Stop bashing Murdoch because he does more good than bad

O. Casey Corr writes on the MSNBC web site that the media that has been busy bashing News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch for what he might do after acquiring The Wall Street Journal should get over it and realize the good he is doing in the media world.

Corr wrote, “For those who are alarmed by Murdoch’s conservative bent, there may be comfort in his shift toward the middle and his support for Tony Blair in Great Britain and Hillary Clinton in New York. Besides, it’s not as if Murdoch could make The Wall Street Journal’s editorials much more right-wing than they already are.

“The immediate fear, of course, is that Murdoch will tilt the Journal’s coverage to serve his political or business agenda. Author Tina Brown said Murdoch’s ownership would be ‘a horror show. Very sad.’ Her husband, Harold Brown, was forced out of the The Times in 1981 by Murdoch.

“But another view is that Murdoch always puts his business interests first, and he would be foolish to tarnish the luster of the Journal. In 2003, James Fallows, writing in the Atlantic magazine, predicted that journalism under Murdoch and others would continue to move toward a more partisan style as in early 19^th Century America.”

Read more here. Corr concludes that Murdoch did the Bancroft family that controls Dow Jones & Co. a favor. He wrote, “He caused a family that at times was inattentive, erratic or squabbling to grasp their company’s long-term vulnerabilities and see the errors of their stewardship.”