Ken Auletta begins the introduction of The Highwaymen: Warriors of the Information Superhighway with the following quote: The information revolution has changed the way we work, play, learn, shop, bank, retrieve information and govern ourselves. This will not be news to our readers. Not only is communications big business – but it is arguably the most exciting business as well. A world of high stakes, where a war is being waged, not necessarily over who has the best technology, but over what organization and which individual will eventually control the market. The way information is generated, processed and shared is massive business, and at present one with many flaws. As personalities as much as corporations jostle for the best positions, errors are made as much as – if not more than – innovative and brilliant ideas are conceived. It is a world of personalities and politicking, as much as a world of technology. It is also a fascinating arena to study.

By Simon Goodley

In The Highwaymen, the recent power struggles that have occurred among the media market’s top dogs are examined in a highly readable and entertaining way. These corporate battles – including the back stabbing and the intriguing marriages of (in)convenience – are of course all happening at such a break-neck speed that to write a book about it is an ambitious proposition. Auletta has probably had more access to the players in the communications industry than any other writer. The book is based around a series of articles written by Auletta, over a five year period while he was covering the communications industry for The New Yorker earlier in the decade. This approach in itself means that a fair proportion of the material could be considered out of date, although Auletta does provide postscripts to finish each chapter. However, the collection of pieces that are presented guide the reader behind the scenes of huge organizations including Time Warner, Disney, and Viacom. The book attempts to reveal in-depth detail about this intensively competitive environment, and to provide an insight into the men who run these giant corporations; their lives and their egos. At one point the book examines the decision of Barry Diller to resign as chairman of Fox, after he had explained to Rupert Murdoch how he wanted to be a principal, not just a well-paid employee. Murdoch, whose News Corporation owns Fox, responded bluntly; There is only one principal in this company. Diller left Fox to partner up with John Malone – chief executive officer of Tele-Communications Inc – and Brian Roberts – president of Comcast Corporation – in something called the QVC Network, a twenty-four-hour home-shopping cable network. Diller eventually sold QVC – leaving the venture considerably richer – as he saw the internet taking over from interactive television. Also, Auletta examines Rupert Murdoch’s efforts to monopolize the cable sports programming market in South America and Asia with John Malone, in order to beat CNN’s Ted Turner (who incidentally detests Murdoch passionately). The author notes that Murdoch appears to be the only ‘Highwayman’ with a foot in both camps – both programming and distribution – a point that is probably not lost on Turner. What these men and others – the likes of Bill Gates and Michael Eisner – have in common is the aspiration to own and control the information and entertainment that we have access to. Clearly this is no easy task, but it’s one of profound importance – not only for the future of their respective empires, but more importantly because it involves every one of us.

Battle of egos

The battle of egos, which necessarily precedes the outcome, may not be beneficial to the likes of you and me. Why has the communications industry attracted such larger-than-life personalities? I would hazard a guess that the ‘Highwaymen’ are attracted to this arena not only because it is such big business – engineering and oil can make you billions too – but also because films, television, and computer software allow them to push their own individual visions of what the world should be like. What The Highwaymen provides is an insight into the minds of the main protagonists, so that you can perhaps better understand their motives. It is undoubtedly an extremely entertaining summary of the market. However, by the very nature of the subject matter – as well as the age of the articles – it is likely to date pretty quickly. That aside, Auletta’s book is an enjoyable effort to explain the communications world, by an author who has studied the market in depth.

This article first appeared in Software Futures