Rupert Murdoch and the Select Committee

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I'm obviously still adjusting to time changes if I'm watching a Select Committee hearing of the House of Commons at 2-30am.

I don't carry any flag for Murdoch or News Ltd.  I'm generally reluctant to acknowledge political leanings, but I would own up to being 'left' of Rupert [I can't watch his Fox News for more than 15 seconds without having an unstoppable urge to change channels].

Nonetheless, my gut response is that the Select Committee included a few sinners casting stones.  And ... the commentators on the BBC that are saying the Murdochs performed badly ... well ... I'd say I find their pontificating and judgement obnoxious.

Rupert is undoubtedly culpable - but I think it's a dishonest nonsense to posture as though the mess is not a shared enterprise between proprietors, journalists, politicians (and their ex-journalist spin doctors) ... and even readers who pay for news content that pries into other people's lives.

The politicians on the Select Committee were actually not that bad - particularly a woman called Louise Mensch.  As I write, she is pursuing Rebekah Brooks over the general Fleet St culture.  That seems a lot more more plausible as an explanation of what happened than the BBC commentariat's implication that Murdoch is some sort of lone 'bad apple'.

A few months ago I saw a documentary on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill that included coverage of BP's Tony Hayward giving evidence to a Congressional Hearing.  The politicians on the Select Committee compare extremely well with the cheap shot grandstanders from the US equivalent.
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