The Media, The Networks, The Journalist

Watching a documentary on Bloomberg television about media mogul Rupert Murdock has revealed a lot. The war of Fox News is not about Liberalism and Conservatism as it may appear. Rupert is a very shrewd business man and he is feared. While there will be casualties among the many who are employed across the Murdock Empire, he will stand as a fierce businessman who knows what he wants and what it takes to get it. There is no doubt that the Murdock Family will continue on far after he is passed from this world to the next, it still remains to be seen why some feel the need to fight his employees, rather than Rupert himself.

The Empire has holdings such as Fox Sports, Fox News, Fox, Fox Entertainment, Searchlight, The Wall Street Journal, and so many others. The problem is that most of his empire has nothing to do with being liberal or conservative, so the fight that is raging is only about one particular station, Fox News. The problem is that
this is a cable network and the actual Fox station which is general broadcast, has a totally different feel and agenda.

Yes Rupert had an agenda when he originally launched the cable network, Fox News. That agenda was to enter the market and conquer. He looked at the other news offerings and realized a niche that was being ignored; it was the so-called conservative voice. He then proceeds to build a cable news station that caters to that opinion. He also launches Fox Business. These two do have a very conservative feel, but it has to be seen for what it really is a cable network that is serving a niche market that others run from. It is actually genius to
do such a thing.

As an author and writer, would it make since to try to enter a market with a book or idea that everyone already has? This would be foolish. If the market is saturated with self-help books, then it would not make sense to try and dominate that market when cook books may be open. The strategy of any brand is to seek for the largest market share possible. Rupert Murdock has achieved this. Another of his tenets is that of working 24 hours, well, not literally, but having a hand in business at every single moment possible, seizing opportunity.

As an author or writer, as a publisher or agent, as a poet or singer, does it make sense to only put out a message that is valid 12 hours a day? The work has to penetrate 24 hours; the work has to go on to be extended, even when the author is not working or writing. This is just good business and good branding. Now the point of this posting is not about authors and writers, but about the media, the networks, and the journalist.

In reality every author is a journalist in their own rights, each author is putting out a message. Every publisher is a network onto itself. The media is the book, eBook, or magazine. Rupert may not be liked or he may not be favored as a nice man, but when his strategy is broken down, it is in reality what every good business person is seeking to do anyway. Rupert is just more vocal and willing to take the risks to make it happen. If the author thinks like a journalist and sees their writing as something that must be heard, something that is newsworthy, and something that is unique, then being at Fox News is what is needed.

What being at Fox News means, being with a publisher that is going to make your work seen and heard by as many it can be. The publisher should be like Rupert, fighting and working endlessly to make the voices, or the niche, heard and see by all. The publisher needs to be working day and night to make sure that their writers and authors are branded for the mass market. Independence is now seen as the best way to make this happen, since the publisher has saw fit to not follow this rule. The Publishers have grown lazy, like the stations that hate the Murdock way. They have refused to do the work that once made them great. They want the work done
before they lift a finger.

The only problem with the old paradigm is that if the author and writer are doing their own work, they should maintain full control of the content and brand. The author's independence is a good thing and should be embraced; however, the independent needs a bit of shrewdness in order to survive. The 'good ole boys'
are not going to stand for someone who wants to control their own destiny. This is what is wrong with Fox News; they will force the viewer to think for themselves rather than telling them what to think. Freedom sometimes requires being thrown in the fire by the very same groups that cry freedom for all, except those who disagree.

A liberal is always a liberal until another liberal opinion is not their opinion, then they become less liberal to the opinion that is not their liberal.