News Corp boss John Hartigan: Gillard’s attack is unjustified

I think the fact that he said in plain english that he personally uses his paper to steer political opinion is reason enough for these comments.

I think Mr Hartigan is just playing the only line he has.

It is the same line he played during the Melbourne Storm scandal. Although in that case he got outside investigators involved and in this recent announcement he is acting internally.

Agreed Anonymous. In this digital age, corruption is far harder to cover up.

Digital dogs scan sniff you down; previous communications, payments, locations, everything is harder to hide than it used to be.

What we see happening in the world currently, is the digital revolution’s dog’s sniffing out anomalies, which in the old “paper” days would be shredded and forgotten forever.

The old skool are meeting the new skool kids and there will be far more punches thrown I am sure.

How can you stay safe? Be nice I guess…

The man who brought us the Melbourne Storm, NRL salary cap scandal thinks we have no reason to suspect potential problems with corporate governance, conflicts of interest and the like at News Ltd.

If the events unfolding in the hacking scandal and the dark corporate culture of News Intl. in the UK that we’re reading about daily aren’t enough for the PM to suggest that News Ltd. locally be put under increased scrutiny by the Australian people, then certainly the even greater media consolidation and dominance here in Australia by News than that which currently exists in the UK with magazines, newspapers, and television networks, cable and free-to-air, as well as sports franchises and entire codes, either controlled by the company directly or by relatives and board members with close personal and business relationships must surely be worth our government and all Australians having a closer look at the company’s practices, no?

With News having that kind of power over how we all receive information and entertainment in this country, and the Telegraph and Australian taking such strong ideological stands in favour of big mining, against pricing carbon, choosing which politicians to attack and which to promote at their whim, it sets the same conditions in which the illegal acts and questionable relationships between the dominant media conglomerate, police, and the government in the UK were allowed to take place, and should be an issue of concern here as well, shouldn’t it?

Besides, what’s wrong with the PM and the Australian people asking a few hard questions, especially if there is nothing to hide, right John? All that power in the hands of one company can’t be all that good for democracy and free enterprise, can it?

Julia Gillard must be delighted with the NOTW and to sledge News Limited. It is a chance to deflect attention from the lamb basting she has been enjoying on the carbon tax, and drive a few blows into the right leaning papers who challenge her greenie/left tendencies at every turn.

I think Gillard is unjustified and regrettable

Is John Hartigan even aware that the his stable of tabloids are taken seriously only by those with the lowest IQ’s and formal education? The DT is just the NOTW under another name. When someone like Lara Bingle is considered more newsworthy than a bomb blast in Mumbai, then you know that this trash rag is all about ‘bringing the news.’

Shut this shit down here too, once and for all. It’s just lowest common denominator garbage that contains no news, just extremist opinions from those who really shouldn’t have a public platform. News has brought us Super League; the Storm scandal; intrusive gossip trying to pass off as news, written by legally certified retards (yes that’s you Ros Reines, Jonathon Moran and Annette Sharp); an apologies writer that is the most overworked person in the company – such a great legacy. Kill it off, and kill it off now. The smell is funking out the building.

Anyone remember the topless Pauline Hanson front page from the Daily Telegraph?

Marto for PM !!

Strange. I always thought there was this thing called “freedom of the press”.

Plus, this odd concept of “innocent until guilty”.

Maybe I’m just old fashioned?

@Marto

Don’t worry Marto – they will put up a paywall at news soon and lose all of their viewers.

Let’s face it; C grade celebs are pretty easy to track down for free online.

Perhaps there needs to be stricture ownership laws in place in Oz. Along the lines of:
– 15% max media ownership by one group?

ah hum: “stricter”

Hartigan can give it, but he can’t take it can he?

Reg & Marto are absolutely right of course, the News Ltd papers here are crap (even the Australian is crap, but nicely art directed) however the presumption of innocence which we all value must also apply to people and things we hate. Julia may be taking the judge , jury and executioner role just a little far on this occasion.

