NewsCorp: How much longer can it survive?

So today, we've had 6 more arrests in this NewsCorp saga. One of those arrested, Rebekah Brooks, has been previously arrested in relation to this ongoing saga, the other 5, including her husband, the racehorse trainer Charlie Brooks, and News International's Head of Security Mark Hanna, are new arrests in the case.

Rebekah herself has also been a victim of the scandal, after it emerged at the end of February that her phone had been hacked by News Of The World journalists, whilst she was Editor of The Sun. Incredibly irony or poetic justice? One thing is for sure, the old adgae of there being no honour amongst thieves, seems to hold true for Murdoch employees too.

Does anybody else think she is never going to return to NewsCorp after this? More by her own choice though I believe rather than Murdoch not wanting her back. After this episode, she'll want to stay out of the public spotlight for as long as she can.

And with Ofcom currently investigating to see if NewsCorp are a fit and proper company to hold a broadcast licence, for BSkyB, how long will it take before Rupert Murdoch finally gives up and slowly dissolves the whole company, selling off assets for as much as he can so he can live out some form of retirement in relative peace, rather than ending his days in a prison cell and his assets sold off for the mere pitance of their real worth.

Anthea Turner, a ‘recessionista’?

Ok, the word doesn’t really exist.  It’s just something that the News Of The World made up, out of recession and fashionista.  But their article about her is very fair to her, though like some of us, they do have their doubts about her claims to being ‘…low maintenance…’.

It is interesting though to note two things about the wardrobe she wears in the photo shoot.  The ‘wet look’ leather look dress is from Primark, I kid you not, and the wet look leggings she wears throughout the shoot are from New Look.  I even managed to find those online.  They’re £14.  Quite cheap really .

What Anthea Turner is though, is good at reinventing herself.  She has gone from children’s television presenter, through mega celebrity, property development, ‘perfect housewive’ to an advertisement for frugal living.

The thing is, I could teach you more about frugal living than she can.  I’ve had to live frugally for years.  I spent many years unemployed, living on very little money per week.  It’s only in the past few years that things have really taken off for me, but I sill live in a fairly frugal way, in everything I do.  Even the internet has to be unlimited, to keep costs down in the long run.

Maybe I should do an online show, about real frugal living.  How to live as if in a recession the whole time.  I’ve lived through two already and we’re in a third right now.  A big thing in my life is getting the best value for money that I can.  And that applies whether you’re buying food, clothes, entertainment or other household items.  I won’t spend lots of money on anything, if you can get  it cheaper, and get more value out of it.

Far too many people are drawn to those big name brands that they see advertised, and just believe that they are the best things money can buy, but often, value brands are much cheaper, and just as good a quality, if not sometimes even better.  There are exceptions but with buying value brands, you are not wasting a lot of money.

It’s similar in clothing terms.  At home, you wear what you want.  You can parade around in a bikini in the middle of winter if you want to, that’s up to you.  But I always like to try to make an effort to look reasonable when I go out.  Remember that story I covered on here some time ago about mothers in Northern Ireland, who were still wearing pyjamas while they were taking their kids to school?  To me, that is bad.  Make a little effort to look reasonable, even if it is only a t-shirt and leggings and trainers. 

When you go out, you’re presenting an image to other people of how you want them to think about you.  If you go out all the time looking scruffy, and unkempt, people are going to think of you that way.  If you at least look reasonably presentable, then people will have a better opinion of you.  As I said before, at home, it’s your own private domain.  You can wear anything you want to. 

Hmm, I gotta lot to say on this subject.  Maybe I should do that online show.  Maybe we’ll do a video episode of Viewpoint this week on this story.  Wait and see.

Repackaged 18 month old news? Must be the silly season!

Stories may go in and out of news bulletins and newspapers depending on how much has happened in the meantime, but rarely do you get stale news. Today, you did, from the Daily Star!

The story is about new X-Factor judge, Dannii Minogue, and pictures of her enjoying "...lesbian romps with a naked lapdancer." at a London nightclub.

Now, originally, the crux of this post would have been that what celebrities do in their off hours is really not our business. Even now, I still believe this.

However this blog post has become a rant at a lazy media.

You see, when I checkout a story that I'm going to comment on, I do it the honour of a little research beforehand. This way, I find out if a story is pure hyperbole, or actually has something a little more factual about it. In this case, I simply typed in the words "Dannii Minogue Lesbian" into Google, and I found the story straight away, with the incriminating photgraphs.

However, what struck me about the story was not the pictures, but the date!

The story is reported on the site, dated February 2006!

This material is 18 months old!

Furthermore, just a little way into the story itself, the site reports that the story was originally reported in the News Of The World!

So, just because she is now a judge on the X-Factor, this story is dredged up from a competitor, repackaged it and branded it an exclusive!

Quite frankly, this is the ultimate in bad journalism! We see it far too much these days, but this is possibly the worst example of journalism I have seen in a very long time.

A little research told me just how bad this was and proved to me just what these so-called tabloid journalists will do to get their paper to sell more copies. This should give you all the reasons you need to AVOID these kinds of charlatans. Stick to reputable news sources.