Murdoch's no-lose Times gamble

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The buying of the Times and Sunday Times by Rupert Murdoch's News International has cast gloom over defenders of liberal capitalism and • reformist trade unionism alike.

Murdoch has for years been a despised and feared figure in Fleet Street, a man notorious for his personal intervention in news rooms.

Fleet Street editors had regarded Murdoch as an outsider -alright for the Sun and News of the World, but not an indication of the state of the 'free press' of Britain.

Now Murdoch has found himself the owner of two of the most prestigious papers in Britain -the archaic loss making Times and the aggressive profit making Sunday Times.

What is more, Murdoch's purchase price of £12 million is less than half the value of the assets he has bought. The Sunday Times building alone is worth £8 million.

The Monopolies Commission has a brief under the 1973 Fair Trading Act to defend the 'public interest' which can be translated as preventing too obvious a stench arising from Fleet Street.

But although this was a classic case for the Monopolies Commission (Murdoch • and Victor Matthews between them now own four out of eight national dailies) reference was blocked.

Trade Secretary Biffen said the Thomson losses ruled out an inquiry (although the, New Statesman has convincingly alleged that the figures were cooked).

Harold Evans, Sunday Times editor, who is often praised for his outspokenness, courage, etc., has been grovelling all over Murdoch for weeks.

Sunday Times journalists withdrèw their threat of a High Court action to force a reference to the Monopolies Commission although (perhaps because) they looked like winning.

The fact is that the pistols pulled by Thomson ('buy the lot or we close down') and by Murdoch ('my terms now or I pull out') have stripped away every cosy reformist hiding place.

Print union leaders quickly agreed to more than 500 jobs being axed and then appeared together to talk of 'compromise' and sticking to promises.

No lead This is the reality disguised by talk of 'editorial standards! The workers have been given no lead from the unions and have shown few signs of knowing how to fight against the takeover.

Even the inevitable journalists' alternative bodies were organised and led by respective editors who went touting for finance capital.

What was needed was a fight against any capitalist ownership of the papers. Not even the hint of such a proposal emerged from the print unions.

Even the Sunday Times article concluded "If (Murdoch)

became disillusioned by industrial militancy, he could close the newspapers tomorrow and fire the staff-and still end up with a handsome profit.

Just as shipping employers seemed about to crack in the face of selective strike action, seamen's leaders called off the struggle to put the claim to arbitration.

5,000 hospital electricians have been given the go-ahead for selective action to press their pay claim.

2,500 Durham water workers have begun a work-torule in advance of national action, after rejecting management's 10% pay offer.

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