Murdoch's response to scandal: combative editorials, offensive cartoons

[Revy]

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2011/07/22/2011-07-22_rupert_murdochs_times_of_london_publishes_carto on_of_starving_somali_children_mo.html



A Rupert Murdoch (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Rupert+Murdoch)-owned British newspaper invoked the image of starving Somalians to declare its owner's phone-hacking scandal is getting too much attention.

The controversial editorial cartoon from The Times of London (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/The+Times+of+London) drew almost instant criticism after appearing in Thursday's paper.

Many considered the cartoon offensive, while others suggested it was a public relations ploy. The cartoon - titled "Priorities" - depicted three naked Somalians with distended stomachs clutching empty bowls.

"I've had a bellyful of phone-hacking ..." one says.

Critics wasted no time lambasting the cartoon as tasteless after Katherine Viner (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Katherine+Viner), deputy editor of The Guardian, asked for opinions.

"Good God. Murdoch's troops (know) no bounds," tweeted media critic Jeff Jarvis (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Jeff+Jarvis).

An internet poster was even more pointed: "In another paper it might be valid comment. In a Murdoch one, it is exploitation of the dying."

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/21/cartoon-in-murdochs-paper-calls-hacking-inquiry-a-distraction-from-african-famine/


Earlier this week, another Murdoch-owned newspaper, The Wall Street Journal ran a combative editorial (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303661904576451812776293184.html?m od=djkeyword#printMode) saying that news organizations not owned by News Corporation were reporting so heavily on the hacking scandal purely to damage a rival. The Journal’s opinion editors complained about “the commercial and ideological motives of our competitor-critics,” adding, “The schadenfreude is so thick you can’t cut it with a chain saw.”

During his testimony (http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2011/jul/20/james-rupert-murdoch-full-transcript) to a parliamentary committee in London on Tuesday, Mr. Murdoch himself made a similar charge. When asked whom he blamed for the scandal, he replied: “A lot of people had different agendas, I think, in trying to build this hysteria. All our competitors in this country formally announced a consortium to try and stop us. They caught us with dirty hands and they built the hysteria around it.”

[Nox]

The whole western world is worrying about phone hacking.

Meanwhile, in Somalia...




It is a pretty piss-poor excuse from him and is just a feeble attempt to get the attention off his back, but he does have a valid point

[Blackscare]

I think it's pretty ironic; the owner of such a large media conglomerate complaining that the media have their priorities wrong. That's a systemic, universal issue with the press, probably more so with the Murdoch empire, is Fox News is anything to come by.



When is the last time one of Murdoch's outlets spent any real effort to bring attention to Somalia?

[GPDP]

In the abstract, I would essentially agree with such commentary about the media's priorities. That said, Murdoch is the last person I would want to hear such schlock from.

[Desperado]

When is the last time one of Murdoch's outlets spent any real effort to bring attention to Somalia?

Precisely. Don't be fooled, these are the papers which denied AIDS in the 90s, and deny or gloss over global warming today. Even before we get onto the class struggle, Murdoch's priorities are pretty clear. Of course other papers are loving this scandal (when they aren't white as white themselves), but that's totally irrelevant to News Internationals sins. Papers are corruptly competitive - wow, isn't Murdoch delivering news!

[Sinister Cultural Marxist]

Considering this is a phone hacking scandal about a newspaper hacking into the phones of celebrities, murder victims, and the victims of terrorist attacks for a headline scoop, complaining about "media priorities" is beyond offensive and hypocritical. Perhaps if News of the World had been phone-hacking the leaders of foreign ministries, al Shabab, the WHO and UN food organizations, they would have a point.

[Sensible Socialist]

So now Murdoch is angry because the media won't cover actual problems in the world? Right....

When I see Fox News give adequate coverage of the plight of the poor around the world, then Murdoch can talk.

[PolskiLenin]

Murdoch is just a media monster that's trying to wage war on truth and everything right.

[Klaatu]

I've been saying right along that these guys are criminals. They should be tried as racketeers under R.I.C.O.

FBI inquiry of Murdoch's empire: reliance on Brits
http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/Article_2011-07-24-Murdoch-US%20Investigation/id-peb35f59d2c454756bd9c7d1290b358d9


"The problem for Murdoch is that his business, not just his now-shuttered British tabloid News of the World, faces investigations on two continents. That includes a nascent FBI probe. Depending upon what turns up, it could head in unexpected directions, perhaps threatening other Murdoch properties, which include the Fox television network."

[Ingraham Effingham]

The whole western world is worrying about phone hacking.

Meanwhile, in Somalia...




It is a pretty piss-poor excuse from him and is just a feeble attempt to get the attention off his back, but he does have a valid point

Although as the biggest purveror of these kinds of distractions, its an incredibly hypocritical point.

Its a shame that this hypocrisy itself is even more of a diversion.

[Lacrimi de Chiciură]

Meanwhile, according to Murdoch's Faux News, "Somalians could have stayed in Somalia." :rolleyes:

47-NG80CWYo

Seems to me it's BS like this that fuels those blond Christian terrorists.

[Waltraute]

only Muslims can be terrorists, you forget.