Before you sputter in indignation, hear me out.
He just bought Newsday. He owns The Wall Street Journal, The New York Post (which endorsed Obama for the Democratic nomination--don't jump on me, I like Obama, I'm just stating a fact), Fox Network, Fox News, Fox Business News (well, maybe that one doesn't count)...
MySpace, DirectTV, HarperCollins, and lots of other stuff. If you think New York is a major media market and the media sets the agenda, then Murdoch is the 800 pound gorilla.
Before he bought Newsday, he was worried about antitrust issues (slightly). But because of the #$%!!!-ed up financial situation of many businesses who leveraged to the hilt, dudes like Sam Zell who bought Tribune Media (the owner of Newsday, L.A. Times and other properties) and piled them up with debt have to sell their prime assets in order to pay bills coming due. As the article states:
[T]he financial plight of newspapers in the Internet age may make such antitrust issues moot, experts say.
So Rupert came to Sam and said, hey, here's cash, give me your megaphone.
The New York Times is also threatened because its stock price is depressed and hedge fund vultures are swooping in. It doesn't seem like anyone in Washington has a problem with Murdoch owning all the media properties in New York City. I don't see anything stopping him from scooping up the Times too.
Isn't it interesting that in these times when everyone is lamenting the sorry state of the print media that a sharp guy like Murdoch is buying these properties? He seems like a savvy puppeteer.