[LINK] Chequebook PR - The Gold Rule.

[Tom Koltai]

Kerry Packer is credited for stating "He who has the Gold, rules" (a
variation on the "He who pays the piper calls the tune"), used I have
been led to understand by him in editorial meetings.

The words are echoed in the following interesting and brave article on
media ownership and content management in the SMH,  well worth a read.

Quote/
Toeing the line 

ON FEBRUARY 19, a Chinese-language news portal, the American-registered
Boxun, published an anonymous letter calling for protesters to gather in
12 Chinese cities to join the ''jasmine revolution'' protests sweeping
the Middle East. That website has hardly functioned since.

''Two hours after we published that letter, we received a very serious
'denial of service' cyber attack,'' says the proprietor of Boxun, who
goes by the pen name Wei Shi.

''It's still happening,'' says Wei. ''We have no evidence on who is
behind it, but I was told it was by the national security section of the
Ministry of Public Security.''
Advertisement: Story continues below

It is well known that the Chinese Communist Party can go to extreme
lengths to control the flow of information and the spread of ideas
within China's borders.

The word ''jasmine'' has been expunged from the Chinese mainland media
and internet since protests took root in Tunisia and Egypt, while dozens
of people have been detained.

But it is less well known that the same word has been weeded out of
hundreds of Chinese-language media publications abroad.

The Communist Party cannot stop any of the 40 million-strong Chinese
diaspora from gaining access to information, but it spares no effort in
channelling their information sources and ''guiding'' their opinions
along patriotic lines.

Nowhere are its efforts more advanced than in Australia, where the
ethnic Chinese population tripled to 670,000 in the 20 years to 2006,
according to census figures. Most recent arrivals are from the People's
Republic, and they are joined by 160,000 Chinese students.
/Quote

Story continues here-->
http://www.smh.com.au/world/toeing-the-line-20110412-1dcj8.html

An interesting historical comparative article is at [1]

References:
[1] He Who Has the Gold Rules - David Morris - February 13, 1996
http://www.ilsr.org/columns/1996/13Feb96.html