« The Ten States That Restrict Personal Freedom (And Those That Protect It) Read more: The Ten States That Restrict Personal Freedom (And Those That Protect It) | Main | Casinos, gaming and horses, oh my! »
July 21, 2011
Maybe Murdoch has a light touch with the Brooklyn weeklies he bought, but the change in Atlantic Yards coverage has been profound
Atlantic Yards Report
Reports WNYC, Fearing a Heavy Hand, Outer-Borough Papers Find Murdoch Has Light Touch:
When News Corp – which owns the New York Post and Wall Street Journal - bought community newspapers in Queens, the Bronx and Brooklyn in 2006, 2007 and 2009, respectively, media watchers were worried they'd be reshaped as conservative Murdoch mouthpieces.
But several former staffers at The Brooklyn Paper and TimesLedger newspapers say the marching orders never came — and the neighborhood papers that now make up the Community Newspapers Group at News Corp continued to make their own decisions about editorials, endorsements and reporting, according to former employees.
About Atlantic Yards
The piece concludes:
The Brooklyn Paper, formerly a fierce watchdog on the Atlantic Yards project has become less aggressive since the 2009 sale, [Norman] Oder alleges, but he isn't sure whether or not that is attributable to News Corp.
"“I do see less of a focus on hard news," he said. "There is a lot of softer news. It's hard to say if that is Murdoch or just a sign or our times. When weekly newspapers like Brooklyn Paper were stronger they did more aggressive reporting."
I don't think my comment is so much an allegation as a (well-founded) argument.
Posted by eric at July 21, 2011 12:09 PM