You would never have guessed the European Initiative for Media Pluralism was a nefarious group of press-hating leftist Leveson-lovers from their name, would you? The EU’s version of Hacked Off is trying to have a directive passed by the European Commission that would have a drastic impact on media moguls. They are demanding:

1. Effective legislation to avoid concentration of ownership in the media and advertisement sectors;
2. Guaranteed independence of supervisory bodies, with a politically and culturally balanced and socially diverse membership;
3. Definition of conflict of interests with media ownership;
4. Broadcast, print and online media should be required to submit to a national media authority sufficient ownership information to allow identification of the beneficial and ultimate owners of media outlets.

Of course Hugh Grant is involved, meeting here with Neelie Kroes, the European Commission’s ‘Big Sister’:

Germany’s Axel Springer media group reaches 52% of the population via Bild alone, Berlusconi in Italy owns 3 out of 7 broadcast channels. Their real goal is betrayed in the ‘about’ section of their website: “Some, notably the UK, suffer from problems of excessive concentration leading to undue influence of certain economic groups, notably Murdoch’s media empire, over political processes”. Arguably Berlusconi’s media empire has more influence over political processes.  By coincidence all three media groups are, to varying degrees, right-of-centre and sceptical of Brussels…

The editor of The Times, James Harding, resigned after becoming aware that he no longer enjoyed the confidence of Rupert Murdoch. John Witherow, the long-serving editor of The Sunday Times, is the front-runner to be appointed editor of The Times. News Corporation is reported to have taken legal advice on whether it could merge the two newspapers into a more economic seven-day operation. During the Harding era broadsheet newspaper circulations have collapsed:

When he bought the paper in 1981 Rupert Murdoch gave an undertaking “to preserve the separate identities of The Times and The Sunday Times.” Given that The Times is losing nearly a million pounds a week that is an undertaking that is no longer viable in the digital age. In the circumstances the government is unlikely to stand in the way of a rationalisation of the papers into a 7-day operation, like its tabloid sister The Sun…

Boris Mania is in full flow today as a YouGov/Sun poll finds that the Tories would close Labour’s lead to just 1% if the London Mayor replaced Dave as leader. Cameron versus Miliband sees Labour take a six point lead, but if Boris were in charge Ed’s rating would fall and the Tories’ popularity would rocket up. No wonder Dave was so testy yesterday…

But could it all be the work of his sinister backer? The Mayor is hardly making hard work for conspiracy theorists. BoJo invited Uncle Rupe to the Olympic swimming finals and two days later he receives a very favourable poll in the Sun:

London in best shape ever. All overboard about the Olympics, brilliantly organized by Zeb Coe and Boris Johnson.—
Rupert Murdoch (@rupertmurdoch) August 02, 2012

What was it Murdoch said about how to find out what he really thinks?

Guido hears that Rupert Murdoch’s decision to separate News Corporation’s money-making arm from its publishing arm left senior employees completely in the dark as to what lies in store for the future of the company. Chatting to News Corp employees last night, Guido was told chaos is reaching such a stage that hacks are only half joking when they say they have had to establish shadow newsrooms where the ultimate scoop is finding out whether or not they will be keeping their jobs. Talk about rogue reporters…

Guido also put it to them that News Group, the UK newspaper wing of the business, doesn’t pay any tax. The denial was pretty damning:

“Look, The Sun is the only paper that makes a profit, The Times loses money every day of the week. It’s pretty hard to pay any tax when you’re haemorrhaging money like that. The print media is on the way out, for sure.”

Did someone say dead tree press?

Rupert Murdoch tells Fox News he’s given up on buying BSkyB…

“We’ve moved on from our thinking in that. That was billions and billions of dollars and if Britain doesn’t want them, we’ll find a place to put them here.”

Labour are getting worked up over claims made by Political Scrapbook that Boris Johnson had secret dinner  in January 2011 with Rupert Murdoch just two days before the phone hacking investigation was launched. Their City Hall cronies have jumped on the bandwagon, insisting: “this is extremely serious, for the Mayor to not declare a meeting with Rupert Murdoch at the height of the phone-hacking crisis is truly scandalous”. Indeed, it would be scandalous and a great scoop, if it was actually the case. However, rather embarrassingly, a Boris spokesman points to the fact that the information has been on the Mayor’s website for nearly a year. Oh dear…

UPDATE: At the time of going to pixel the Indy are claiming they could not open the link provided to them by City Hall. Seems fine in the Guy Newsroom…

UPDATE II: The Beeb are covering this, but seem to have missed this quote from a Boris spokesman: “Details of the meetings have been published on Mayor’s website for the best part of a year.”

If you have been watching BBC news or reading the Guardian you would think that Brown’s testimony was proven and Rupert Murdoch had made up the whole claim about Brown “declaring war”. At the Leveson Inquiry Lord Mandelson was questioned about the “war” call from Gordon Brown to Rupert Murdoch. It is worth revisiting what he said in his sworn testimony:

