Obama on Murdoch and Media Consolidation

Barack Obama said today that voters had a right to be concerned about media consolidation and when “Rupert Murdoch has his eyes on a lot of different media outlets.”

The comment, made at an outdoor talk with a few dozen voters in Montgomery County Community College in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, was in response to a question from a voter concerned about how media consolidation impacts the freedom of the press.

“Obviously we have a lot of press here,” said Obama, gesturing towards the assembled television cameras and print reporters listening in on his discussion. He said that many in the media think there are a healthy multitude of views, but that there is no doubt there has been “a lot of media consolidation.”

Part of the reason, he said, was that it was so expensive to set up new television and radio stations that only the big players could enter the field.

Obama said that when “Rupert Murdoch starts having his eyes on a lot of different media outlets they can outbid” less established, and less wealthy competitors.

The New York Post, for what it's worth, has endorsed Obama in the Democratic primary and has been, despite some serious courting by the Clintons of Murdoch, very tough on Hillary Clinton in recent months.