A question of ownership

Polly Toynbee's assertion that "Blair's speech omitted the root of the problem with the media - the ownership structure he did nothing to break ",will I am sure arouse a great deal of comment.

She agrees with Blair's pronouncements saying he was

"

dead right about the British media. It's a fleet of runaway JCB diggers without
driver or brakes, beyond accountability or control even by those who nominally
run them."

And her diagnosis is even worse than Blair's

The newspaper agenda, slavishly followed by the BBC,
reflects a profoundly dystopic image of a society where nothing works,
everything gets worse, public officials are inept, public services fail, tax is
wasted, lethal dangers proliferate, and everyone conspires to lie about it. Then
sententious editorials complain that children are being locked in by frightened
parents!

The problem is something that he has not addressed

"the ownership structure he did nothing to break. Had
he been brave, he could have restored media ownership rules to pre-Thatcher days. She let
Murdoch burn the rulebook to acquire over 40% of newspaper ownership. She
arranged a unique get-out clause in EU media law to allow him to launch Sky.
"

Of cause whether any future politician will tackle the issues seems at the moment unlikely.Without the support of the majority of the press,as both Kinnock and Major found to their cost,you will never be elected.If breaking the ownership monopoly is the way forward we need a major shift in political thought.