Rupert Murdoch - ruthless visionary, empire builder and business genius. He has created a global media network which has made him one of the most powerful and influential figures in the world. So potent was the force of his empire that he was even on first-name terms with presidents and prime ministers - superpowers were only a telephone call away. But just recently, rather than controlling the news, Murdoch has instead become the front-page story as the world had been gripped by the unfolding drama of the News International phone hacking scandal.
Drawing on a wealth of academic research, statistics and interviews with key Australian media people including present and former Australian Broadcasting Corporation staffers, this book explores the transitions of the ABC under various types of organisational re-strategising, governance and political shifts. The book provides the reader with an authoritative narrative as to how the ABC has lost its iconic status in Australian society, and unfolds how the ABC has strayed from its respected public charter which endowed the ABC with a distinctive and important role in informing, educating and entertaining the Australian public. Successive federal government funding cuts have shrunk staffing levels and services while it has pursued a corporatist model that mimics the trappings and practices of commercial media. In that process it has become politicised and trivialised, thereby threatening its demise. The book is a unique and timely contribution at a time of dwindling interest for the funding of public assets everywhere. There is no other book in the market that addresses the decline of the organisation (the ABC) and analyses the reasons for its demise within an organisational theoretical framework. The book is written for an educated general audience, with academics and media practitioners specifically in mind, and has everyday applications for business organisations operating in the public sector by bringing together important findings of public funding, budgets, management and organisational strategies and evolution.
With two MPs for parents, Sarah Winterton was one of the proudest women in the country. She felt as though her family was at the centre of events, and her parents, Nicholas and Ann Winterton - respective Members for Macclesfield and Congleton - were truly making a difference at the heart of British politics. But when the Wintertons became caught up in the parliamentary expenses scandal in 2009, Sarah was forced to question some of her longest-held assumptions about politics, family and the media. Was the life of a backbench MP worth the candle? Why slog away for hours on behalf of your constituents, if your only reward was to be vilified by Fleet Street? In this affectionate, defiant memoir, Sarah Winterton celebrates a pair of MPs renowned for their bloody-minded independence, who remain the longest-serving couple in the history of the House of Commons. She warmly and unashamedly defends not just her outspoken parents, but an entire political class in a time of great upheaval. With her rare perspective on 21st-century British politics, Sarah reveals a lost political world through insightful anecdotes, and asks challenging questions about the character of modern MPs and the functioning of Britain's parliamentary democracy.
In England in 2007 Peter Connelly, a 17 month old little boy - known initially in the media reporting as 'Baby P' - died following terrible neglect and abuse. Fifteen months later, his mother, her boyfriend and the boyfriend's brother were sent to prison. But media attention turned on those who worked to protect children, especially the social workers and their managers, who became the focus of the reporting and of the blame. This book tells what happened to 'Baby P', how the story was told and became focused on the social workers, its threatening consequences for those who work to protect children, and its considerable impact on the child protection system in England. This is the first book to draw together all evidence available on this high profile case and will make a unique and crucial contribution to the topic. It will make essential reading for everyone who is concerned about child protection and the care of children and about the media's impact. This revised edition contains a new Afterword bringing the story up to date.
A former Scotland Yard detective examines real cases of murder in which accused criminals were convicted without a body found. Murders in any form, and the more gruesome the better, hold a morbid fascination to the British public but never more so than when the bodies of the victims are never found. Aside from the lack of closure for relatives and friends, this factor creates problems for police and prosecutors and has macabre appeal for the public. Muriel McKay, wife of a senior News of the World Executive was kidnapped in 1969. Although her body, believed to have been fed to pigs, was never found, the perpetrators were convicted. The same fate was suffered by the business partner of a Polish farmer. James Camb murdered a glamorous actress feeding her to sharks but this did not stop women flocking to see him in court. John Haigh confessed to disposing of his nine victims in acid. Again, his trial was a sell-out. Dick Kirby, former Scotland Yard detective turned best-selling crime writer has ‘unearthed’ a fascinating collection of disappearances such as the dismemberment of a gay man’s wife who had threatened to expose him in the 1950s. Later, when a woman’s head was discovered near his home, he confessed only to find that it dated from Roman times. These and numerous other cases make Missing, Presumed Murdered a riveting, if grisly, read.
