Is The Sun cooling towards bullying Brown?

Earlier this week Irwin Stelzer - 'Rupert Murdoch's representative on earth' - gave an interview to The Guardian in which he signalled a growing warmth of The Sun (and News of the World) to David Cameron.

The Murdoch-Brown-Cameron relationships have been taken up by Roy Greenslade today in his 'Media Analysis' column for the London Evening Standard.  Mr Greenslade quotes a number of evidences for believing that The Sun etc might have stopped spinning for Brown:

• The Sun's strident campaign on the EU treaty including yesterday's page lead approvingly quoting Labour MP Gisela Stuart and her startling suggestion that Brown might be behaving dishonestly;
• The Sunday Times' criticisms of Labour's moves on Capital Gains Tax;
• The Times' leaders yesterday attacking Brown on tax and Miliband on the EU Treaty.

I understand that there is also growing resentment within the Murdoch press - and at other media outlets - of Brown's bullying nature.  I've sometimes been concerned that the Tory operation hasn't been on the phone enough to senior political correspondents but Brown and his operatives are seemingly overdoing the contacting.

Editors of national newspapers have had the Prime Minister on the telephone on a number of occasions some days.  It makes him look too political (he's supposed to be running the nation after all) and his operatives are getting a reputation for being bullies.  Bullying works better when you are on the up (Mandelson before 1997 in particular) - it doesn't work so well when you're tanking... when you've given cosy exclusives to rival journalists (Brown to Marr on Chicken Saturday)... and when the press pack has reason to doubt your honesty (Brown: 'I wouldn't have gone to the country if opinion polls were predicting a 100 Labour majority!').

Comments

[Henry Mayhew - Ukipper]

Growing resentment? They just want to be on the winning side. They were Thatcherites when I were a lad.

We don't really have politics any more. Just fin de siecle marketing by professional spinmeisters. What is Brownism, Cameronism or Huhnism? Just more of the same at the expense of the taxpayer.

The cataclysm approaches!

[Tony Makara]

Gordon Brown didn't help his sinking reputation by running scared of an election. That will have annoyed a lot of hacks who were gearing up for an autumn campaign. If Brown loses the Sun he will be in big trouble. That paper probably has more influence over its readership than any other. The Sun has always had an uncanny knack of being able to tap into the public mood and if Gordon Brown thinks he can manage without the backing of the Sun he is a fool.

[Alan S]

I suspect that Mr Coulson's appointment has helped Tory to News Corp relations?

[Happy Tory]

There is something really important here about integrity and leadership. A good leader gets on and does what is right, and tells people enough about it to keep them on board. The strength of the message should be clear from the quality of the decisions. Blair didn't understand that, and tried to do what he thought other people wanted him to do. And Brown doesn't seem to have the integrity and deep inner confidence to just make high quality, well thought out decisions, and wait for the media and people to get the message. Real leadership focuses on the decisions - perhaps not Brown's strong point.

[Derek L. Piper]

I winced on seeing this topic title because I had the mistaken impression that the Sun was cooling towards bullying, as in 'the bullying of Brown'.

Happy to see it's not the case!

Yet, I remember the Times headline the day after the 100% elected Lords plan passed the Commons. It blared, "Democracy Triumphs", or some such garbage. *That* was pure Murdoch talking and it really scared me, to see one man's influence on what used to be the UK’s paper of record. I've heard rumors that he's a republican.

In a 2004 Intelligence Squared debate on Margaret Thatcher’s legacy, one of the main points against Mrs T was that her economic liberalism allowed Murdoch to take over so much of the British press, and that Murdoch was never interested in conserving anything - especially institutions that Tories should hold dear.

The Sun’s support for DC is important, yet I think slightly repugnant, and also sad for us, because of its importance.

[Editor]

lol Derek! I can see how you could misread my headline!

[Patsy Sergeant]

At last perhaps the journalists and even the Murdoch's are beginning to see the total vacuum of ideas in the speeches and replies that Brown makes, all he is able to do is to cling to socialist/stalinist target culture which of course comes naturally to a man who has spent 11 years poring over figures and manipulating them. The ame thing did happen under Blair, but he waas an actor, so he was able to wave a wand with smiles and words, and make you believe that you saw the illusion!!

