Sir, - Fintan O'Toole's column on Rupert Murdoch (January 16th) is a fluent and persuasive case against the Murdoch legacy. But it is only part of the story.
Mr O'Toole asks what the Murdoch media has ever done for the weak and oppressed. During 1989-90, when Eastern Europe was in revolt against Communism, the Satellite service Sky News was hugely important in spreading information throughout the region about what was happening in those countries. In fact, given the state control of the media, it was often the only source of information, a fact for which former dissidents in those countries were very grateful.
Indeed, the aggressive nature of the Murdoch-owned media in the challenging the hold of communism in those countries was often in marked contrast to the more equivocating and sceptical response of the liberal Western media.
The rise of the Murdoch media must also be set in context. The print unions had an extraordinary stranglehold, which Murdoch broke, admittedly with some ruthlessness. This created an atmosphere in which all media benefited, including the improved Guardian which we see today. Perhaps this is why some commentators have tempered their criticism of Murdoch and the coarse, but undeniably popular, media empire which he has created. - Yours, etc.,
Pembroke Road, Dublin 4.