Reply #111: Ownership... [View All]

... follows $'s! Plain and simple. That's why Murdoch has made a fortune. Fox found a niche THAT WAS BEING IGNORED (except on a few radio talk shows), mostly, up until that point. Even CNN and the broadcast nw's are beginning to copy FOX to some degree. Because they are shifting ideologically? No, because they feel the ratings pressure.

So, don't follow that line of logic about journalists following the philosophy's of the owner. The philosophy of the owner is $$! Rosie was let go because sponsors felt the pressure and The View ratings were stagnating (after the initial spike due to the controversies) and were, I think, beginning to come down. If I was in the boardroom making a decision, I would say "fire Rosie - she's out of control and may bring down the whole house of cards", followed by a nice parting gift and thank you for helping the ratings.

Lest you or anyone else thinks I'm a fan of FOX or any conservative nw, let me say that I am for truth, without any whitewashing or spin. I feel much of what we are fed from the media has been prostituted on the altar of political correctness, someone's agenda, or ratings, or all of the above. I believe little of what I read or hear anymore, until I've heard it from multiple sources from both sides of the aisle.

Hey, BTW, you say most ownership is conservative? I don't doubt that (at least not much), but think about it. There's a quote about most people being liberal when they are young and conservative when they are older. I mostly hear it from the conservative crowd (naturally), but I think there is some truth to it. Owners are obviously wealthy people. With a few exceptions (e.g. Soros, et al), the wealthy, who are "protectionists" by nature, would tend to be older and favor Republican policy. They may have learned to be good little liberals in Journalism or even Business school, but they change stripes when it is convenient to do so. Just a theory, but I'd bet not too far from typical.

To reiterate, I think most owners would nearly sell their souls (e.g. let their newspaper or other media outlet back candidates they didn't like) if it pleased their wallet, or in the case of a public company, the upper mgmt would do the same if it pleased the stockholders.