The Hindu : End of a honeymoon?

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Nov 19, 2003

Opinion

Opinion - Leader Page Articles

End of a honeymoon?

By Hasan Suroor

Has Rupert Murdoch sensed that the public mood is moving away from Labour and is trying to trim his sails accordingly — as he did in 1997 when he ditched the Tories in favour of the winnable Labour?

IT IS interesting that although Rupert Murdoch is more famous worldwide for his television empire — Star network, Fox News and Sky TV — in Britain it is his newspapers that wield real influence. And considering that he owns four of the country's leading titles — The Times, The Sunday Times, The Sun and the News of the World — it gives him enormous clout in the corridors of power. The source of his real power is not the heavyweight Times, for all its "thundering", but the mass circulation and downmarket Sun which claims to have "won" the 1997 general elections for New Labour thrusting Tony Blair into power.

Last week, Mr. Murdoch dropped a bombshell when he hinted that the Labour Party should not take his continued support for granted, and that in the next elections, which could be held as early as 2005, his newspapers could switch their allegiance back to the Tories now that they had a more formidable-looking leader in Michael Howard. He said the "jury's out" and that he would decide which way to swing depending on "how Mr. Howard performs, how the Government performs".

Mr. Murdoch's remarks have dominated media headlines ever since, amid frenzied speculation about their implications for the Blair Government. It is being asked darkly whether it is a case of the rats starting to desert the sinking ship. Has Mr. Murdoch sensed that the public mood is moving away from Labour and is trying to trim his sails accordingly — as he did in 1997 when he ditched the Tories in favour of the winnable Labour?

As one Labour figure pointed out, the worry was that The Sun might have "worked out how people in the country are feeling before we have". That says more for the state of the ruling party's own grassroots antennae than any cleverness on the part of The Sun. But with millions of fanatically committed readers across the country, it is still a formidable force and can swing crucial floating votes. It is a measure of its importance that it was the only British newspaper to which the United States President, George W. Bush, gave an exclusive interview ahead of his U.K. visit. This was said to be a "reward" for its support to the Iraq war but more importantly, it was apparently recommended by Mr. Blair.

To believe that newspapers can win elections is, of course, absurd, but they can generate debates — or whip up hysteria as The Sun and other tabloids do — around issues they feel strongly about. Voters who are not politically sophisticated — the kind who form the bulk of The Sun's readership — are easy to win over by playing on their fears over issues such as asylum, immigration and single currency. A couple of scary headlines about how Britain is being "swamped" by foreigners because of the Blair Government's "soft" policy on asylum can do considerable damage to the Labour prospects in more than a million-strong "Sun belt".

In the run-up to the 1997 elections, Mr. Blair was so keen on having The Sun on his side that he flew half way round the world to attend a Murdoch-sponsored seminar to please him. And to ensure that he was kept in good humour, the Blair Government has been bending over backwards to accommodate his business interests in its new media policy.

Major newspapers all over the world have a well-defined political line, but it is unique to the British media that on the eve of a general election they officially declare their support for one party or another — and urge their readers to vote for it. Although most newspapers are already identified by their ideological loyalties — pro-Tory Telegraph, pro-Labour Guardian, centrist Times — the occasion does provide their proprietors with a bargaining chip. For, barring the few ideologically committed newspapers, others are not averse to changing their preference if the Government or the party they are "pledged" to oppose agrees to play it by their rules.

This is exactly what Mr. Murdoch is doing. Even as he threatened to end support to the Blair Government, he also offered Mr. Blair a chance to remain in his good books — all that he has to do is to go slow on the euro and the proposed European Union Constitution. Mr. Murdoch is viscerally opposed to the single currency and a closer integration with Europe, and if Mr. Blair is willing to buy his line he could still have The Sun shining on him in the next elections. "Let's see what the Government is doing with Europe, how the Government performs," he said, clearly setting out his terms for a deal.

Mr. Murdoch is not a British national but runs perhaps the country's biggest private media empire, and with the imminent opening up of the ownership rules it is expected to get even bigger giving him unprecedented political clout. No wonder, he is already talking like a king-maker.

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