Is YOUR news limited? I’m hungry for real info and, incidentally Media Eyeball, that doesn’t involve your interesting morsel “the lamb basting she has been enjoying” – much as it sounds mouth-watering

Nah, Aussie’s are too lazy to write an original story for their tabloids, and much less go through the trouble of hacking into someone’s phone! It’s all about copy, paste and then mix in a few added words.

@ Marto

Your turn of phrase is disgusting and perhaps a reflection of your poor vocabulary, and need I say it – IQ?

As for the DT audience you allege have no formal education and low IQ; that is quite a general statement, don’t you think? I’m not quite sure what you’re seeking to achieve by throwing those who do consume News Limited content, into the ‘stupid’ box.

Surely those lacking education and ‘stock’ such as yourself deserve a news vertical all of their own. At least they’re reading, that has to count for something – right? Perhaps we can wait for ‘them’ all to better educate themselves and come and live in the Eastern suburbs. We could could all catch up over $6 coffee, whilst our Cavoodles and Labradoodles play in the park.

Just remember to bring your plastic bag to pick up the ‘poo’ when you leave.

i love all the sledging and talking about how dumb the DT and News readers. Guys / Girls…this is mainstream Australia, have you ever ventured west past Anzac Bridge. Not everyone has the holier-than-thou attitude. And these people that do read the DT and News Ltd papers are the same ones that buy the products that we advertise to. These guys are the reasons we have jobs and we shouldn’t dish crap on them just because they left school in year 10…

Wow, you lot are a bunch of news haters aren’t you (Paul and Spazz aside). What happened? Did you all get knocked back for jobs or something? Ever actually worked for a large media organisation? Thought not. Why bother, much easier to snipe anonymously from the sidelines .

The facts are that Gillard has suggested there are hard questions for news to answer without actually specifying what these hard questions are or who should be answering them. She’s attempting to use the scandal in the UK to her own political advantage, and failing.

Is she failing, Dave? You’re capable of making that assessment based upon what, your Ouija board?

Just so we’re clear, there are more than a few large media organisations in the world, the New York Times, Le Monde, CNN, even Al Jazeera that are capable of bringing us the actual news of the world without a tabloid sensibility, and at the same time living up to the standards of legitimate journalism. No one has ever been able to accuse a Murdoch run media outlet of anything approximating journalism, in the US, the UK, or here in Australia.

And legitimate journalism notwithstanding, 70% ownership of the Aussie media landscape is too much for any one company, if we expect to not be manipulated as a population by what News Ltd. wants us to believe.

The suggestion that Rupert Murdoch has made a career in this country using his media power to control our government is hardly unique to the PM. She’s just taking this rare opportunity to give us the chance of getting our democracy back, and out of the hands of those who’ve been pulling the strings for far too long.

Pull you head out, mate, you no longer have to tell the boss what he wants to hear in order to keep your job.

I smell so many rats on this thread. Tim, have the News Ltd peeps disguised their IP addresses again? He he; a mate of mine has an affirming name; Yu Bet Chya…

Wow those quirky News Ltd guys (edited for legal reasons). Fuwhat?! So smooth, deep and sincere. They truly are great “hacks”.

Amazing, the way John Hartigan refers to Jules’ so called attack as “unjustified”…

Jule’s. If you are reading; perhaps a parliamentary committee addressing JH and his posse’s involvement with The Melbourne Storm could be the way to go? (Oh bugger you can’t, because your NSW and VIC members (some of them) were more than knee high deep into the fiasco themselves…)

Wouldn’t it be lovely to uncover those who are secretly doing good? I would love that!
– “Today in the Daily Telegraph, Rupert Murdoch gives $10,072,011 to an orphanage in (some under privileged country”) – wouldn’t that be a feel good thread to digest, even for the mentally challenged (west of the Anzac Bridge) as some posters suggest.

Sadly, we have to unearth the unjust of these greedy megalomaniac’s.

Hey ho, it wont be long until the truth is out, for all to see.

The digital age. You stray and you will be found and sounded(.)