Murdoch, Zell Appointed to AP Board

WASHINGTON — Rupert Murdoch and Sam Zell, two media figures who led major newspaper acquisitions in recent months, are among four new members joining the board of directors of The Associated Press, it was announced Monday at the news cooperative's annual meeting.

In other results, four incumbent directors were re-elected to three-year terms. They are William Dean Singleton, who is vice chairman and chief executive officer of MediaNews Group and chairman of the AP board; Jon K. Rust, publisher of the Southeast Missourian and co-president of Rust Communications; Michael E. Reed, chief executive officer of GateHouse Media Inc., and Victor F. Ganzi, president and chief executive officer of Hearst Corp.

In addition to Murdoch and Zell, the new members are Donna J. Barrett, president and chief executive officer of Community Newspaper Holdings Inc., and Craig A. Dubow, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Gannett Co.

Barrett and Zell, who is chairman and chief executive officer of Tribune Co., were elected to three-year terms, while Dubow was elected to a one-year term to fill an unexpired vacancy.

Murdoch, chairman and chief executive officer of News Corp., was appointed by the board until the next election of directors to fill the vacancy created by the departure of Jay Smith, who announced earlier this month he was retiring as president of Cox Newspapers.

Also retiring from the AP board is Douglas H. McCorkindale, former chairman, president and chief executive officer of Gannett Co. Dennis FitzSimons, former chairman of Tribune Co., resigned from the board.

In other board action, H. Graham Woodlief, vice president of Media General Inc., was reappointed to a two-year term after his elected term expired. David Westin, president of ABC News, was reappointed to a three-year term, and Bruce Reese, president and chief executive officer of Bonneville International Corp., was reappointed to a one-year term.

Murdoch completed his acquisition of Dow Jones & Co. last December, adding The Wall Street Journal to his global media conglomerate.

The same month, Zell took control of Tribune Co. after leading a buyout that resulted in the publicly traded company becoming private. The company owns the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, nine other daily newspapers and 23 television stations.

The AP board has 18 directors elected by AP members at their annual meeting, in staggered groups of six each year. These directors are elected to three-year terms and are eligible to serve up to a total of nine years. The board can also appoint up to six additional directors if it chooses. These seats are sometimes filled by former elected directors who first joined the board to fill unexpired terms and end their elected service with one or two years of eligibility remaining.

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On the Net: http://www.ap.org

Comments

[Lemeritus]

Well, there's a dynamic duo for you -- two giants of the business! One man has exchanged journalism for right-wing propaganda wrapped in bright, glossy colors. The other has plucked mediocrity out of near greatness by turning the Los Angeles Times into a teller of "puppy stories".

Good going, AP! (Not!)

[the964kid]

Here's one BITTER voter asking: how old is Murdoch again?? How much longer is Murdoch gonna be alive for??

[dsmyre]

Too g-d- old and not much longer because I can hardly wait 'til he's gone. Enough with the wrinkled old men trying to run everything! The future belongs to the ones who have a future, not the ones on their way out.

[TheInsomniac]

Don't worry - he has a son who looks, thinks, and will be exactly like him waiting to take over the reigns.... though he may be worse. Sort of like the Streinbrenner boys.

[ErnestineBass]

Rupert and Zell - taking the "ociated" out of Associated Press".

[ugmold]

lol good one. We only need One opinion of what's going on anyway.

[ErnestineBass]

Yep. And you know what "they" say about opinions..­.heh heh

[CaptainHowdy]

Ahhh... it's great to see that the Zlonlsts are taking over even more of the world's media.

Doubleplus good!

[Irons]

Freedom of the Press has been murdered.

[rjean]

no bee disturbing is what has happened in and to our media in the last 7+ years.....­.........

[Tomlastliberalleft]

This is really awful. I come from a newspaper family. My grandmother was editor after my grandfather died at age 56. How in the world can we expect to remain informed as a nation when the AP has been given over to Murdoch. I used to give the WSJ some attention, but not anymore. And then we get Foxnews, which is what TV newsgathering is if you turn the thing over to the Three Stooges, it's funny, but only guys like the humor. I stopped watching network news years ago, does it still suck? Then again, we do have Newsmax. Now there is a quality rag. Who reads this shit anyway? Old High school football coaches and Jay Leno?

