Feeding Frenzy

Well, the Imus case is looking pretty strong at this point. ABC News obtained a copy of Martin Garbus’ draft of the lawsuit. Here’s a quote from their piece…

The draft points out that Imus wasn’t fired for two weeks after the remarks were made.
Meanwhile, four former FCC commissioners contacted by ABC News say they do not believe that the speech was actionable under current federal guidelines that prohibit profanity or indecency on public airwaves.

By the way, both points were ones I predicted would come up in my last post. One thing I didn’t think about was that the show, and pretty much all talk shows, was on a five second delay. Both CBS and MSNBC had control of the button. That little fact alone seems like a checkmate. Like a traffic accident, the onus of responsibility lies on the party who had the last chance to avoid it, in a court of law.

I wouldn’t want to mess with this Garbus fellow and CBS should have already offered a settlement. But, I’ve said that before too. Now I’m wondering about MSNBC, are they next, or have they been wise enough to start a settlement process already.

On the Rupe Murdoch front, he may be serious about his bid for the Wall Street Journal, but even if he’s not (as I implied previously), it has triggered a feeding frenzy in the media world. Bill Gates is rumored to be negotiating with Yahoo and Reuters is in the midst of a takeover attempt by Canadian publisher Thomson. This quote is from Reuters…

Reuters shares leapt as much as 32 percent to a five-year high of 649-3/4 pence, valuing the company at about 8.2 billion pounds ($16.3 billion), on hopes a bid would spark an auction for the world’s biggest international news agency.
Media shares have surged since Tuesday when Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp made a $5 billion bid for Wall Street Journal owner Dow Jones & Co Inc, which was rebuffed by Dow Jones’ controlling shareholders. That $60-a-share-bid was a 65 percent premium to Dow Jones’ closing price on Monday.

Here is some evidence of where the world is heading. Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal, pretty revered and respected and familiar outfit that’s been in business for a while; proposed price tag five billion. Reuters, similar credibility; price tag, $16.3 billion. The rumor going around about Bill Gates is that he’s offered $50 billion for Yahoo.