Murdoch who?

IT'S a funny old world. British tabloid newspapers are often accused of building up a celebrity and then pushing him or her down again. In tabloid terms, it's called from hero to zero! It is quite funny to think that now the same thing has happened with Mr. tabloid himself, Rupert Murdoch.

All the major political parties courted Murdoch for years but as a result of the phone-hacking scandal, he has now been quietly abandoned by all. Labour at their annual convention have been busy trying to distance themselves from the media tycoon even though the Murdoch empire helped win them three general elections. Gordon Brown was said to be furious when the Murdoch media switched sides to the Tories just before the last general election. I suspect that the Conservatives will also try to distance themselves from him at their convention. Two years ago they were desperately trying to get Murdoch officials to come, on this occasion I sincerely doubt that too many invitations will have been issued. Funny old world. Perhaps, in some ways it is a quite a good thing.

Murdoch had far too much power in Britain and one of the good things to come from the News of the World scandal is that his powers will be seriously curtailed. For Murdoch it is a double blow. His newspapers are no longer as powerful as they once were thanks to the internet and other media and now the political establishment in Britain no longer courts his friendship. From hero to zero.