Cal Thomas: Murdoch a savior of US media

At least Thomas wrote those words, so he did not have to worry about maintaining a straight face while speaking them.

In a Wednesday column, Cal Thomas -- a Fox News contributor, obviously -- commended News Corp owner Rupert Murdoch for saving US media:

Before Fox News Channel was born, I met with several network newspresidents, telling them that someone was going to go after ademographic that felt shutout by the mainstream media. These people, Isaid, go to church, fly the flag, respect the nation’s traditions andinstitutions and hate the liberal media. They feel censored, orstereotyped, by the media elites. I told them the person who recognizesthat demographic and gives them a voice would reap a huge reward.

That person is Rupert Murdoch. He is not the media Satan, as the leftlikes to portray him. Some of the offensive (to me) tabloid stuffnotwithstanding, he just may be the media’s savior. The elites hatehim, but growing numbers of people are buying his products.

Elites hate him?  How can that be if he is an elite himself?

Just to get things straight, let's have a refresher on what the word "elite" actually means:

a group of persons exercising the major share of authority or influence within a larger group

Rupert Murdoch owns News Corp -- which includes the Fox Network, Fox News Channel, 20th Century Fox Studios, Dow Jones, dozens of magazines, and the list goes on.  Looks elite to me.

As far as being a media savior, it's not a strange coincidence that growing numbers of Americans choose to get their news from blogs.  There is little diversity in the traditional media industry, and bloggers are filling the vacuum.