Jay Okay. You say in your book that Mr Brown was stunned by the news that the Sun had shifted allegiance, and that this grew greater, as it were, over the forthcoming weeks. Was it your assessment that Mr Brown was personally embittered by this?
Mandelson I think he was greatly upset by it. I don’t think he should have been surprised, but he took these things very personally. Look, different politicians will take these things in different ways, and he did feel stung by it. He thought that after all that he had done as Prime Minister, all that he had done to deliver our economy from the greatest post-war crisis that we had seen, during which he felt that in respect of the banks, for example, he had received a lot of encouragement from Rupert Murdoch and Irwin Stelzer and other informed commentators, that it was sort of unfair in a sense for them to turn on him now. He also felt wronged over Afghanistan, with good reason, and I was very sympathetic to him, but he shouldn’t have taken it so personally. You know, this is politics. …
Jay You might be able to throw direct light on that belief by a piece of evidence. We heard from Mr Murdoch — and he said it twice, sitting where you are — that there was a telephone call between him and Mr Brown when Mr Brown delivered what was tantamount to –
Mandelson  But the interesting thing about the phone call –
Jay  Can I –
Mandelson – is Mr Murdoch himself said that he did not agree with  the method and timing of what had been done.
Jay  Yes, but we don’t know yet from your evidence whether you know whether there was such a call, and that was the question.
Mandelson Oh, I’m sorry.
Jay The allegation is — or rather the evidence was from Mr Murdoch — that Mr Brown said or uttered the words ”declare war on News International” or words to that effect. From your own knowledge, Lord Mandelson, can you assist us as to whether there was such a call? …
Mandelson  I assume that there was the call because I seem to remember the Prime Minister telling me that Rupert Murdoch was not at all happy with the method and timing of James and Rebekah’s action.
Jay What did the Prime Minister tell you, Lord Mandelson, about the call? Did he communicate to you that that’s what he told Mr Murdoch?
Mandelson  No, he didn’t say that. He told me what Mr Murdoch had said to him.
Jay So there was nothing about what Mr Brown said to Mr Murdoch? Is that your evidence?
Mandelson   Yes, it is. I cannot remember being told by Mr Brown what he said, and I have no way of knowing. But I – but I know what he said to me about Rupert Murdoch’s reaction, which was to say basically: “I don’t like how it’s been done and I think it’s a bad day to do it and I wouldn’t have done it this way myself, but that’s life and we have to get on with it.”
Jay  Mr Murdoch’s reaction to what, though, Lord Mandelson?
Mandelson   The decision of the Sun to switch support from New Labour to the Conservative Party, which he has said, if I recall correctly, was James and Rebekah’s decision. Not the editor’s, incidentally.
Jay  Can you at least assist us with the timing of this call? We know that there was a later call relating to the letter to the mother of the soldier who died in Afghanistan. We’re talking about an earlier conversation, if it took place.
Mandelson  There would have been a number of — I mean, Gordon did not hold back in talking to Rupert Murdoch. He did telephone him, he had every right to do so, and when he thought that he was being traduced, as he did, by the Sun, he wanted to give vent to his feelings about that. I mean, who can blame him in the circumstances? Personally, I think it is better to go to editors rather than proprietors, but he did have a good relationship with Rupert and he invoked that friendship.

Rupert Murdoch has just tweeted that he is not backing down:

I stand by every word is aid at Leveson.—
Rupert Murdoch (@rupertmurdoch) June 15, 2012

Given that as well as denying making any such call, Gordon denied all knowledge of what Ed Balls, Charlie Whelan and Damian McBride did on his behalf, Guido knows who he believes...

See also: Cabinet Office Statement Does Not Clear Brown

Senior Tory sources seem very keen to disabuse any and all as to the demand for Guto Harri’s services. A “person in a position to know” called Guido to emphasise, vehemently, that Guto was never in the running for Downing Street, was never offered a job by Downing Street and was never the first choice ahead of Andy Coulson for the Downing Street job. Despite what you may have read elsewhere. Glad we have cleared that up.

Guto did however manage to convince the Guardian and the Telegraph’s Mandrake otherwise. Nevertheless he managed to spin himself a promotion and pay hike of over £100,000 extra, he is on £250,000 plus benefits at News International, nigh on doubling his pay at City Hall. If he can improve the perception of Murdoch over the next couple of years he will have earned every penny…

UPDATE: Guto has been in touch to insist that he never claimed to have been offered a Downing Street job and that it was merely speculation by journalists.

Guido understands that James and Rupert Murdoch are pencilled in to appear on separate days at the Leveson Inquiry in late April.

This should be very interesting. They will appear ahead of Rebekah Brooks.

The chattering classes will be ordering in industrial quantities of popcorn…

Today is the last trading day of the year on the New York Stock Exchange, barring any dramatic surprises shares in Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation will end the day near the year’s highs. If you are lucky enough to own NewsCorp shares you will have benefited from a rise in value of over 10% this year, well outperforming a stockmarket that has flatlined.

Not that you would realise it if you only listened to the BBC or read the New York Times and The Guardian. The latter in particular always slants financial stories about NewsCorp as if there was widespread shareholder unrest with the Murdochs. Story after story on the media and finance pages of The Guardian quotes shareholders and financial advisers with doom laden sentiments about the Murdochs. Most of those quoted turn out to be activists with political rather than financial priorities…

The fact is that Rupert Murdoch owns the number one daily newspaper in America, The Wall Street Journal. NewsCorp also owns the number one news channel, the incredibly successful and profitable Fox Network. Sky franchises in the UK, Italy, Germany and Star TV in Asia are the pay-TV leaders generating phenomenal subscription revenues. Murdoch also owns the content via television production companies and movie studios. This year Super Bowl on FOX was the most watched TV show in America ever. Even after selling MySpace at a loss, he has dared to launch a new online-only news business, The Daily. Hit movies like Avatar and Black Swan generate colossal ticket sales, American Idol still brings in the ratings, globally Murdoch owned newspapers are still a cash-cow despite him closing the News of the World. In 2011 revenue rose to $33.4 billion, while adjusted operating income increased 12% to $4.98 billion. Cashflow which the owners of the loss making New York Times and Guardian can only dream…

Guardian Media Group is losing a £1 million a week, Mirror Group shares have halved in value this year and the firm has introduced a pay freeze for all workers. Based on the NewsCorp share price alone, the Murdochs finish the year a few billion richer than they started it. Despite what you may read in The Guardian or hear on the BBC, the Murdochs are very far from being against the wall and the left hates that.

No one ever got rich betting against Rupert Murdoch….