Brown is as he has always been an immovable and unchanging object, who doesn't like confrontation, and in a fluster he becomes a bully. Sadly for the public that he is supposed to represent, he is absolutely NOT going to be capable of coping with Barroso and the other EU Ministers over the Treaty, he will sign the Treaty because he doesn't want to 'lose face' in front of them, and then when he gets back here he will demonstrate just how much he respects the people who voted him into government (not of course as PM), by fudging and lying as to what he has done, while the European Ministers and laughing behind their hands at him and us!!!

[Michael Hewlett]

I too thought the title was a call to end bullying brown. I thought the Sun has enjoyed the last two PMQ's as much as anyone!

[Umbrella Man]

It's important that The Sun doesn't declare for Cameron too early or he'll start taking them for granted and then go back to chasing the BBC. The Sun will sensibly play hard to get and won't declare until 'near the end'.

[David]

Murdoch is simply hedging bets. Once the polls settle towards a clear leader, that's who he'll go for.

[Richard Calhoun]

Whilst recognising that it is important to have excellent contacts with the press I do trust that the Tories will not behave as Labour by prostrating themselves before the Murdoch press.

Cameron will soon have them running after him if he continues in the next 12 months the progress he has made in the last 12 months.

Some radical policy proposals presented to the public as follows would be a good start:

1/ Devolve power to the Regions and offer a referendum to the 4 home countries on the Union or Independence. No halfway house.

2/ Flat tax and a dismantling of the benefits system

3/ Radical proposals on Education

[David Rogerson]

saw this on guido, apparently the Brownites' influence is flexing its muscles...
EXCLUSIVE! Apparently, Maguire has finally managed to successfully knife the Mirror's Blairite political editor Oonagh Blackman. Blackman - appointed by her cloee "friend" and ex-Mirror editor Pier Moron - has always been in Brown-noser and associate editor Maguire's sights. Today, she was strangely enjoying an unexpected "holiday" amid rumours she'd been fired. Doubtless, it'll be dressed up as a resignation in some tedious spin-operation. Expect loyal (to Maguire) deputy Bob Roberts to be promoted into the empty chair and the Brownite subservience to continue....yawn...

[Alexander Drake]

Sadly Derek, Rupert Murdoch AC is indeed a republican (although his mum, Dame Elisabeth, is not).

All Murdoch papers were full of "Vote Yes" propoganda leading up to our republican referendum in 1999 in Australia.

[Graham D'Amiral]

Trevor Kavannah often during the Blair years described as the most influential political journalist in Britain has certainly been highly critical of Gordon Brown, even refering to the Prime minister as a "dead man walking" in his column in the Sun on Monday.

[Letters From A Tory]

Brown is fast running out of friends in the media. The BBC, Sky, ITN and many newspapers are seriously unhappy with his actions over the last six weeks. He is clearly not the master of spin that he would like to be.

http://lettersfromatory.wordpress.com

[Tom M]

The ability of the Sun to influence elections is vastly overrated, not least by the Sun itself. Murdoch does use his papers to promote his agenda as hard as he can but he also won't allow the Sun to back a loser - that would damage its carefully polished image as the tabloid that can swing elections.
If the Sun does switch from Brown to DC it'll be another of Matthew Paris epiphenomena - Murdoch will back DC because he's going to win, DC won't win because Murdoch has backed him. Its not the politics but the votes that count for Murdoch - at the last election the Sun was very harsh on Blairs policies, but still came out for him in the end because it was obvious he was a shoe-in.

[Adam]

If murdoch thinks cameron will win, he will get in bed with the tories - if he thinks brown will hold on, he will stcik with him. Its nothing to do with principles or policies but about backing the winning side. Any wonder, people treat the press with contempt?

[Votedave]

"If murdoch thinks cameron will win, he will get in bed with the tories - if he thinks brown will hold on, he will stcik with him."

I wonder what he'd do if the polls pointed to a dead heat?