Independent

Mondo Times editors    Boulder Colorado USA

Posted at 12:07am on Wednesday, June 17th, 2009

Alexander Lebedev could pay up to £20m for the Independent newspaper, the Guardian reported on June 12, 2009:

"Alexander Lebedev may have to stump up between £10m and £20m to take full control of the Independent and Independent on Sunday, according to a City analysts' report published today.

Lebedev, who bought a 75.1% stake in the Evening Standard from Daily Mail & General Trust earlier this year, is thought to be close to agreeing a deal to buy the loss-making titles from Independent News & Media.

According to a Media Week report yesterday a nominal offer for the two titles has already been tabled."

The full story:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/jun/12/alexander-lebedev-the-independent-20m

Eric Kallgren    Boulder Colorado USA

Posted at 9:50pm on Saturday, May 30th, 2009

In an article published on May 28, 2009, Glenn Beck of CNN's HLN is profiled in "Shock jocks: Voice of unreason." While it includes the typical British newspaper platitudes, stereotypes and suspicions about the United States, it is worth wading through:

"Glenn Beck is the fastest-rising star on American TV. He's part of a right-wing broadcasting boom that's become the most powerful opposition to the President. Guy Adams reports

At 5pm, last Friday. America was winding down for the Bank Holiday weekend: blowing the tops off Budweisers, barbecuing hotdogs, driving SUVs into sun-drenched ball-parks, and enjoying the myriad benefits of daily existence in the most prosperous nation on God's green Earth. It's a "slow news day", when the treadmill of current affairs grinds to a halt, and average Joes everywhere feel happy just to be alive.

Everywhere, that is, except in the New York TV studios of Fox News. Here, a man called Glenn Beck is 10 seconds into his daily talkshow, and already he's reached a rolling boil. "What are the mainstream media missing?" he wonders, bounding onstage like the Duracell Bunny. "I mean, besides EVERYTHING? You are not going to BELIEVE some of the crap that's going on in the world today!"

And so it begins: a fresh dose of outrage from the latest "hot" voice in US conservatism. In a live TV career spanning just four months, Beck, a 45-year-old radio jock, author, and occasional stand-up comedian has turned what was previously Fox's "graveyard shift" – between 5-6pm each weekday, when offices are emptying, but punters aren't yet home – into something close to required viewing.

Since launching in mid-January, Beck has increased the audience for his time slot by more than 150 percent, to 2.3 million regular viewers. This makes him the third most-watched person on US cable news. To quote a recent New York Times profile, the chubby, grey-haired impresario, who first appeared on America's TV screens in a pre-recorded CNN programme in 2006: is "suddenly one of the most powerful media voices for the nation's conservative populist anger."

The full story:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/shock-jocks-voice-of-unreason-1691792.html