Archive for the ‘Media Control’ Category

Blair says feared provoking British media wrath

By Kate Holton and Guy Faulconbridge

LONDON (Reuters) - Tony Blair said on Monday he decided to court the media in Britain rather than risk the wrath of powerful media tycoons during his decade as prime minister.

Blair, the most powerful British prime minister since Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s, said that even he was not willing to risk offending the major media groups.

"If you're a political leader and you've got very powerful media groups and you fall out with one of those groups, the consequences is such that you... are effectively blocked from getting across your message," Blair told the inquiry under oath at the Royal Courts of Justice in London.

"I'm being open about the fact that frankly I decided as a political leader, and this was a strategic decision, that I was going to manage that and not confront it. And we can get on to whether that was right or wrong at a later stage, but that was the decision I took," he said.

Blair's relationship with the press, and Rupert Murdoch in particular, came under scrutiny at the inquiry which has broadened out to examine the close ties between politicians, the press and police after initially looking at a phone hacking scandal at a mass-selling tabloid.

Blair said the close relationship between politicians and the media was inevitable but that it became unhealthy when media groups tried to use their newspapers as instruments of political power.

The inquiry has so far focused on the conduct of the media and the close ties between Murdoch's empire and serving ministers, helping the opposition Labour Party leader Ed Miliband consolidate his position with attacks on the current British Prime Minister David Cameron.

But the grilling of Blair, who was renowned for trying to control the media agenda by "spinning" the news to gain the most favourable coverage, could undermine Miliband's attempt to portray Labour under his leadership as a party above courting media tycoons.

LABOUR AND MURDOCH

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Blair says feared provoking British media wrath

Indonesian media mogul makes leap into politics

By Janeman Latul and Fathiya Dahrul

JAKARTA | Sun May 27, 2012 10:07pm BST

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesian billionaire Hary Tanoesoedibjo already has over a third of the country's TV viewers in his pocket. Now he wants the same share of votes in a general election, enough to clinch power for the political party he helps lead.

Tanoesoedibjo has built a $7.2 billion business empire in Indonesia in just 14 years, targeting the speedy growth in consumer demand among an emerging middle class in the world's fourth-most populous nation.

But business isn't the only thing on Tanoesoedibjo's mind. While he insists he has no personal political ambitions, he says the reforms carried out in Southeast Asia's biggest economy since the ouster of strongman President Suharto in 1998 have been too slow and his party could make a difference.

"The majority of people want a change," said Tanoesoedibjo, 46, in an interview.

To answer that demand, push for legal and political reform and fight corruption, he says he took up a new role last November as chairman of the board of experts in the newly-formed Nasional Demokrat Party (Nasdem), one of the senior-most positions in the party.

Tanoesoedibjo, Indonesia's 13th richest man according to Forbes, is not alone in using business as a base for a leap into politics.

Coal magnate Aburizal Bakrie, whose family controls a conglomerate, is now vying for the Golkar Party's presidential nomination ahead of elections in 2014. Indonesia also holds parliamentary elections that year.

Tanoesoedibjo, however, is a controversial figure. He has been involved in a series of legal tussles over his business dealings, including one with Suharto's eldest daughter over one of his TV units. Some investors say some of his businesses lack transparency.

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Indonesian media mogul makes leap into politics

Media House a winner from all angles

Media House on Spencer Street.

FAIRFAX'S Media House has won the 'gold logie' of the property industry, the Australian Development of the Year Award, at the 2012 Property Council of Australia/Rider Levett Bucknall Innovation and Excellence Awards.

The five-star Green Star development, located at the edge of Melbourne's Docklands, houses The Age newspaper, The Australian Financial Review and 3AW and was completed in 2009. It is owned by Commonwealth Property Office Fund and was nominated by Grocon.

Media House, which beat 101 contenders from around the country to claim the main award, also won the Colliers International Award for Best Office Development and the Project Control Group Award for Best Workplace Project.

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Grocon's Pixel building.

Other Victorian winners include Stable Group's Triptych, the Village Building Award for Best Residential Development; Lend Lease's Martha's Point, the Gadens Lawyers Award for Retirement Living Development; Pixel by Grocon, the Nepean Award for Innovation; and Davis Langdon's Michael Skelton took out the Judd Farris Award for Future Leader.

Property Council of Australia chief operating officer Ken Morrison said Media House was an outstanding showcase of what Australia's property industry could produce, achieving benchmarks in innovation and sustainability.

Media House's project team included Bates Smart, Fulcrum Town Planners, Norman Disney & Young, RLB, and emerystudio.

Triptych's Green Wall.

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Media House a winner from all angles

2Drops – Freedom Of Speech (Progressive House 2012 – 2013) – Video

23-05-2012 17:50 Soon on Ring Mode Records , stay tuned! Lyrics: Social network media control Label it promote yourself Post it on your wall Check your like and subscribe Dont forget to pay your bribe Social network media control You belong to Facebook Let us of the hook You are owned by social media privatized marketing mass bulimia You are owned by social media More info:

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2Drops - Freedom Of Speech (Progressive House 2012 - 2013) - Video

Social media fuel Mexican youth protests

With presidential elections less than six weeks away, Mexicans protest media coverage of the campaign.

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Editor's note: To read more about Mexico's vote on CNNMexico.com click here.

(CNN) -- The demonstrators have no clear leader. Many say Twitter posts and Facebook groups brought them to the streets of Mexico's capital and cities around the country.

With presidential elections less than six weeks away, they are protesting media coverage of the campaign and criticizing the candidate widely seen as the front-runner.

Local media reports have described it as "the Mexican Spring," drawing a comparison with massive protests pushing for political change in the Middle East.

The surge of student activism has drawn attention at a key time during campaigning in the politically polarized country, where security concerns and economic problems have been top issues for candidates vying for the presidency.

"It was about time that Mexico woke up, that it stopped watching television," said Leonardo Mata, a student at Mexico City's Metropolitan Autonomous University who joined thousands marching in the capital on Wednesday.

TV coverage of the campaign has drawn sharp criticism from some protesters, who argue that national broadcaster Televisa has provided more favorable coverage to Enrique Pena Nieto, the Institutional Revolutionary Party candidate who leads in polls.

Televisa's president appeared to acknowledge the protests in a Twitter post this week.

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Social media fuel Mexican youth protests