Powerful media tycoon Rubert Murdoch said that Tony Blair had privately accused the BBC (to him of course) of being anti-America in its coverage of the Hurricane Katrina devastation. According to Murdoch the BBC was full of hatred for America.
Murdoch is of course talking about a rival media. It would be akin to the owner of Strait Times of Malaysia badmouthing Malaysiakini, so we can judge how true that would be. Mind you, the British PM office has refused to comment, meaning the private conversation might have more than a gem of truth afterall.
Political analysts said Blair must be ingratiating himself with Murdoch, one of the most influential man in the (English language) western world. His stable of some 300 over newspapers can give a western politician severe headaches.
Murdoch was an Australian who took up American citizenship because the USA won’t permit foreigners to own so many of its newspapers. Murdoch’s papers have adopted a pro Bush and a pro Iraqi war stand.
Unfortunately Murdoch came up with that usual American garbage that the world was jealous of the USA, indicating proof of this in European anti-Americanism. Dislike maybe, even hate, but jealousy? Nonsense.
Former US president, Bill Clinton said that what the BBC had reported was factually correct except those reports seemed to be focussed on the worst aspects of the Bush administration handling. But that's newsworthy and what attract readers. The BBC isn't a media outlet with an obligation to promote Bush.
We need to bear in mind that Tony Blair doesn't like the BBC especially after the world famous news source accused Blair's government of 'sexing up' the Iraqi WMD bullsh*t as justification to invade Iraq. Even though the Blair appointed Hutton Commission cleared Blair and his cohorts from any wrong misinformation to the embarrassing extent of the whole inquiry being a whitewash, the BBC has since been in Blair's gunsight. In the end, the BBC report of Blair 'sexing up' the report is now well known throughout the whole especially that infamous '45 minutes from Baghdad to London' fabrication.
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