Tabloid power rested on the threat of exposure, not patronage rewards

Evidence

This is decadence — not merely in the moral sense, but also in the sense of decay and deterioration. During the early twentyfirst-century high pomp of neoliberalism, hacks, cops and politicians were so confident that they would never be exposed that they behaved in an ever more brazenly depraved manner, and appeared to take little care in covering their traces. What’s also emerging into clearer view now is the tabloid media’s crucial role in the biopolitical control which was central to the constitution of neoliberal hegemony. Too much is made of Murdoch the kingmaker; his hold over politicians, like that exercised by Paul Dacre, depended far less on what he could do for them, and far more on what he could do to them, if they crossed him or his organisation. — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 1576

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to Foucault’s biopower and Burroughsian control apparatus language the author invokes; also echoes the surveillance-as-humiliation theme in ch40 about the big Other. — connects to: Costly consequences and public shaming did not deter Other Naomi’s posting — Naomi Klein, Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror…, 232; A fulfilled threat gains credibility from its value to future threats, not present gain — Thomas C. Schelling, The Strategy of Conflict, 83; Murdoch’s political power rested on threat of exposure, not rewards — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk: The Collected and Unpublished…, 1576

Broader Connections

• A fulfilled threat gains credibility from its value to future threats, not present gain #expands (0.72) — Thomas C. Schelling, The Strategy of Conflict, 83
• Costly consequences and public shaming did not deter Other Naomi’s posting #exemplifies (0.70) — Naomi Klein, Doppelganger, 232