Keeping it in the family

I am fascinated by (and terrified of) media empires. And while Walt Disney's is pretty scary, none scares me so much as Rupert Murdoch's.

When you own so much, it can be difficult to find sources outside of your media family. Take this passage from a recent Wall Street Journal article by Stacy Meichtry concerning Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi:

Mr. Berlusconi has charged the foreign media with fanning his troubles. In one episode, he accused News Corp., which owns The Wall Street Journal, of orchestrating personal attacks on him through the media in retaliation for the Italian government's decision in late November to raise the value-added tax on satellite TV subscriptions, a market dominated in Italy by News Corp.'s Italian pay-TV unit Sky Italia. Rupert Murdoch, CEO and chairman of News Corp., called the allegations "nonsense" in an interview on Fox Business Network earlier this month. A spokesman for News Corp. declined to comment on the matter.

Rupert Murdoch commenting on his business to a company he owns? Is anyone even trying? Does that really add anything to the article? Here, let me show you how silly this is.

U.S. President Barack Obama is questioned for the details of the bailout. His daughter Malia interviews him on this:

Malia Obama: Daddy, are you doing everything right with the bailout?
Barack Obama: Yes.

Malia gives the news to Sasha Obama, who works it into her essay on U.S. economic policy. (it's amazing what they make third graders do these days!) An excerpt below:

When Malia asked my dad if he was doing the right thing with the bailout, he said he was. I think he would know, because he is the Leader of the Free World, after all. Bo didn't have anything to say, but he did scratch his ear and whine for a treat.

(Awww, it's so cute when children capitalize abstract concepts like Love and Leader of the Free World!)

But at least Sasha's report isn't printed on the front page of one of America's newspapers of record. That would just be silly.