# Obama: the Murdoch angle?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-the-murdoch-angle/438768>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [February 22, 2008, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-the-murdoch-angle/438768 "2008-02-22T21:05:44Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\
**Post date:** [February 22, 2008, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-the-murdoch-angle/438768/1 "2008-02-22T21:05:44Z")

</div>

[Today’s editorial](http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/gerard_baker/article3412540.ece) in The Times seems pretty negative about Obama. The Times is, of course, a Murdoch paper, so this is probably written [del]under orders[/del] after a suggestion.

Except it’s not published in America but in the U.K. which does have socialised health care etc. What’s going on?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\
**Post date:** [February 22, 2008, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-the-murdoch-angle/438768/2 "2008-02-22T22:00:32Z")

</div>

Certainly appears to be a smear piece to me. I’m amazed that so much is being read into \*one sentence \*uttered by the \*wife \*of a presidential candidate. It’s actually fairly embarrassing (the brouhaha, not what she did or didn’t say).

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\
**Post date:** [February 22, 2008, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-the-murdoch-angle/438768/3 "2008-02-22T22:31:56Z")

</div>

But what’s his angle? And why publish it in a **British** newspaper?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\
**Post date:** [February 22, 2008, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-the-murdoch-angle/438768/4 "2008-02-22T23:09:57Z")

</div>

On a guess, I’d say it’s got something to do with the internet. A lot of people nowadays specifically get their news strictly over the web. I’m one of 'em.

Plus, I wouldn’t be surprised if the author is counting on it getting picked up and rerun in other papers.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\
**Post date:** [February 22, 2008, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-the-murdoch-angle/438768/5 "2008-02-22T23:24:45Z")

</div>

It’s a columnist piece. It’s very specifically an individual expressing their own opinions, not an editorial stance. All the serious newspapers have such articles every day, including regularly featuring ones which disagree with the overall stance of that paper and which are likely to challenge the views of many of their readers. (Admittedly, this identity as an opinion piece is certainly less clear in the online presentation than it is in the print edition.)

And why not publish it in a British newspaper? Many of us are following the primaries with interest. And certainly will do so come the election. _Because it affects us._ The enourmous gulf between American and British ideologies is a constant source of fascination, the OP’s comment about healthcare being a case in point.

And a single opinion piece in one Murdoch paper isn’t enough to read anything into. He’s primarily interested in selling to his various markets, anyway, and The Times might well contradict The Sun in its editorial stance.