“Murder, torture and extortion all feature prominently as Mr. Kirby investigates some of the most famous incidents of the post-war era.” —Daily Mail Online The 1950s and 1960s saw a changing of the guard in London’s gangland. A new and even more ruthless breed of criminal emerged to replace the aging generation of the likes of Sabini, Mullins and Hayes. Protection rackets on bookies, club owners and shops were commonplace. Prostitution and drugs offered rich pickings. Police corruption was all too commonplace. Thanks to media interest the names of Charlie Richardson, Mad Frankie Fraser, Scarface Smithson and the Nichols became as widely known as they were feared. And then there were the Kray Twins, whose notoriety and brutality became watchwords. But as this insider book reveals they did not have it all their own way. For a thrilling and shocking story London’s Gangs at War is in a class of its own. What makes it so chilling is that the murders, torture and mayhem actually happened. “Ex-cop Dick Kirby has now laid bare the Krays’ empire.” —Daily Star Online “This is a riveting book and Dick has done his usual amazing research.” —London Police Pensioner “Dick Kirby pulls no punches as he looks in depth at some of the most infamous names from the criminal underworld.” —Media Drum World “Another excellent book in the impressive list of titles by Dick Kirby.” —History by the Yard “Some of this is familiar to us from TV programmes such as Foyle’s War and Dads’ Army—but Dick Kirby’s terrific book breaks new ground in identifying and recounting what actually happened during those troubled times.” —Books Monthly “Dick Kirby pulls no punches as he looks in depth at some of the most infamous names from the criminal underworld.” —Media Drum World “Another excellent book in the impressive list of titles by Dick Kirby.” —History by the Yard “Some of this is familiar to us from TV programmes such as Foyle’s War and Dads’ Army—but Dick Kirby’s terrific book breaks new ground in identifying and recounting what actually happened during those troubled times.” —Books Monthly
This is the first book to examine the activities of UK and international ‘role models’ through the lens of state crime and social policy. Written by experts in the field of sociology and social policy, it defines the ideal state as a single, functioning whole that ensures uniformity in the name of legitimacy. It then details the ways that states do not constitute the ideal in terms of the dangers associated with the maintenance of legitimacy and state power. Anti-democratic measures, such as the invasions of other nation states, the idea that the media can both reinforce and influence the state and the problems of over-zealous policing of a state’s own populace, are covered. Using the topical example of Rupert Murdoch and the activities of his media organisation to show how powerful individuals and corporations can and do exert political influence, the book provides a comprehensive discussion of state immorality and deviance generally and state crime in particular. It will appeal to range of academics and practitioners in broader disciplines such as criminology, sociology, politics and political science.
Rupert Murdoch - ruthless visionary, empire builder and business genius. He has created a global media network which has made him one of the most powerful and influential figures in the world. So potent was the force of his empire that he was even on first - name terms with presidents and prime ministers - superpowers were only a telephone call away. But just recently, rather than controlling the news, Murdoch has instead become the front - page story as the world had been gripped by the unfolding drama of the News International phone hacking scandal. Within days of achieving his final and most ambitious goal - outright ownership of the GBP1 billion - a - year profit - making BSkyB satellite television station - Murdoch was forced to concede as his prize looked set to disintegrate before his eyes. Always a winner in the past, the devastating events that overtook News Coporation with tsunami speed shocked the 80 - year - old founder - particularly as the most hurtful arrows were fired from the very institution which he had carefully cultivated for so many years. Freelance journalist John Lisners tells the fascinating story of Murdoch's amazing rise and fall. His graphic account of the culture, the methods and the men who worked for Rupert Murdoch is as incisive as it is entertaining. He uncovers: How Murdoch beat Robert Maxwell to the News of the World Rupert Murdoch's role in the sacking of a Prime Minister The bungled but lethal attempt to kidnap his wife How the big News International expose stories were done
