Murdoch's World

So apparently Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are still a happy and prosperous couple. According to the article I am reviewing Brangelina are in the news for suing a London Newspaper. In the lawsuit Brad and Angelina are accusing the newspaper, News of the World, for publishing a false testimony of the star-studded couple separating. The most interesting aspect of this law suit is that the newspaper is controlled by News Group Newspapers Limited. And who owns this form of media? None other than our friend Rupert Murdoch and his News Corporation. Not many details have been released about the pending lawsuit but many implications can be drawn.

It is not surprising that Rupert Murdoch's long stretching arms could easily reach to a local Newspaper in London. Murdoch has always been known for his Horizontal Integration of ownership of the media. Most recognizable are Murdoch's ownership over Fox and its intensely conservative News Network but his reach extends much further as we seen in this article. The last thing Murdoch would want to do is offend two powerhouse actors who could provide him and 20th Century Fox with blockbuster after blockbuster. This is a serious issue in Horizontal Integration since Murdoch owns so much different media over the world it can become harder to keep every employee in line. While Murdoch's presence and influence coats the world with his media small instances like this may occur.

Does this mean that Murdoch could lose two world-adored actors? Most likely not but I am sure that he and his associates of the News Corporation are very much aware of the situation. Will the journalist of the article still have a job at the end of the month or year? Probably not. I am sure that an apology will be offered and both Rupert Murdoch and Brangelina will happily continue to hit some big numbers out of the box office together. I will be watching the development of this story just to see how News Corporation reacts and continue to watch as Murdoch's influence seeds itself deeper and deeper into the media on all facets.