VLVL2 "right-wing weekly _TV Guide_"

[pynchonoid]

"right-wing weekly _TV Guide_" (345)

Not surprisingly, Pynchon appears to get it right,
again.  The magazine appears to be controlled by
Rupert Murdoch (44 percent ownership according to
MediaChannel.org, and was at the time of Vineland's
publication:
http://www.mediachannel.org/ownership/granville.shtml

A standard referencve corroborates Murdoch's control:
[...] In 1973 Murdoch entered the American newspaper
business by purchasing two San Antonio, Texas,
dailies, one of which—the San Antonio News (later the
Express-News)—he transformed into a sex-and-scandal
sheet that soon dominated the city's afternoon market.
In 1974 he introduced a national weekly sensationalist
tabloid, the Star, and in 1976 he purchased the
afternoon tabloid New York Post, but in the late 1980s
he sold both, profitably; he repurchased the Post in
1993. He also purchased the Boston Herald American
from the Hearst Corporation in 1982 and changed the
name to the Boston Herald (sold 1994). He bought TV
Guide in 1988. Overall in the 1980s and '90s he bought
and later sold a number of American publications—such
as the Chicago Sun-Times, the New York City Village
Voice, and New York magazine. Among Murdoch's diverse
publications were a number of more conventional and
respected newspapers, such as The Times of London and
the Sunday Times (both acquired in 1981) and the
Australian (a national daily that he established in
1964). Murdoch took residence in the United States in
1974 and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1985,
based in New York City. [...] 
from:
"Rupert Murdoch." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2004. 
Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service.
18 May 2004
<http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?eu=55701>.


Annenberg, Walter H.
 born March 13, 1908, Milwaukee, Wis., U.S.
 publisher, philanthropist, and art collector who
served as U.S. ambassador to Britain from 1969 to
1974.
Annenberg was the only son of Moses Annenberg
(1878–1942), a poor immigrant from East Prussia who
became the millionaire publisher of The Philadelphia
Inquirer and the horse-racing publications Daily
Racing Form and Morning Telegraph. In 1939 Moses
Annenberg was indicted for tax evasion and bribery.
Walter was also indicted, but the charges against him
were dropped. When his father died shortly after being
paroled in 1942, Walter inherited the debt- and
scandal-ridden Triangle Publications, Inc. He
successfully took the company in new
directions—founding the magazine Seventeen (1944),
acquiring several television and radio stations, and
developing TV Guide (1953), which became one of the
most popular magazines in the United States. In 1988
Annenberg sold his interests in Triangle for a
reported $3.2 billion.

Annenberg was also renowned for his collection of
Impressionist and Postimpressionist paintings and for
his philanthropy. He donated millions to various
museums, libraries, schools, and hospitals, as well as
establishing the charitable M.L. Annenberg Foundation
and the Annenberg School for Communication at both the
University of Pennsylvania and the University of
Southern California.
from:
"Walter H. Annenberg." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2004. 
Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service.
18 May 2004
 http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?eu=2240.


" [...] Annenberg remained supportive of conservative
political causes throughout the years, and his efforts
on behalf of Republicans were rewarded with his
designation by President Richard Nixon as U. S.
Ambassador to Great Britain in 1969. [...] The
appointment led Annenberg to sell his newspapers and
television stations, but he retained TV Guide and
remained active in managing the publication throughout
his five-year tenure as Ambassador. Shortly after the
election of his close friend, Ronald Reagan, as
President in 1980 (he would endorse Reagan's
re-election campaign in 1984 in TV Guide, the only
such political endorsement ever to appear in the
magazine) [...] "
from:
http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/A/htmlA/annenbergwa/annenbergwa.htm

Another interesting (in light of the Vineland
discussion) fact:  
" [...] While he ran his publishing empire as a
business, he was not afraid to use it for his own
ends, both good and bad. The Inquirer was influential
in ridding Philadelphia of its corrupt city government
in 1949. It attacked Senator Joseph McCarthy in the
1950s when most other publications feared him. It
campaigned for the Marshall Plan after World War II.
He also made many enemies: activist Ralph Nader,
actress Zsa Zsa Gabor, boxer Sonny Liston, and many
politicians became "non-existent" in his newspapers.
Their names were never mentioned, and they were even
air-brushed out of group photos. He eventually sold
the Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News to Knight
Newspapers (now Knight-Ridder) for $55 million in
1970. [...] His wife Lee was named by President Ronald
Reagan as the State Department's chief of protocol.
Annenberg led a lavish lifestyle, enjoying his riches.
His winter estate "Sunnylands" in Rancho Mirage near
Palm Springs hosted gatherings with such people as
Ronald Reagan, Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, Bing Crosby
and Charles, Prince of Wales. It was Annenberg who
introduced Reagan to Margaret Thatcher, and the Regans
often celebrated new year's eve with the Annenbergs.
[...] 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Annenberg




	
		
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