Newspaper Coverage of Barr Boondoggle is What You'd Expect

I blame Gov. Cuomo.
Mario, that is.

Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing but wonderful things to say about the man who ran my home state of NY from the mid ‘80s to the mid ‘90s, but there’s one thing for which I can never forgive him.

Rupert Murdoch purchased the New York Post in 1976; 12 years later, having acquired various TV stations in order to build what is now Fox, he was forced to sell the Post due to federal cross-ownership regulations. A couple of owners later, in 1993, the Post was in the red and was facing surefire oblivion. I remember folks of all political persuasions here in NYC lamenting how the closing of the Post would be a loss to the local news landscape. I, on the other hand, could not wait to see that racist rag burn to the ground. Fuck that PoS.

And that’s where Gov. Cuomo comes in.

Facing an imminent demise, the Post was rescued when Murdoch was allowed to purchase it again. How? Well, folks in high places, including the beloved governor, petitioned the FCC to give Murdoch a permanent waiver from the cross-ownership rules. The same rules he had to abide by in 1988, of course. Isn't that swell?

(Fun fact: to this day, the Post operates in the red—conservative papers don’t do well in NYC—but is funded by News Corp. aka Fox, as the print arm of the local right-wing propaganda machine. Awesome, right?)

I was reminded of all of this when I saw the Post’s headline re Barr’s disgraceful and treasonous dog and pony show. “And to think we were thisclose to not having the Post anymore. Grrr.”

[Digg: How Major Newspapers Covered the Mueller Report]