tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6572245.post7891318732507077502..comments2023-12-13T09:50:50.769+00:00Comments on MagBlog: The toybox as a toolboxUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6572245.post-24112526234676330192011-12-05T23:54:54.842+00:002011-12-05T23:54:54.842+00:00I don't think you'll find an unfair critic...I don't think you'll find an unfair criticism of Murdoch in what I wrote – just a slight feeling of discomfort that I was enjoying the fruits of his labour. I have been a journalist long enough to have tripped over some of the more ridiculous lines of demarcation drawn in the sand by SOGAT and NATSOPA and a great deal of what Murdoch did certainly needed doing. However, that doesn't mean I like the way he did it any more than I like the way Margaret Thatcher consigned the coal industry to oblivion. Could it have been done another way? That I leave to the "counterfactualists" (ie historians who write fiction).Tim Holmeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10894315371206292227noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6572245.post-53299178442463644462011-12-05T23:51:33.648+00:002011-12-05T23:51:33.648+00:00This comment has been removed by the author.Tim Holmeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10894315371206292227noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6572245.post-18056814177791417212011-12-05T23:41:31.810+00:002011-12-05T23:41:31.810+00:00So inevitable? Eddie Shah starts off fighting the ...So inevitable? Eddie Shah starts off fighting the unions in Warrington, then Murdoch builds a plant in Wapping for a hypothetical London paper, tricks unions into a walk-out, then goes through the enormous hassle of a stand-up fight with Sogat, printers unions, NUJ et al., and single-handedly creates a newspaper market into which The Independent can carve itself a niche, and 25 years later we have Johan Hari. Ahem.<br /><br />And then he goes on to bet his whole empire on Sky - which would probably have sunk had he not taken over BSB and its exclusive agreements to show sport.<br /><br />I think you're unfair on Murdoch - he's done a lot to upset people, but I think he's shown a degree of nerve which wasn't to be found elsewhere in the newspaper industry, or many other sectors. A lot of 80s Britain isn't here any more, and a few newspapers could have slipped away too.Brucehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11983460745735075809noreply@blogger.com