Turn On, Turn On, Turn On The News

Tomorrow Never Dies, 1997

For the past few months Rupert Murdoch has been tilting at Google accusing them of stealing his 'content' - that is, linking to it. One gets the impression he hasn't a clue about the interwebs, which has become increasingly apparent since buying MySpace in 2006.

If you look to the Financial Times, it's true that readers will pay for real quality content. Murdoch's best-selling "newspaper", on the other hand, relies on jingoism (Gotcha!), xenophobia (Swan Bake), outright lies (Freddie Starr Ate My Hamster) and tits. If the dead-tree version is worth only 10p to the masses, who are you going to find willing to cross a paywall to access this moronic bullshit online?

Why would someone pay to read a 'Freddie Starr Ate My Hamster'-esque article online? If the story is pulled out of Max Clifford's arse, exactly what is it you'd be paying for? The research? The journalism? Why it took until the Hillsborough Disaster for people (well, Liverpool) to realise it was unfit for toiletpaper is beyond me.

When Murdoch spurned Labour in favour of the Conservatives last November, Peter Mandelson came out attacking The Scum as 'crude' and Labour party delegates ripped up copies of Kidz News. Twelve and a half years too fucking late. 'In Liverpool, we learned a long time ago what to do with the Sun', 'Murdoch's rag is bullshit and his opinion has never been worth anything to us, wah, wah' - except the three elections in which you gladly accepted their endorsement. Actually The Sun hasn't really switched sides: The "Scottish" Sun is 'undecided' because in reality the Tories are unelectable in Scotland and they know it. But the Conservatives are in the running in England, and if that's the way the wind is blowing, let it not be said that The Dirty Digger does not also blow.


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