ed Milliband, The BBC and The Guardian in it's sites for assassination. Let the Media wars start.

Death of a great paper is a real tragedy

By TREVOR KAVANAGH

What a load of bitter tripe.

PS: MF are you formatting your entire posts or is that the software doing something weird?

[oversteer]

So, can all of :

Daily Mail, Mail On Sunday
Daily Express / Sunday Express
Independent / IoS
Guardian / Observer
BBC, Sky, ITN etc

.. categorically state they NEVER used a dodgy source for a story; bribed someone; used police informants to tip them off; used unethical (if not illegal) 'social engineering' to gain a story ?

I doubt it..

[MarillionFan]

What we will see will be a move by Millibrand to try and bring in a motion to ensure that it is not possible for one person/business to own both newspapers and television.

Of course, Cameron is going
to offer no opinion
on this while Millibrand is going to be annihilated. His brother will be in charge in less than 12 months.

[swamp]

Murdoch won't get his hands on BSkyB now. Cameron is in hot water over Coulson and his only way out of trouble is to block the bid or kick it into the long grass. Besides, News Corp have withdrawn their offer to spin off Sky News -- strange move I thought because this just makes Cameron's task much easier.

[doodab]

Labour allowed councils to empty bins to see what you were putting in them, they started stop and search powers for terrorism after the IRA cease fire and prior to Muslim backed terrorism. At the lowest level of threat from terrorism they introduced the most draconian terrorism laws since internment.

I have never felt troubled over privacy by the papers, Labour have been much more frightening.

I'm not saying the politicians are any less bad, just saying that I don't think the current fuss is disproportionate.

[minestrone]

I don't think it is being blown out of proportion. It's systematic, corporate sanctioned spying not just on celebs but on politicians and the royals, and bribery of police officers over a period of years. If Coulson or Ms Brooks or James Murdoch knew about it they should go to prison. If they didn't know then they shouldn't be running the company or any other company as they are clearly incompetent to do so, so I don't see any way you can trust them to run BskyB either.

Labour allowed councils to empty bins to see what you were putting in them, they started stop and search powers for terrorism after the IRA cease fire and prior to Muslim backed terrorism. At the lowest level of threat from terrorism they introduced the most draconian terrorism laws since internment.

I have never felt troubled over privacy by the papers, Labour have been much more frightening.

[minestrone]

Deleting the Dowler VMs was a very sick thing to do but compared to the Iraq war excuse it is small fry.

I hate the moral canon wheeled out every year telling us what we should think, it fires off every few months and if you do not get behind it you are thought less off.

[SueEllen]

I don't think it is being blown out of proportion. It's systematic, corporate sanctioned spying not just on celebs but on politicians and the royals, and bribery of police officers over a period of years. If Coulson or Ms Brooks or James Murdoch knew about it they should go to prison. If they didn't know then they shouldn't be running the company or any other company as they are clearly incompetent to do so, so I don't see any way you can trust them to run BskyB either.

The News Of the Screws wasn't the only newspaper guilty of this though.

The Sun, The Times and The Sunday Times have now been implicated as well as the other tabloids.

Even local newpapers which are mainly owned by groups which include a national tabloid could be in trouble. Journalists are now coming out with the tricks they used to get stories including paying police....

Oh and while Murdoch can close all the newspapers down it doesn't stop him being guilty under a US Federal Law on corruption.

[doodab]

Murdoch will have his revenge, what they did was wrong but it is getting blown out of proportion now.

I don't think it is being blown out of proportion. It's systematic, corporate sanctioned spying not just on celebs but on politicians and the royals, and bribery of police officers over a period of years. If Coulson or Ms Brooks or James Murdoch knew about it they should go to prison. If they didn't know then they shouldn't be running the company or any other company as they are clearly incompetent to do so, so I don't see any way you can trust them to run BskyB either.

[eek]

Cameron was a bit of a tit really but Labour are prize hypocrites moaning about spying when they sanctioned an army of council bin police to check up on your waste disposal habits with early morning raids on your wheelie bin.

This is going to come down to 'better the devil you know' for most people and as much as I hate Murdoch I would rather be on his side than the 160 billion per year deficit mob

What is interesting is that I don't think anyone in parliament has realised that Murdoch will simply shut all the papers if it is the only way to buy BSkyB.

[minestrone]

Cameron was a bit of a tit really but Labour are prize hypocrites moaning about spying when they sanctioned an army of council bin police to check up on your waste disposal habits with early morning raids on your wheelie bin.

This is going to come down to 'better the devil you know' for most people and as much as I hate Murdoch I would rather be on his side than the 160 billion per year deficit mob

[minestrone]

Murdoch will have his revenge, what they did was wrong but it is getting blown out of proportion now.