[ErnestineBass]

That would be The Tree Stooges wearing brownshirts.

[AlP]

Come on, start the office poll for when Murdoch will be worm food. This guy is the most dangerous thing to happen to Western civilization. He should be deported already. Hey, Australia was the land where they sent their criminals. Let's send him back!

[ErnestineBass]

I'll drink to that, AlP!

[beekeeper]

DISTURBING

[Durango]

Here is another aspect of media consolidation to consider.

In his book secret Pilgrim John LeCarre has superspy George Smiley asked why spy agencies are necessary when you can read as good intelligence gathering from the daily newspaper.

Smiley agrees. There is little that spies can add to good newspaper reporting. But governments and officials (and everyone else) love the secret world. They feel privileged to share in the secrets. And the fact that the information is classified secret adds to its lure. And it's supposed veracity.

Smiley concludes that we will always have spies with us because the powers to be will demand them.

But the point is that LeCarre believes that there is little done in the intelligence world that can't be done in the pages of a good newspaper.

But we are losing, or have lost that option. Newspapers are being gutted as we speak, in the name of corporate profits. While the world is getting bigger and more complicated, our window on that world is getting smaller.

And ideology has taken over from any (however flawed) quest for the "TRUTH."

Nearly everything that has happened in the past 7 years or so was examined and discussed in one or more of LeCarre's novels. From Ahmed Chalabi (Secret Pilgrim, Smileys People) to known bogus intelligence used as justification for invasion of a Third World country, (Tailor of Panama) to the recent scandal involving British intelligence and arms dealers. (Night Manager).

The man is an absolute master.

[GOPorganizedcrime]

HuffPost's Pick

We all should be afraid of what is going on behind the scenes with corporate owned media conglomeration. Rupert Murdoch's strings are being pulled by someone. He already bought
out MySpace. The largest online blog/socializing community in the US and World. The Bush/ Cheney right wing nuts are probaly going over every person's blog with a fine tooth comb as we speak.
It should also be noted that Rupert Murdoch has been in negotiations with Yahoo for a buyout along with Bill Gates of Microsoft Corp and AOL/Time Warner. Is anyone still of the illusion that the USA will ever be a country of free and truthful news gathering where every reporter is independent and does not take their marching orders from the corporate owned media who gets their marching orders from the White House. The marriage of state to corporations is the very essence of Fascism/ Socialism.
The really scary thing here is why a foreigner from Australia is being allowed to control so much of our broadcast/print media and now he seems to have his mind set on controlling the internet.

[Marlyn]

"The marriage of state to corporations is the very essence of Fascism/ Socialism.­" ???

Fascism = Corporate control
Fascism is the OPPOSITE of Socialism.
Socialism = owned or regulated by the community as a whole.

So HOW CAN THIS POST be the HuffPuffPost pick?

[samuraijack]

So, anyone can be on the board then.

[Lemeritus]

Subtle, but I like it!

Yet it would seem that journalistic integrity would preclude one from sitting on the AP board.

[Cedman]

Oh my God! 1984 is right.

[dugan45]

Told yasso. Read my entry under the report concerning Clinton from the other day where I channel George Orwell. You'll want to lock your doors, close your blinds, and start building a secret room beneath your basement.

[josephjsalas]

A Globalisti­c/Communis­tic AP! Afterall, both fascism and communism divert power
away from the people. Aristocrats hate Democracy, which they publicly view as 'MOB RULES"

[Marlyn]

Fascism YES.
Communism NO WAY!

[CatfishAndGrits]

WTF?

One the oldest news agency in the world has willingly stuck its hand in a snake pit. What this shows is that there truly are no standards in journalism -- from the top down to the bottom. If Murdoch qualifies, then 3 years from now I running my golden retriever against him.

The AP (Absolutely Petrifying)

[Shaddup]

Welcome to 1984, brought to you by the Ministry of Truth.

[dugan45]

He already has a number of Winston Smiths working for him. It's a small step, this conglomerization of the Ministry. Homeland Defense and Intelligence combined their separate agencies under singular umbrellas. Why not the media likewise expand its range under a more incusive Ministry of Truth?

O'Reilly, better watch out. Judith Miller and Michael R. Gordon might switch allegiances to the AP. Given wider voices, they could trounce you in the ratings.