He's behind you

There is a row going on between Branson and Murdoch. If you knew no more than that and were asked to choose the villain who would it be?

James Murdoch, saddled with the name if not yet the reputation of his father, Rupert, has been locking horns as chief executive of BSkyB with Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Media over broadcasting content. In fact Branson is no more (or less) than a big shareholder (15 per cent) in Virgin Media. Its chief executive is Steve Burch but not many people have heard of Mr Burch whereas everyone and his dog has heard of Branson. So the row is characterised as a Branson v Murdoch fight.

James Murdoch has accused Branson of seeking victim status. He is quite right. Branson is a master at courting public opinion because time and again he says and does the things we like to hear and see. Shortly after the Virgin train crash in Cumbria, there was Branson, speaking to camera at the scene commiserating with the victims. You rarely see other company bosses making themselves so visible, partly because most of them are terrified of cameras and don't know how to project themselves. Branson behaves instinctively.

So does Rupert Murdoch who cannot be accused of being camera shy. But his public image is beyond rescue. For many of us he will forever be the corporate Mephistopheles who built fortress Wapping, or the so-called "Dirty Digger", his nickname in Private Eye, the satirical magazine. After all, how many other contemporary bosses have inspired a Bond villain? Who else could they have had in mind when the James Bond producers cast Jonathan Pryce as Elliot Carver, head of the Carver Media Group Empire?

The difference with fiction and fact is that in the film Pryce died a grizzly death. While Murdoch just goes on and on. If his son, James, believes he can win a publicity war for hearts and minds with Branson, he can think again. The late Lord King tried and failed when he was chairman of British Airways.

In the meantime James had better watch out. Just as Branson's halo remains stubbornly Superglued in place, those pointy Murdoch horns are poking through the roots in a new generation. Every pantomime must have its villain and typecasting is inevitable. For some it's a matter of destiny.